Mexican Viceregal School (XVIII) - Saint Raphael, the Archangel

- Oil on canvas. Lined fabric.

- In the vast panorama of evangelization and religious life in Spanish colonial America, the figure of the archangels enjoyed a unique preeminence, transcending their celestial role to become pillars of religious syncretism. These "divine warriors" offered indigenous and mestizo populations a powerful parallel with their own tutelary deities and war figures, thus facilitating a syncretic cult that was tolerated, and sometimes promoted, as a means of indoctrination. In this context of cultural and religious exchange, their attributes became imbued with multiple meanings, a phenomenon that extends from popular devotion to practices bordering on heterodoxy.

This exquisite example, from the Mexican school, presents Saint Raphael the Archangel adorned with meticulously crafted symbolism. The fish, his canonical attribute, refers directly to the Book of Tobit and prophetic healing; however, it is also accompanied by the pomegranate, a clear emblem of the Resurrection and eternal life. Particularly eloquently, the Archangel also carries an empanada or corn tortilla, a cultural borrowing that elevates the indigenous staple to the status of a metaphor for the eternal nourishment of the Eucharist, thus fusing Christian sacredness with American earthly sustenance. Following the refined fashion of late 17th-century Spanish portraits, the figure is inscribed within an elaborate oval architectural plinth, lending the image a courtly and Baroque dignity.

- Unframed image dimensions: 56 x 75 cm / 71 x 91 cm with custom handcrafted baroque-inspired gold frame.

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