Lunette from Altar-Church at Llano Quemado Altar Rail-Church at Sanctuario, Chimayo 1935 - 1942

Here we see E. Boyd’s watercolor and graphite rendering of the ‘Lunette from Altar-Church at Llano Quemado Altar Rail-Church at Sanctuario, Chimayo’. Boyd created the work during a time of significant cultural change in the United States. As an artist and historian, Boyd dedicated much of her career to studying and preserving the traditional arts of the Spanish Colonial period in New Mexico. She was particularly interested in the ways in which these art forms reflected the unique cultural identity of the region’s inhabitants. Her work provides insight into the blending of indigenous and European artistic traditions. In this piece, Boyd captures the visual essence of a lunette, which features a dove surrounded by radiating lines, and a section of an altar rail from a church. We can feel Boyd's deep appreciation for the craftsmanship and cultural significance embedded in these objects. She documented them at a time when they were often overlooked or misunderstood. Boyd’s artwork invites us to reflect on how cultural traditions are maintained and transformed over time, and how art can serve as a powerful expression of community identity and spiritual belief.