COLLECTION NAME:
Santo Collection
Record
Creator display:
Headlee, Don (American santero, born 1938)
Creator role:
creator
Date display:
1989
Title:
San Miguel Arcángel
Title:
Saint Michael the Archangel
Description:
Winged, helmeted male figure standing on a snakelike monster, holding scales in his left hand and a sword in his right.
Location name:
New Mexico
Materials display:
carved cedar and cottonwood (plant material)
Material name:
cottonwood (wood)
Material name:
cedar (wood)
Source name:
Thomas J. Steele, S.J.: The Regis University Collection of New Mexico and Colorado Santos.
Subject term:
Michael (Archangel)
Work type:
bultos
Work type:
sculpture (visual works)
Exhibition note:
Denver, CO: St Thomas Seminary, Dec 1992; Aurora, CO: Aurora History Museum, May-Aug 2009.
Acquisition note:
Acquired: 1989.
Accession number:
RU0153
Measurements display:
37 x 21 x 10 cm
Santo Subject:
San Miguel Arcángel (Saint Michael the Archangel)
Santo Subject Type:
Angels
Feast Day:
May 8, September 29
Patronage:
Patronage: Opponent of the devil (see Brown, Hispano Folklife of New Mexico, pp. 131-32) and all evil; patron of soldiers; guardian of small children.
Note:
Michael's main task is battle against the devil and all his symbols. Clad often in armor and crowned, holding balance-scales and a sword or spear, standing on a snakelike monster. He weighs souls in the pans of his balance scales, sometimes marked with a cross for eternal life and a zero for punishment. As guide of the soul in its journey to heaven, he may hold keys. In a few retablos, there is an as-yet-unexplained bracket over his left wing.
Rights text:
IN COPYRIGHT - EDUCATIONAL USE PERMITTED