Hide Painting of St. Anthony, c. Early 1700s
date: label: Date made
content: 1725
name: label: depicted
content: Saint Anthony of Padua
label: depicted
content: Christ Child
label: possible artist
content: Franciscan F?
label: user; originator
content: Santo Domingo Mission Church
label: maker
content: Franciscan F?
notes: label: Description
content: Dating to the early 18th century, this animal skin was painted with an image of St. Anthony in what is now New Mexico. St. Anthony is often represented as a Franciscan friar in a brown robe holding a child and a lily. The banner under his feet supports this identification. The Roman Catholic religious order of the Franciscans arrived in the region with the Spaniards in the 17th century. The group, known as friars, played an important role in the history of Mexico up through the mid-19th century when their numbers dwindled and were eventually replaced by secular or diocesan priests. Due to their European painting styles, scholars previously believed that hides of this type were painted by Franciscans. Scholars now believe that Native Americans painted them after learning and adopting the style from the Spanish and other Europeans arriving in the area. Taking over the missions subsequent to the Franciscan departure, diocesan ecclesiastical authorities did not approve of the religious images known as santeros including the hide paintings and many were removed from the churches during the last half of the 19th century. This hide came from the Santo Domingo Mission Church in New Mexico where it was found by Jesse Walter Fewkes (1850-1930) while working for the U.S. National Museum Bureau of Ethnology in 1897. At that time, the mid-18th century church building was in ruins due to a series of floods with the final destruction in 1885 by the Rio Grande. The church door and paintings presumably including this hide were removed by the people of Santo Domingo prior to the flooding. This hide painting is a testament to the ability of the Pueblo people to adapt European artistic styles, to resist ecclesiastical authorities in maintaining the hide in their church for a half century after it was prohibited, and to protect what became their culture from the forces of nature.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Mexico, Santo Domingo
label: associated place
content: United States: New Mexico, Santo Domingo
topic: label: Subject
content: Saints
label: Subject
content: Catholic Church
label: Subject
content: Missions
label: Subject
content: Christianity
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Religion
label: See more items in
content: Religion
label: See more items in
content: Many Voices, One Nation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Dr. J. Walter Fewkes
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CL.176402
label: accession number
content: 31785
label: catalog number
content: 176402
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Painting, Hide
label: Object Type
content: Paintings
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tanned and painted (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: skin, hide, elk? (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paints, vegetal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: roman catholicism (overall single or multi-hued)
label: Physical Description
content: reconquest, 1693-1710 (overall style)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 47 3/4 in x 27 1/2 in; 121.285 cm x 69.85 cm