San Francisco Xavier

A version of the Virgin Mary

In Hispanic Catholic tradition a bulto is a carved statue of a saint as opposed to an image of a saint or santo painted on a flat board (retablo).  The bulto shown above is carved in cottonwood root and sealed with a coating Plaster of Paris with a final coat of latex paint.  Traditionally, in creating a santo, gypsum was mixed with hand made rabbit hide glue and brushed over cottonwood to fill in imperfections in the wood.  After several coats and a vigorus sanding with a coarse material, usually a rock, the santo was painted with hand made pigments of natural materials.

 

San Francisco Xavier

Saint Francis Xavier was a student at the University of Paris and  "one of the first companions" 1  of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the founding of the Jesuits.This bulto is carved of cottonwood root from the Verde River in Arizona and sealed with plaster such as the Virgin Mary above.  The final coat is latex paint. It is a faithful reproduction of a similar bulto by the artist's teacher, Howard Shupe, whose restrained comment on the  copy was "you did good."   

St, Francis Xavier by Howard Shupe

The St.Francis Xavier reproduction will be offered for sale on the Seven Roads Gallery Website under the category folk art.

1.Santos and Saints by Thomas J. Steele S.J.   Ancient City Press, 1994