19th Century Saint Francis of Assisi Retablo

20”H x 18.5”W x 2 3/4" D, at top

A stunning Mexican creation. A sunburst tin retablo holds the original print of Saint Francis De Asisi soldered into the frame.  Intricate work. Silver medallions adorn the print within. A beautiful antique. Tin is complete with age appropriate patina. Print shows signs of age. Original glass. Two missing rays of sunburst missing from top of retablo. Marked: de Murguia, Propiedad de

 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 Francis of Assisi: Years before he died, Francis was considered a saint, and in eight centuries he has lost none of his prestige. Apart from the Virgin Mary, he is the best known and the most honored of Catholic saints. In 1986, when Pope John Paul II organized a conference of world religious leaders to promote peace, he held it in Assisi. Francis is especially loved by partisans of leftist causes: the animal-rights movement, feminism, ecology, vegetarianism (though he was not a vegetarian). But you don’t have to be on the left to love Francis. He is the patron saint (with Catherine and Bernardino of Siena) of the nation of Italy.

Mexico

Late 19th Century