Santo Retablo c. 1939

Emile Cero created this "Santo Retablo" painting on wood, sometime between 1855 and 1995. This piece offers a glimpse into the cultural and religious traditions of its time. The "Santo Retablo" presents us with a female saint rendered in simple, almost folk-art style. She is adorned in the garb of a nun, and she holds a staff, a symbol of her authority and guidance. Her presentation, particularly the inclusion of a prominent red heart, speaks to the deep emotional and spiritual connections between the devotees and their saints. In this context, it's important to think about how women in religious orders were often figures of both reverence and constraint. They had a unique, and perhaps the only sanctioned, position of power within a patriarchal structure. Cero's rendering of the saint, with her direct gaze and steadfast posture, acknowledges the agency and fortitude of these women. The “Santo Retablo” serves as a powerful reminder of the intersectional ways in which faith, gender, and cultural identity converge.