lamps, such as the plated reservoir with stamped Neo-rococo motifs
(Figure 19). Nearby is a processional cross with two metal faces and a
small, cast corpus (Figure 20). While kerosene lanterns are evidence
of east-west rail commerce after 1880, the cross probably indicates a
southern contact, possibly through Parral or Chihuahua, Mexico.
Locally made, however, are the woven rag rugs (_jergas_) hung over a
pole (_varal_)[56] that drops from the ceiling. Also in the east
_morada_ storage are two percussion rifles (Figure 21). Craddock
Goins, Department of Armed Forces History, the Smithsonian
Institution, identifies both as common Indian trade objects from
midcentury Europe. These rifles probably were imports for sale to the
Utes at the Abiquiú trading post between 1853 and 1874. At the rear of
the room (Figure 22) rests a saw-horse table holding an assortment of
stocks for these "trade guns," of wooden rattles (_matracas_), and of
heavy crosses (_maderos_). On the ground stands a large bell, which,
in a photograph (Museum of New Mexico, Photo No. 8550) taken by
William Lippincott about 1945, appears on the tower of the _morada_.
The silhouette dates the bell as being cast after 1760. Behind the
bell rests the _morada_ death cart. Also in the room are a plank
ladder and the oil drum stove raised on an _adobe_ dais (Figure 23) to
the east of the exterior door.
[Illustration: FIGURE 19. RESERVOIR FOR KEROSENE LAMP. SIZE: 25.4
centimeters wide. DATE: Second half of 19th century. ORIGIN: Imported
to New Mexico. LOCATION: East _morada_, storage (east) room.
MANUFACTURE: Silver-plated metal stamped into Rococco revival
decorations.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 20. PROCESSIONAL CROSS. SIZE: 30.5 centimeters
high. DATE: 19th century. ORIGIN: Imported to New Mexico, probably
from Mexico. LOCATION: East _morada_, storage (east) room.
MANUFACTURE: Punched trifoil ends in metal face, cast corpus.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 21. PERCUSSION RIFLES. SIZE: 111.8 centimeters
long. DATE: Middle of 19th century. ORIGIN: European (Belgian?)
exports. LOCATION: East _Morada_, storage (east) room.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 22. STORAGE ROOM, EAST _Morada_. SIZES: Bell 64
centimeters wide (diameter), 47.4 high; cart 122 long (frame), 70 wide
(frame), 71 between axle centers; wheels 45 high. DESCRIPTION: Detail
of east wall showing saw-horse table, corrugated sheeting, bell, and
death cart of cottonwood and pine.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 23. STORAGE ROOM, EAST _Morada_: View next to
exterior door showing low _adobe_ dais supporting oil drum stove.]
SACRISTY IN BOTH MORADAS.--While a panelled wooden box in the south
_morada_ stands inside the exterior door of the east room, another
type of chest, said to hold cooking utensils, rests in the northwest
corner of the center room of the east _morada_. Both storage chests
are located in rooms with corner fireplaces. An informant said that
these boxes held heating and cooking utensils and ceremonial
equipment, including the _penitentes'_ rule book. As noted above, the
two fireplaces in the middle room of the east _morada_ suggest that it
was built earlier than the south _morada_, which has a single
fireplace in the less active and more convenient rear storage room.
Further evidence of this point is that the storage chest in the east
_morada_ is better constructed than that in the south _morada_; the
former displays a slanted top and punch-decorated tin reinforcements
on its corners. In the center room there are several benches with
lathe-turned legs (Figure 24).
[Illustration: FIGURE 24. BENCH (_banco_). SIZE: 108 centimeters long,
51 high, 47 wide. LOCATION: East _morada_, center room.]
The central room of the south _morada_ also displays a number of
benches of an earlier style (Figure 25). Over the rear door appears an
unusual cross (Figure 26). The cross consists of two wood planks, 1.6
centimeters thick, notched together and covered with paper. The
surface bears carefully drawn, or perhaps stenciled, floral and
religious designs in indigo blue: eleven Latin crosses appear among
flowering vases, oversize buds, and 4-, 5-, and 8-pointed stars. These
motifs probably are the result of copying from weaving or quilt
pattern books of the late 19th century. A local _penitente_ leader
stated that the cross was made before 1925 by Onésimo Martínez of
Abiquiú, when the latter was in his thirties. (The strong religious
symbolism of the New Mexican designs reminds one of the stylized
motifs on Atlantic Coastal folk drawings and textiles of Germanic
origin.)
[Illustration: FIGURE 25. BENCH (_banco_). SIZE: 128 centimeters long,
106 high at back, 45 wide. LOCATION: South _morada_, center room.]
(_Figure 26 is frontispiece._)
Snare drums appear in the central room of both _moradas_ (Figures 27,
28). The drum in the east _morada_ is mounted on top of a truncated
wicker basket. It is interesting to note that rifles and drums
commonly are recorded in mission choir lofts in 1776 by Domínguez.[57]
In addition to marking significant moments in church ritual, they are
used in Indian and _Hispano_ village _fiestas_.
[Illustration: FIGURE 27. SNARE DRUM (_tambor_). SIZE: 55.9
centimeters long. DATE: 19th century. ORIGIN: Imported to New Mexico.
LOCATION: East _morada_, center room. MANUFACTURE: Commercially made,
military type, rope lines with leather drum ears [tighteners].]
[Illustration: FIGURE 28. SNARE DRUM (_tambor_). SIZE: 58.4
centimeters long. DATE: 19th century. ORIGIN: Imported to New Mexico.
LOCATION: South _morada_, center room. MANUFACTURE: Commercially made,
military type, reddish stain, rope tension lines with rope and leather
drum ears [tighteners].]
Before describing religious objects in the west end rooms of Abiquiú
_moradas_, a list of similar items in Santo Tomás Mission at an
earlier date (1776) is of interest:
a medium-sized bell ... altar table ... gradin ... altar cloth ... a
banner ... candleholders ... processional cross ... a painted wooden
cross ... ordinary single-leaved door ... image in the round of Our
Lady of the [Immaculate] Conception ... a wig ... silver crown ...
string of fine seed pearls ... ordinary bouquet ... painting on
copper of Our Lady of Sorrows (_Dolores_) in a black frame ... _Via
Crucis_ in small paper prints on their little boards ... a print of
the Guadalupe.[58]
Comparable versions of each of these objects occur in Abiquiú's
_moradas_. In fact, virtually all objects found in the _penitente
moradas_ of Abiquiú are recorded as typical artifacts by church
inventories and house wills of 18th- and 19th-century Spanish New
Mexico.[59]
ORATORY IN THE EAST MORADA.--In the rear of the oratory of the older
east _morada_ (Figure 12), one sees a stove and lantern on the right.
Both are imported, extracultural items. The pierced, tin
candle-lantern (Figure 29) is a common artifact found throughout
Europe and America.[60]
[Illustration: FIGURE 29. CANDLE LANTERN. SIZE: 30.5 centimeters high.
DATE: 19th century. ORIGIN: Imported to New Mexico. LOCATION: East
_morada_, chapel. MANUFACTURE: Pierced tinwork.]
Along the walls of the oratory hang imported religious prints framed
in local punch-decorated tinwork. Tin handicraft became more
widespread after 1850 when metal U.S. Army containers became available
to the _Hispanos_. Designs seen on three tin frames (Figure 30)
include twisted columns, crests, scallops, corner blocks, wings, and a
variety of simple repoussé patterns. Paper prints in the tin frame
suggest midcentury trade contacts between northern Mexico and the
Atlantic Coast. Even the Mexican War (1846-1848) did not discourage
American publishers such as Currier from appealing to Mexican
religious and national loyalties with lithographs of Our Lady of
Guadalupe (much in the same manner as the British, after the
Revolution and War of 1812, profited by selling Americans objects
that bore images of Yankee ships, eagles, and likenesses of Franklin
and Washington). A fourth piece of local tinwork (Figure 31) in the
east _morada_ oratory is a niche for a small figure of the Holy Child
of Atocha, _Santo Niño de Atocha_. This advocation of Jesus, like that
of His mother in the Guadalupe image, further indicates Mexican
influence.[61] The image of the _Atocha_ is a product of local
craftsmanship.
[Illustration: FIGURE 30. RELIGIOUS PRINTS IN TIN FRAMES. SIZE: 52.1
centimeters high (center). DATE: First three-quarters of 19th century.
ORIGIN: Prints imported to New Mexico; frames from New Mexico,
unidentified tinsmiths. LOCATION: East _morada_, walls in chapel
(west) room. MANUFACTURE: Tin frames: cut, repoussé, stamped and
soldered into Federal and Victorian designs. Prints: left,
_Guadalupe_, early 19th century, Mexican copperplate engraving;
center, _Guadalupe_, 1847, N. Currier, hand-colored lithograph; right,
_San Gregorio_ [Pope St. Gregory], mid-19th-century lithograph.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 31. NICHE WITH IMAGE OF THE HOLY CHILD OF ATOCHA
(_nicho_ and _El Santo Niño de Atocha_). SIZE: niche 44.4 centimeters
high, image 21.6 high. DATE: Second half of 19th century. ORIGIN: New
Mexico, unidentified tinsmith and _santero_. LOCATION: East _morada_,
wall in chapel room. MANUFACTURE: Tin: cut, repoussé, soldered into
fan, shell, and guilloche designs. Image: carved wood, gessoed and
painted red and white. Rosary and artificial flowers.]
These representations of religious personages are called _santos_, and
their makers, _santeros_. Flat panel paintings are known locally as
_retablos_, while sculptured forms are _bultos_. George Kubler,
distinguished art historian at Yale, suggests that _bultos_, because
of their greater dimensional realism, are more popular than planar
_retablos_ with the _Hispanos_.[62] Supporting this theory is the fact
that _bultos_ in the Abiquiú _moradas_ outnumber prints and _retablos_
two to one.
Perhaps the most distinctive three-dimensional image in any _morada_
is not a _santo_ by definition, but a unique figure that represents
death (_la muerte_). Also known as _La Doña Sebastiana_, her image
clearly marks a building as a _penitente_ sanctuary. Personifying
death with a sculptured image and dragging her cart to a cemetery
called _calvario_, the _penitentes_ of New Mexico reflect the sense of
fate common to Spanish-speaking cultures, the recognition that death
is life's one personal certainty.[63] The figure of death in the east
_morada_ hangs in the corner at the rear of the oratory. Placed
outside for examination, this _muerte_ (Figure 32) presents a flat,
oval face with blank eyes. The black gown and bow and arrow are
typical of _muerte_ figures.[64] Turning toward the altar (Figure 11),
one sees that death is outnumbered by images of hope and compassion:
Jesus, His mother, and the saints who intercede for man.
[Illustration: FIGURE 32. DEATH (_la muerte_). SIZE: 76.2 centimeters
high. DATE: Early 20th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified
_santero_. LOCATION: East _morada_, back of oratory. MANUFACTURE:
Carved and whitewashed wood, glass eyes and wood teeth, dressed in
black fabric with white lace border, bow and arrow.]
On the lower step of the altar appear a host of small, commercial
products, mostly crucifixes, in plaster, plastic, and cheap metal
alloys as well as numerous glass cups for candles. Above the upper
ledge (_gradin_) appear five locally made images of Jesus crucified,
_El Cristo_.[65] At the side of this central _Cristo_ (Figure 33)
hangs a small angel, _angelito_, which traditionally held a chalice to
catch blood from the spear wound. Other _Cristos_, at the Taylor
Museum in Colorado Springs and at the Museum of New Mexico (McCormick
Collection A.7.49-24) in Santa Fe, repeat the weightless corpus and
stylized wounds used by the anonymous _santero_ who, after 1850, made
these _bultos_.
[Illustration: FIGURE 33. CRUCIFIX WITH ANGEL (_Cristo_ and
_angelito_). SIZE: cross 139.7 centimeters high. DATE: Fourth quarter
of 19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION:
East _morada_, center of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood gessoed and
painted, over-painted in oil; crown of thorns, rosaries, crucifix;
wooden plank, H-shape platform; black cross with _iNRi_ plaque;
_angelito_ with white cotton skirt.]
Additional _Cristo_ figures appear on the convergent walls of the east
_morada_ sanctuary. There are two pairs, large and small, perhaps
dating as late as 1900, one pair to the right (Figures 34, 35), the
other, on the Gospel side (plates 36, 37).
[Illustration: FIGURE 34. CRUCIFIX (_Cristo_). SIZE: cross 170.2
centimeters high. DATE: Second half of 19th century. ORIGIN: New
Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: East _morada_, right wall
behind altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and painted,
over-painted in oils; black gauze shroud over head; rosary and _iNRi_
plaque.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 35. CRUCIFIX (_Cristo_). SIZE: cross 64.8
centimeters high. DATE: Second half of 19th century. ORIGIN: New
Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: East _morada_, right wall
behind altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and painted; dressed
in white skirt with rosary.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 36. CRUCIFIX (_Cristo_). SIZE: cross 71.1
centimeters high. DATE: Second half of 19th century. ORIGIN: New
Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: East _morada_, left wall
behind altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and painted, repainted
in oil colors, yellow and red strips on black; dressed in white cotton
skirt; rosary.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 37. CRUCIFIX (_Cristo_). SIZE: cross 177.8
centimeters high. DATE: Fourth quarter of 19th century. ORIGIN: New
Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: East _morada_, left wall
behind altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and painted; crown of
thorns and rosary; dressed in white cotton waist cloth.]
To the far left stands an important image: the scourged Jesus (Figure
38) prominent in _penitente_ activity as "Our Father Jesus the
Nazarene" (_Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno_). By 1918, Alice Corbin
Henderson[66] reports, this same figure appeared in _penitente_ Holy
Week processions at Abiquiú. She claims it was made originally for the
Mission of Santo Tomás. E. Boyd points out stylistic traits shared by
this Abiquiú _bulto_ and the _retablo_ figures in the San José de
Chama Chapel at nearby Hernández, which was the work of _santero_
Rafael Aragon, active from 1829 to after 1855.[67] Symbolic of man's
physical suffering, the image of the _Jesus Nazareno_ is essential to
_penitente_ enactments of the Passion.
[Illustration: FIGURE 38. MAN OF SORROWS (_Ecce Homo, Nuestro Padre
Jesus Nazareno_). SIZE: 1.60 meters high. DATE: Second quarter of 19th
century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, Rafael Aragon, active 1829-55. LOCATION:
East _morada_, to left of altar. MANUFACTURE: Dressed in red fabric
gown, palm clusters and rosaries, leather crown of thorns, horsehair
wig, bright border painted on platform.]
On the left side of the east _morada_ altar, two carved images
represent the grieving mother of Jesus as "Our Lady of Sorrows"
(_Nuestra Señora de los Dolores_), one image (Figure 39) in pink
equipped with her attribute, a dagger; the other (Figure 40), like
many processional figures, has been constructed by draping a pyramidal
frame of four sticks with gesso-dipped cloth, which, when dry, is
painted to represent a skirt. The apron-like design that appears on
the skirt, now hidden under a black dress, indicates that the original
identity probably was "Our Lady of Solitude" (_Nuestra Señora de la
Soledad_).[68]
[Illustration: FIGURE 39. OUR LADY OF SORROWS (_Nuestra Señora de los
Dolores_). SIZE: 99.1 centimeters base to crown. DATE: Early 20th
century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: East
_morada_, left side of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and
painted; dressed in pink cotton gown and veil; tin crown and metal
dagger; artificial flowers, rosaries.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 40. OUR LADY OF SORROWS OR SOLITUDE (_Nuestra
Señora de los Dolores_ or _la Soledad_). SIZE: 81.3 centimeters base
to crown. DATE: Second half of 19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico,
unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: East _morada_, left side of altar.
MANUFACTURE: Carved wood head and hands, gessoed, painted, and
repainted; body of gesso-wetted cloth, draped on stick frame to dry,
painted; dressed in black satin habit with white lace border; tin
halo, rosary, artificial flowers.]
Also on the left side of the east _morada_ altar, there are two male
saints (_santos_) who fill vital roles in the _penitente_ Easter
drama. One, St. Peter (San Pedro) with the cock (Figure 41), is a
_bulto_ whose frame construction duplicates that of Our Lady (Figure
40). The cock apparently was made by another hand, and, despite its
replaced tail, is a fine expression of local art. This group
represents Peter's triple denial of Jesus before the cock announced
dawn of the day of the Crucifixion. The _bulto_ of San Pedro has
special meaning for _penitentes_ who, through their penance, bear
witness to "Jesus the Nazarene."
[Illustration: FIGURE 41. SAINT PETER AND COCK (_San Pedro_ and
_Gallo_). SIZE: 61 centimeters high. DATE: First quarter of 19th
century, and 19th century cock. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified
_santero_. LOCATION: East _morada_, left side of altar. MANUFACTURE:
St. Peter's head (later): carved wood, gessoed and painted. Body:
cloth dipped in wet gesso, draped over stick frame to dry, and
painted, later over-painted. Blue gown and orange cape. Cock of carved
wood, gessoed and painted; orange body with green haunch. Carved wood
tail, replacement.]
With the other _bulto_, _penitentes_ have also recalled the
crucifixion by representing St. John the Evangelist (San Juan) at the
foot of the cross, where Jesus charged the disciple with the care of
His mother. The image of John (Figure 42) bears distinctive stylistic
features: blunt fingers; protruding forehead, cheek bones, and chin;
and a full-lipped, open mouth.
[Illustration: FIGURE 42. SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST (_San Juan_).
SIZE: 137.2 centimeters high. DATE: Second half of 19th century.
ORIGIN: New Mexico, "Abiquiú _morada_" _santero_. LOCATION: East
_morada_, left side of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and
painted; black horsehair wig; dressed in white cotton fabric; palm
clusters and rosary.]
Since these stylistic traits also occur in a _Cristo_ figure in the
Taylor Museum collection[69] and in two other _bultos_--a _Cristo_ and
_Jesus Nazareno_ in the south _morada_ at Abiquiú--it seems reasonable
to designate the anonymous image-maker as the "Abiquiú _morada
santero_."
A _bulto_ that Alice Henderson identifies as St. Joseph is probably
this figure of St. John (Figure 42) now resting in the east _morada_.
She has reported that this image and that of St. Peter were in the
mission of Santo Tomás before 1919.[70] The shift in residence for
these _santos_ was substantiated by José Espinosa, who stated that
several images "were removed to one of the local _moradas_ ... when
the old church was torn down."[71]
On the right side of the east _morada_ altar, images of two male
saints reflect the intense affection felt by _penitentes_ for the
Franciscan saints Anthony of Padua and John of Nepomuk. The most
popular New Mexican saint, San Antonio (Figure 43), customarily
carries the young Jesus, _El Santo Niño_. This image has been painted
dark blue to represent the traditional Franciscan habit of New Mexico
before the 1890s.[72]
[Illustration: FIGURE 43. SAINT ANTHONY OF PADUA AND THE INFANT JESUS
(_San Antonio y Niño_). SIZE: 43.2 centimeters high. DATE: First half
of 19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION:
East _morada_, right side of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed
and painted with repainted head; dark blue habit; dressed in light
blue cotton fabric with white border, artificial flowers.]
The 14th-century saint, John of Nepomuk, Bohemia (Figure 44), is known
from a legend that states he was killed by King Wenceslaus for
refusing to reveal secrets of the Queen, for whom he was confessor.
The story notes that, after torture, John was drowned in the Moldau
River, but that his body floated all night and, in the morning, was
taken to the Church of the Holy Cross of the Penitents in Prague.
After the martyred chaplain was canonized in 1729, his cult spread to
Rome, then Spain, and, by 1800, into New Mexico.
[Illustration: FIGURE 44. SAINT JOHN OF NEPOMUK (_San Juan
Nepomuceno_). SIZE: base to hat 78.7 centimeters. DATE: Second quarter
of 19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION:
East _morada_, right side of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed
and painted; dark blue robe with white border; dressed in black hat
and robe under white alblike coat; rosary.]
Among the _Hispanos_, local Franciscans promoted this cult of St. John
as a prognosticator and as a respecter of secrecy.[73] Due in part to
this promotion, _San Juan Nepomuceno_ became a favorite of New Mexican
_penitentes_. E. Boyd suggests that the image of St. John (Figure 44)
may have first represented St. Francis or St. Joseph. She also notes a
stylistically similar _bulto_ of St. Joseph in Colorado Springs,
manufactured not long after 1825.[74]
ORATORY IN SOUTH MORADA.--Turning to the south _morada_ chapel, we
find numerous parallels to the earlier east _morada_ in _santo_
identities and in religious artifacts. (Figure 10 presents a
previously unphotographed view of this active _penitente_ chapel with
its fully equipped altar.) The walls of the west chamber of the south
_morada_ are lined with benches over which hang religious prints in
frames of commercial plaster and local tin work (Figure 45).
[Illustration: FIGURE 45. SAINT JOSEPH AND CHRIST CHILD (_San José y
el Santo Niño_). SIZE: frame 45.7 centimeters high. DATE: Fourth
quarter of 19th century. ORIGIN: Imported commercial products.
LOCATION: South _morada_, chapel wall. MANUFACTURE: Plaster frame,
molded and gilded. Chromo-lithograph on paper. SAINT PETER (_San
Pedro_). SIZE: frame 25.4 centimeters high. DATE: Third quarter of
19th century. ORIGIN: Imported, commercially made print. New Mexico,
unidentified tinsmith. LOCATION: South _morada_, chapel wall.
MANUFACTURE: Tin frame: cut, repoussé, stamped, and soldered.
Chromo-lithograph on paper.]
The tin frame for a lithograph of St. Peter reveals repoussé designs
found on east _morada_ frames (Figure 30, center). Other examples of
local tinwork are seen in Figure 46. On the right is a cross of
punched tinwork with pomegranate ends and corner fillers that reflect
Moorish characteristics in Spanish arts known as _mudéjar_. The frame
dates from after 1850, as indicated by glass panes painted with floral
patterns suggesting Victorian wallpaper. To the left is a niche made
of six glass panels painted with wavy lines and an early 19th-century
woodcut of the Holy Child of Atocha. Here again, twisted half-columns
repeat a motif seen on a tin frame in the east _morada_ chapel. In
front of the draped entry to the south _morada_ sanctuary stand two
candelabra, one of which is shown in the doorway to the oratory
(Figure 47) with tin reflectors and hand-carved sockets.[75] There are
also vigil light boxes, kerosene lanterns with varnished tin shades,
commercial religious images and ornaments that are similar to items in
the east _morada_ sanctuary.