Retablo del Santo Niño de Atoche
date: label: Date made
content: 1840 - 1850
name: label: artist
content: Aragon, Rafael
notes: label: Description
content: The image shown here represents El Santo Niño de Atoche, a depiction of the Christ child common throughout Mexico and the American Southwest. Made by Rafael Aragón in Santa Fe, this particular image is from a <i>retablo</i>, a kind of Catholic devotional art. Aragón came from a family of <i>santeros</i> (religious artisans) who worked during the golden age of Spanish colonial art in New Mexico in the first part of the 1800s. In isolated communities where there were few priests, religious art within the home played a huge role in promoting Catholic beliefs and maintaining religious faith. When this retablo was made, between 1840 and 1850, New Mexico was the most populated region of Mexico's northern territories. Its ancient colonial history was shaped by violent contests over land, trade, and religion between Spanish settlers and various indigenous communities. The exchanges between these peoples, and then later, between immigrants from Mexico and the eastern United States, created several unique cultures in New Mexico. The phenomenon of tourism, beginning in the late 1800s, further transformed New Mexico and its art and craft traditions. Santeros and other artisans are still producing religious images like this retablo, though today many are valued for decorative rather than devotional use.
label: Description (Spanish)
content: Esta imagen representa a El Santo Niño de Atocha, un retrato del Niño Jesús muy habitual a lo largo de México y el sudoeste americano. Esta imagen en particular, elaborada por Rafael Aragón en Santa Fe, pertenece a un retablo, una manifestación del arte religioso católico. Aragón provenía de una familia de santeros (artesanos religiosos) que trabajaron durante la época dorada del arte colonial español en el Nuevo México a principios del 1800. En aquellas comunidades aisladas donde había tan solo unos pocos sacerdotes, el arte religioso doméstico desempeñaba una función preponderante para el fomento de las creencias católicas y la conservación de la fe. Este retablo data del período entre 1840 y 1850, en que Nuevo México era la región más poblada de los territorios del norte de México. Su antigua historia colonial se forjó entre violentas competencias por la tierra, el comercio y la religión entre los colonos españoles y las distintas comunidades indígenas. Los intercambios entre estos pueblos, y más tarde entre inmigrantes de México y del este de los Estados Unidos, generaron diversas culturas únicas dentro de Nuevo México. El fenómeno turístico, que se inició a fines de los 1800, transformó más aún a Nuevo México y a sus tradiciones artísticas y artesanales. Los santeros y otros artesanos aún producen imágenes religiosas como este retablo, si bien hoy en día muchas de ellas se valoran por sus cualidades decorativas más que por sus connotaciones religiosas.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: New Mexico
title: label: Title
content: Retablo of El Santo Niño de Atoche
topic: label: depicted
content: Jesus Christ
label: used
content: West
label: depicted
content: Santo Nino de Atocha
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Religion
label: See more items in
content: Mexican America
label: See more items in
content: Religion
label: See more items in
content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Mrs. William C. F. Robards
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CL.67.806
label: accession number
content: 269937
label: catalog number
content: 67.806
objectType: label: Object Name
content: retablo
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: gesso (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 25.1 cm x 16 cm x 1.4 cm; 9 7/8 in x 6 5/16 in x 9/16 in