Attributed to José Rafael Aragón (ca. 1795–1862). <em>Crucifix</em>, ca. 1820–1862. Pine, leather, gesso, water-based paints, Cross: 22 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (57.2 x 36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 02.257.2427. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 02.257.2427_SL1.jpg)

Attributed to José Rafael Aragón (ca. 1795–1862). Crucifix, ca. 1820–1862. Pine, leather, gesso, water-based paints, Cross: 22 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (57.2 x 36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 02.257.2427. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 02.257.2427_SL1.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Can you tell me more about this?

Churches in Spanish New Mexico started being decorated with native craftspeople rather than with paintings and furniture imported from Europe in the 1750s and the cross is an example of a typical decoration, created from a local pine wood.

This object comes from a very interesting place and time, when the Southwest was Spanish.

At the time, churches were being decorated with work by native craftspeople rather than with European imports. So this was crafted with indigenous pine wood and local leather.

One aspect of this work that I really love is the unconventional imagery: it's almost as if Christ is standing on top of the Sacred Heart. Aragon did not have training in Academic conventions, so he was very inventive with how he was using Biblical imagery.

Crucifix

Arts of the Americas

From about 1750, Catholic churches in Spanish New Mexico were increasingly decorated with the work of native craftspeople rather than with paintings, sculpture, and furniture imported from Europe. This small santo (saint's image) is typical of the locally produced objects. It is made of indigenous pine and painted with water-based pigments used by native artisans. The artist, José Rafael Aragón, who often invented new arrangements of traditional symbols, here placed an image of the Sacred Heart just below Christ's feet.

MAKER Attributed to José Rafael Aragón, ca. 1795–1862

MEDIUM Pine, leather, gesso, water-based paints

Place Made: New Mexico, United States

DATES ca. 1820–1862

DIMENSIONS Cross: 22 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (57.2 x 36.8 cm) Figure: 14 x 11 1/4 in. (35.6 x 28.6 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER 02.257.2427

CREDIT LINE Brooklyn Museum Collection

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Painted, wooden figure of Christ on the Cross with the Sacred Heart of Christ at his feet and painted cherub faces at each end of the horizontal bar of the cross.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Attributed to José Rafael Aragón (ca. 1795–1862). Crucifix, ca. 1820–1862. Pine, leather, gesso, water-based paints, Cross: 22 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (57.2 x 36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 02.257.2427. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 02.257.2427_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 02.257.2427_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Can you tell me more about this?

This object comes from a very interesting place and time, when the Southwest was Spanish.

At the time, churches were being decorated with work by native craftspeople rather than with European imports. So this was crafted with indigenous pine wood and local leather.

Collection Menu

Crucifix

Arts of the Americas

TAGS

TAGS

Collection Menu

Crucifix

Arts of the Americas

TAGS

TAGS

RELATED OBJECTS