San Antonio College Library

With the introduction of Christianity to the Aztec peoples, a new kind of religious iconography arose: retablos and exvotos. Traditionally painted on tin, retablos tell of the lives of the saints while exvotos give thanks for miracles granted. This program brings together art historians, preservationists, and religious practitioners to look at the stories embedded in these paintings and their significance for those who pray to them. Among those interviewed...

Studies retabloes--Mexican paintings on tin created in the latter half of the nineteenth century--from art, religious, and historical perspectives, and discusses efforts made to restore and conserve the artwork.

Few forms of religious folk art are as abundant or expressive as Mexican retablos - folk images painted on sheets of tin that are offered as votives of thanks to Christ or the Virgin Mary for a miracle granted or a favor bestowed. In this vivid study, Jorge Durand and Douglas Massey offer a multilayered analysis of retablos created by Mexican migrants to the United States. Richly illustrated with forty color photographs, this book will appeal to those...