and _Santo Niño de Atocha_). SIZE: 35.5 centimeters high. DATE: Second
half of 19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified tinsmith.
LOCATION: South _morada_, chapel walls. MANUFACTURE: Tin frame: cut,
repoussé, and soldered. Glass: cut and painted. Woodcut on paper.
CROSS (_cruz_). SIZE: 43.2 centimeters high. DATE: Fourth quarter of
19th century. ORIGINS: New Mexico, unidentified tinsmith. LOCATION:
South _morada_, chapel walls. MANUFACTURE: Tin frame: cut, repoussé,
and soldered. Glass: cut and painted.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 47. CANDELABRUM (_candelabro_). SIZE: 157.5
centimeters high. DATE: Early 20th century. LOCATION: South _morada_,
in front of altar in oratory. MANUFACTURE: Mill-cut wood stand,
hand-carved pegs to hold candles, and hand-worked tin crosses. Painted
white. One of a pair.]
Embroidered textiles portray the Last Supper, and a chapter banner,
made up for the brotherhood after 1925, shows the Crucifixion in oil
colors. This banner bears the words "Fraternidad Piadosa D[e]
N[uestro] P[adre] J[esus] D[e] Nazareno, Sección No. 12, Abiquiú, New
Mexico." The title _fraternidad_ is that assumed by _penitente_
chapters that incorporated in New Mexico around 1930, although the
term _cofradía_ often appears in transfers of private land to
_penitente_ organizations.[76] A second banner, this one on the left,
reads "Sociedad de la Sagrada Familia," which is a Catholic women's
organization that often supports _penitente_ groups.
In the oratory of the south _morada_, locally made images merit
special notice. Two carved images flank the entry to the south
_morada_ sanctuary. The _bulto_ on the right, St. Francis of Assisi
(Figure 48), has a special significance. As we noted in the east
_morada_, many Spanish settlers in New Mexico honored San Francisco as
the founder of the Franciscans, the order whose missionaries long had
served the region. The second _bulto_ (Figure 49) reveals clues that
it originally had been a representation of the Immaculate Conception
(_Inmaculata Concepción_). In Abiquiú, however, this figure is called
_la mujer de San Juan_ ("the woman of St. John"), a phrase that
indicates the major role Mary holds for the _penitentes_. With this
image they refer to the moment in the Crucifixion when Jesus committed
the care of His mother to St. John. As introductions to the south
_morada_ chancel, St. Francis and the Marian image are excellent
specimens of pre-1850 _santero_ craftsmanship.
[Illustration: FIGURE 48. SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI (_San Francisco_).
SIZE: 53.3 centimeters high. DATE: First half of 19th century. ORIGIN:
New Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: South _morada_, right
wall of chapel. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and painted; blue
habit with brown collar; wood cross and skull, tin halo; rosary beads
with fish pendants.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 49. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (_la mujer de San
Juan_ [local name]). SIZE: 55.9 centimeters high. DATE: First half of
19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION:
South _morada_, left wall of chapel. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed
and painted; oil colors over earlier tempera; red gown and crown; blue
cape and base.]
Two more images of Mary occur on the altar of the south _morada_
sanctuary. The first (Figure 50) takes its proper ecclesiastic
position on the Gospel side, to the viewer's left of the crucifix. The
second "Marian" image (Figure 51) is less orthodox. Not only does
this _bulto_ stand on the Epistle side of the crucifix but, like the
Marian advocation cited above as _la mujer de San Juan_, this figure's
identity has been changed to suit local taste. _Penitentes_ at Abiquiú
refer to the image as Santa Rosa, the traditional patroness of the
area following its first settlement by Spaniards.
[Illustration: FIGURE 50. OUR LADY OF SORROWS (_Nuestra Señora de los
Dolores_). SIZE: 104.1 centimeters high. DATE: Third quarter of 19th
century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: South
_morada_, left side of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and
painted; dressed in pink satin; artificial flowers, tin crown.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 51. VIRGIN AND CHILD OR SAINT RITA (_Santa Rosa
de Lima_ [local name]). SIZE: 68 centimeters high. DATE: Fourth
quarter of 19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified _santero_.
LOCATION: South _morada_, right side of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved
wood, gessoed and painted; dressed in pink satin; cross of turned
wood; artificial flowers, shell crown.]
Between these Marian images there are two large _bultos_ that are
examples of the work of the "Abiquiú _morada santero_" suggested
earlier. Both are figures of Jesus. The first, a _Cristo_ (Figure 52),
is the central crucifix on the altar. As in the east _morada_, the
focal image is accompanied by an _angelito_, this time with tin
wings.[77] To the right stands the other image of Jesus, the Nazarene,
_Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno_ (Figure 53). Along with the nearby
crucifix (Figure 52) and the figure of St. John the Evangelist (Figure
42) in the east _morada_, this representation of the scourged Jesus
reflects the style of the "Abiquiú _morada santero_." This Nazarene
_bulto_ embodies the _penitente_ concept of Jesus as a Man of
suffering Who must be followed.
[Illustration: FIGURE 52. CRUCIFIX WITH ANGEL (_Cristo_ and
_angelito_). SIZE: Cross 144.8 centimeters high. DATE: Early 20th
century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, "Abiquiú _morada_" _santero_. LOCATION:
South _morada_, center of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and
painted; purple fabric, waist cloths; tin wings on _angelito_; black
cross with _iNRi_ plaque.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 53. MAN OF SORROWS (_Ecce Homo, Nuestro Padre
Jesus Nazareno_). SIZE: 122 centimeters high. DATE: Second half of
19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico, "Abiquiú _morada_" _santero_.
LOCATION: South _morada_, right side of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved
wood, gessoed and painted; black horsehair wig, crown of thorns;
purple fabric gown; palm clusters, rosaries.]
The special character of the _penitente_ brotherhood is demonstrated
also in the last two _bultos_ on the south _morada_ altar. The
prominent size and position of St. John of Nepomuk (Figure 54) on the
altar indicate again the importance given by the _penitentes_ to San
Juan as a keeper of secrets. The other figure is the south _morada_'s
personification of death (Figure 55), _la muerte_, here even more
gaunt than the image in the east _morada_. Probably made after 1900,
this figure demonstrates the persistent artistic and religious
heritage of _Hispano_ culture.
[Illustration: FIGURE 54. SAINT JOHN OF NEPOMUK (_San Juan
Nepomuceno_). SIZE: 90.2 centimeters high. DATE: Early 20th century.
ORIGIN: New Mexico, unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: South _morada_,
left side of altar. MANUFACTURE: Carved wood, gessoed and painted;
dressed in black gown and cap; white cotton cassock; artificial
flowers; horsehair wig.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 55. DEATH (_la muerte_). SIZE: 111.8 centimeters
high. DATE: Fourth quarter of 19th century. ORIGIN: New Mexico,
unidentified _santero_. LOCATION: South _morada_, left side of altar.
MANUFACTURE: Carved and whitewashed wood; glass eyes and bone teeth;
dressed in black fabric; rosary, bow and arrow.]
[53] Interviews with Abiquiú inhabitants: Delfino Garcia in summer
1963 and Agapita Lopez in fall 1966.
[54] Interviews with _penitente_ members at Abiquiú, summers of 1965
and 1967.
[55] JOSÉ ESPINOSA, _Saints in the Valley_ (Albuquerque, 1960), p. 75.
[56] DOMÍNGUEZ, _Missions_, p. 50 (ftn. 5), defines _varal_ and its
customary use.
[57] Ibid., pp. 107, 131 (ftn. 4), 167.
[58] Ibid., pp. 121-123.
[59] AASF, Loose Documents, Mission, 1680-1850, and Accounts, books
xxxxv and lxiv. Also in Wills and Hijuelas, State Records Center, and
in Twitchell documents, Land Management Bureau, both offices in Santa
Fe, New Mexico.
[60] WALTER HOUGH, _Collections of Heating and Lighting_ (Smithsonian
Inst. Bull. 141, Washington, D.C., 1928), pl. 28a, no. 3.
[61] STEPHEN BORHEGYI, _El Santuario de Chimayo_ (Santa Fe, 1956);
also E. BOYD, _Saints and Saint Makers_ (Santa Fe, 1946), pp. 126-132.
[62] GEORGE KUBLER, in _Santos: An Exhibition of the Religious Folk
Art of New Mexico with an Essay by George Kubler_ (Fort Worth, Tex.:
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, June 1964).
[63] A fuller discussion of the _penitente_ death cart and further
illustrations are found in MITCHELL A. WILDER and EDGAR BREITENBACH,
_Santos: The Religious Folk Art of New Mexico_ (Colorado Springs,
1943), pl. 30 and text. Relevant to this study is the death cart with
immobile wheels recorded by HENDERSON, p. 32 [see ftn. 64], as having
been used in processions before 1919. It is likely that this is the
same cart described above in the storage room of the east _morada_
(Figure 22); it is important because its measurements and construction
details are nearly identical to the death cart in the collections of
the Museum of New Mexico, reputed to have come from Abiquiú.
[64] ALICE CORBIN HENDERSON, _Brothers of Light_ (Chicago, 1962), p.
32, describes a _muerte_ figure: chalk-white face, obsidian eyes,
black outfit.
[65] E. BOYD, "Crucifix in Santero Art," _El Palacio_, vol. LX, no. 3
(March 1953), pp. 112-115, indicates the significance of this image
form.
[66] HENDERSON, pp. 13 (red gown, blindfolded, flowing black hair), 26
(red gown, bound hands, made for mission), and 43-46 (tall, almost
life size, blindfolded, carried on small platform in procession from
lower [east] _morada_, horsehair rope).
[67] BOYD, in litt., Nov. 13, 1965.
[68] BOYD, loc. cit. Regarding construction, see E. BOYD, "New Mexican
Bultos with Hollow Skirts: How They Were Made," _El Palacio_, vol.
LVIII, no. 5 (May, 1951), pp. 145-148.
[69] WILDER and BREITENBACH, pls. 24, 25.
[70] HENDERSON, p. 26.
[71] JOSÉ ESPINOSA, op. cit., p. 75.
[72] DOMÍNGUEZ, _Missions_, p. 264 (ftn. 59). The brown robe worn by
Franciscans today is a late 19th-century innovation.
[73] BOYD, _Saints_, p. 133.
[74] BOYD, in litt., Nov. 13, 1965. For a comparative illustration of
St. Joseph, see WILDER and BREITENBACH, pl. 42.
[75] HENDERSON, p. 51, notes this pair of candelabra with the 13
sockets. Fifteen is the ecclesiastically correct number for _tenebrae_
services.
[76] _Acts of Incorporation_, microfilm, Corporation Bureau, State
Capitol, Santa Fe; see also Land Records, _General Indirect Index_,
Rio Arriba County Court House, vols. I (1852-1912) and II (1912-1930).
[77] HENDERSON, p. 51, describes the _angelito_, in the dim light of
the _morada_ ceremony, as a "dove like a wasp." Another angel figure
was given me through Regino Salazar by one of the _penitente_ brothers
of Abiquiú. According to E. Boyd, it appears to be the work of José
Rafael Aragon, who worked in the Santa Cruz area after 1825.
_Summary_
The two Abiquiú _moradas_ are clearly parallel in their
architectural design (including the constricted chancels), in their
artifacts--especially _bulto_ identities such as Jesus (_Cristo_,
_Nazareno_, _Ecce Homo_, _Santo Niño de Atocha_), Mary (_Dolores_,
_Immaculata Concepción_, _Soledad_, _Guadalupe_), Saint John of
Nepomuk, Saint Peter, and death--and lastly, in the ceremonies held
in the buildings, which link rather than separate the _penitente_
movement and the common social values of _Hispano_ culture.
Edmonson uses six institutional values to define _Hispano_ culture.[78]
All six can be found in the _penitente_ brotherhood. "Paternalism" is
found in the relation of the members-at-large to the officers and of
all the _penitente_ brothers to _Nuestro Padre Jesus_, "Our Father
Jesus." "Familism" is reflected in the structure of the _penitente_
organization and especially in the extension of its social benefits to
the entire community. "Dramatism" is an essential ingredient of
_penitente_ ceremonies such as the _tinieblas_. "Personalism" is
revealed in the immediate and individual participation of all members
in _penitente_ activities. "Fatalism" is the focus of Holy Week and of
funerals and is personified by the _muerte_ figure in each _morada_.
Finally, Edmonson cited "traditionalism" as definitive of _Hispano_
culture, a characteristic that is clearly evident in the _penitente_
forms of shelter, ceremonies, and artifacts. These commonplace objects
and activities had been established at Abiquiú before and during the
period of _morada_ building and furnishing. Literary and pictorial
documents presented in this study of Abiquiú and the _penitente
moradas_ reveal that their physical structure, furnishings,
membership, and the brotherhood itself are related intimately to, and
drawn from, the traditional and persistent Hispanic culture of New
Mexico.
[78] EDMONDSON, p. 62.