Saint Benito Palermo
Date
1750-1825
Creator
Name(s) currently unknown
Location
Guatemala, GTM, Museo Popol Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquín (current location)
Introduction
This wood carving of a saint from Guatemala displays a sensitively carved head and hands, although the body has not received any special sculptural treatment. The statue, smaller than life size, is made of wood which has been painted and gilded.
Iconography
Saint Benito was born in Italy to parents who were Ethiopian slaves, converted to Christianity. His skin is thus typically depicted as dark. Because of his African connections, Saint Benito was one of the most honored saints by Afro-American communities across Spanish America. A Franciscan, Saint Benito wears the knotted belt of that order.
Patronage/Artist
It is likely the patrons of this image would have been a cofradía (religious confraternity) of African-Americans, a group not uncommon in Guatemala, as a result of slavery. In Peru, for instance, such a confraternity devoted to Saint Benito was founded in the late 17th century.
Material/Technique
The statue is made of wood that has been painted and gilded. This statue would have been part of a church ensemble, as a single figure in an altarpiece, or as one of many in a larger retable (retablo).
Cultural Interpretation
As a black saint, Saint Benito was particularly honored by African-American Christians across Spanish America, from Venezuela to Peru and Mexico to Guatemala. His life trajectory—from freed slave to venerated saint—made him an important model.
Photo credit
Reproduced courtesy of the Museo Popol Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala
Cite as
Dana Leibsohn and Barbara E. Mundy.
Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520-1820. http://www.fordham.edu/vistas, 2015.
Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520-1820. http://www.fordham.edu/vistas, 2015.
Selected bibliography
El País del Quetzal: Guatemala maya y hispana. 2002. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior.
Van Deusen, Nancy. 1999. “The ‘Alienated’ Body: Slaves and Castas in the Hospital de San Bartolomé in Lima, 1680-1700.” The Americas 56 (1): 1-30.
Van Deusen, Nancy. 1999. “The ‘Alienated’ Body: Slaves and Castas in the Hospital de San Bartolomé in Lima, 1680-1700.” The Americas 56 (1): 1-30.
Collection
Citation
“Saint Benito Palermo,” VistasGallery, accessed September 16, 2024, https://vistasgallery.ace.fordham.edu/items/show/1840.