Mexican Retablo

Mexico

Oil Paint, Tin | Item 2162

19th Century oil on tin retablo La Mano Poderosa, or The Powerful Hand of God – sometimes referred to as Los Cinco Personas, a reference to the extended Holy Family in the upper quadrant. The five figures at the top represent Anne, Mary, Santo Nino, Joseph, and Joachim. In the lower quadrant, blood is flowing from the stigmata into an open fold chalice which is received by the seven sacrificial lambs below. The number seven, a symbolic number in Catholicism, represents the seven holy sacraments and the seven deadly sins. Framed in the original painted frame.