PAST EXHIBITION

A Century of Retablos: The Janis and Dennis Lyon

October 6, 2007—January 27, 2008

A rich tradition of religious painting flourished in New Mexico during the years prior to statehood in 1912. These colorful, narrative panels, or retablos, depict Christian saints and holy figures and were worshiped in churches and private homes. Their heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries remains a largely overlooked episode of the history of art in New Mexico. The exhibition features for the first time approximately 90 painted wood panels from one of the finest private collections of retablos in the world. The exhibition is accompanied by a 240-page, full-color catalog written by Charles Carrillo and Father Thomas Steele, the recognized experts in the field. Together, their research sheds new light on the social history and artistic significance of colonial retablos, examining not only the physical and aesthetic nature of the decorative panels, but also the ways these objects were used in churches and as private devotional objects.

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