Saturday, April 4, 2015

218. Santo Stories: STA. MARIA MAGDALENA OF APALIT, PAMPANGA

STA. MARIA MAGDALENA OF THE GONZALEZ FAMILY. Taken 25 November 1973. 

The original image of Apalit's Sta. Maria Magdalena had ivory head and hands, owned by Dr. Joaquin Gonzales (+1900) and Florencia Rodriguez Sioco (+1925). This 120 cm. Magdalena had her owned giltwood carroza. Bot image and carroza were inherited by their son, Augusto Sioco Gonzalez, who married Rosario "Charing" Arnedo, daughter of Pampanga's provincial governor, Macario Arnedo.

According to the recollections of the late father of descendant Mr. Toto Gonzalez, this original Magdalena was capeless; it was dressed entirely in embroidered burgundy velvet. It had a tiara of silver as well as a perfume bottle. Her accessories included real gold and diamond jewelry --- earrings, necklace, ring, and bracelets. It was always dressed by the female retainers of the family (never by the family members themselves) and was kept assembled the whole year through inside its glass case in a guest room filled with ivory santos in virinas.

This  Gonzalez-owned Sta. Maria Magdalena was unfortunately destroyed when the Americans dropped a bomb on the Gonzalez house in barrio Sulipan where Japanese army trucks were parked
(the bomb was actually intended for the Apalit bridge) on New Year's Day, 01 January 1942.


After the war, in late 1945, Dna. Charing commissioned "Talleres de Maximo Vicente"  to make a new Magdalena image and carroza, for Apalit, to replaced the lost ivory image. Maximo Vicente asked Charing Gonzalez for a photo of the original Magdalena but she had none; she simply gave him carte blanche to produce one. The result is a beautifully carved wooden image with an expressive face and hands, with an "encarna" that made her look Jewish. She stood at 5'6" tall without the 4" base.

The famed santero arrayed her with long hair of "jusi", a burgundy vestida and golden yellow cape with brass flowers dipped in silver then gold, and a double-plated (silver and gold) tiara. She holds her attribute, a  glass perfume bottle,  Vicente also provided a classical wooden carroza with silver-plated brass decorations and 1940s milk glass virinas. Mr. Toto Gonzalez remains the current caretaker of this exquisite Sta. Maria Magdalena, and she continues to lend her regal presence in the annual Holy Week processions of Apalit.

(Many thanks to Mr. Toto Gonzalez for providing the background information on Apalit's Sta. Maria Magdalena, and to Dr. Jojo Valencia for the 1973 photo.)

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