Santa Librada – SOLD
1989
45" x 23" x 12"
Bultos, Tinwork, Wood, natural pigment and stamped tin work
Region: Santa Fe, New Mexico
45" x 23" x 12"
Bultos, Tinwork, Wood, natural pigment and stamped tin work
Region: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Signed and dated bottom of work
The virgin martyr, Santa Librada, was never officially canonized by the Catholic Church and was instead revered as a folk saint in Europe and the Americas. She is often associated with St. Wilgefortis, and their legends have become conflated. In some accounts, Librada was the daughter of the pagan Portuguese king Caltheo and his wife Calisa. Caltheo sought to marry his daughter off to a Sicilian king, but Librada, wishing to remain a virgin, converted to Christianity and prayed to God for a disfigurement that would prevent the marriage. God granted Librada’s wish, and she miraculously grew a beard. After her suitor rejected her, Librada’s father, enraged, had her tortured and crucified. She is typically depicted as a bearded woman nailed to a crucifix, though her beard is absent in this tiny print from 1700s Mexico.
Librada’s crucifixion was interpreted as an imitation of Christ’s and made her a popular model in New Spain. She is also the patron saint of women seeking freedom from abusive men. The diminutive scale of this work suggests that it was used in contemplative prayer.
Courtesy of Denver Art Museum
Librada’s crucifixion was interpreted as an imitation of Christ’s and made her a popular model in New Spain. She is also the patron saint of women seeking freedom from abusive men. The diminutive scale of this work suggests that it was used in contemplative prayer.
Courtesy of Denver Art Museum
About the Artist
As a writer, her early works focused on research-based books about the culture and churches of Northern New Mexico, along with a memoir about growing up in Santa Fe in the 1950s. A number of years ago she began to write a mysteries series based around Santa Fe featuring Jemimah Hodge, a forensic psychologist. She is currently working on the fifth of the series. The romantic novel about the Pueblo Revolt began as a screenplay over ten years ago when she was a student at Lesley College in Boston. Since then she has developed it into a novel.
Her works of art are in the following collections: Museum of International Folk Art; The Albuquerque Museum; Museum of Spanish Colonial Art; the Smithsonian Institute; The Vatican; The Archdiocese of Santa Fe; The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and many private collections.
