19th Century Saint Thomas Aquino Retablo

131/2" x 11 1/8"

A stunning Mexican creation. A rectangle embossed tin frame holds the original hand drawn print of Saint Thomas of Aquino soldered into the frame. A beautiful antique. Tin is complete with age appropriate patina. Print shows signs of age. Original glass. Marked: S.ta Tomas Aquino

A Tid-Bit: Mexico tinwork was made to approximate the look of silver, at a time when the possession of silver by anyone unauthorized by the Spanish government was illegal. Tinsmiths realized once the Santa Fe Trail opened that much of the perishable freight being transported along the trail was sealed in tin cans, which once opened were discarded. By flattening out the tin and cutting and stamping the flat pieces, tinsmiths could produce works worthy of using as decoration in homes and churches. On some pieces, remnants of food and oil can labels can still be seen on the reverse of the tinwork.

Saint Thomas of Aquino: St. Thomas Aquinas was the greatest of the Scholastic philosophers. He produced a comprehensive synthesis of Christian theology and Aristotelian philosophy that influenced Roman Catholic doctrine for centuries and was adopted as the official philosophy of the church in 1917.

Mexico

Late 19th Century