North America, Mexico, Spanish Colonial Period, ca. 19th century CE. A beautiful retablo of the Virgin Mary, el Alma de Maria painted on a heavy gauge tin sheet. The retablo is housed within a hammered and stippled tin nicho with a glass door and latch. The retablo captures the Virgin Mary as a young and lovely woman wearing a crown of roses, a pearl necklace, a ring, and earrings with her characteristic white and blue robes. Her hands are crossed over her heart and a white dove flies from between the sprigs of lilies and roses she presses to her bosom. Symbolizing her purity and exemption for worldly sins, the Virgin is dubbed a "rose without thorns" or a "lily among thorns." Hence the lily is the flower most associated with her, a symbol of her purity. The garland of roses crowning her may allude to the rosary of the Blessed Virgin, a device commonly used during the Renaissance. Framing her head are beams of light and stars radiating from her head. Size retablo: 10" L x 7" W (25.4 cm x 17.8 cm); nicho: 11.25" L x 2" W x 17.35" H (28.6 cm x 5.1 cm x 44.1 cm)
Provenance: ex-House of Ancestors, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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#167051
Condition
Chipping of pigments along the lower corner and arm, and some areas of fading, but retains vibrancy and great details. The retablo is not attached and is completely loose inside the nicho. Creasing and bending of tin panels projecting from nicho. The nicho door opens and latches. Integral loop on verso for suspension.