268. MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY: Santo Sightings in Shops and Homes

AN IVORY CALVARIO SCENE.

Hobbies such as antique collecting can lead you to unexpected adventures, bringing you to ancestral residences, dealers’ homes and warehouses, thus affording you unexpected glimpses of Philippine religious art . Such examples are featured here, taken from as far as decades back.

MADONNA & CHILD, ivory masks and hands.

SAN ROQUE, in the folk style.

FOLK DOLOROSA and IVORY SAN LORENZO MARTIR

PACIENCIA, wooden processional.

Many of these items are long gone, some have gotten away, acquired by antique shops, and sold to collectors. Many still, are kept by the owners as part of their family heirlooms, lovingly cared whether folksy or fancy, in shabby or in pristine condition. Between then and now, I will not be surprised if a few of these have already been lost—either to theft, disasters or the ravages of time.

SAN VICENTE FERRER, NINO JESUS, AND ANTONIO DE PADUA

CRISTO BUSTO

IVORY DOLOROSA

IVORY CRUCIFIX, for home devotion.

All will agree though that these examples of Philippine sacred art are  glorious expressions of our faith, for to behold such beauty is to see the Light.

SAGRADA FAMILIA, ivory head and hands,

INMACULADA CONCEPCION, ivory head.

SAN ROQUE, classically carved wooden santo

STA. MARIA MAGDALENA, processional santo.

206. ESTEBAN SAMPZON, An 18th Century Filipino Carver in Argentina

CHRIST OF HUMILITY AND PATIENCE, ca. 1788-93, Attributed to Esteban Sampzon, polychrome and wood, h.99 cm.(3 ft. 3 in.) Church of La Merced, Buenos Aires, Argentina. PHOTO FROM: ART OF COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA, by Gauvin Alexander Bailey.Phaidon Press, p. 64. 

 Esteban Sampzon (fl. 1773-1800) is perhaps, the earliest Overseas Filipino religious sculptor who found work in Argentina, South America in the late 1700s, as documented by the Spanish art historian, Enrique Marcon Dorta. A birth record under his name exists in the parish of San Bartolome in Malabon.

Virtually nothing is known of his early life in the Philippines, or whether he received his artistic training there. Most likely, Sampzon reached Spanish America via the Manila Galleon or Brazil. He was already known making a living as a carver n Buenos Aires in 1773, when he was recorded living in a monastery in Santo Domingo.

 Specializing in extremely naturalistic sculptures of saints characterized by a powerful sense of emotion, Sampzon became one of the leading sculptors of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata. In 1778, he identified himself as “escultor de profesion y de condicion indio de la China”. He was already married to one Bernardina Hidalgo when he moved to Cordoba between 1787 and 1807, after receiving commissions from the Dominicans.

 In 1788, he was involved in a lawsuit after an injury. This resulted in his arrest on orders from Mayor Francisco Antonio González of Cordoba, and a trial ensued before the Royal Audiencia. Sampzon won his case and received financial compensation. After all, he was highly regarded as a creator of sacred images for the Church .

 The rest of his life were spent between the cities of Cordoba and Buenos Aires. Blindness and disease took their toll on this gifted Filipino artisan; he sold some of his property and settled in Buenos Aires, where he died circa 1830.

 Sampzon’s style reflects that of the iconographic tradition of Spanish Juan Martinez Montanes and other Baroque masters. His works are described as imbued “with a certain calmness and rhythmic facial treatment”, typical of Chinese-Filipino talleres of the seventeenth century. His realistic anatomical treatment of figures were also noted.

WORKS ATTRIBUTED TO SAMPZON:
• Christ of Humility and Patience (Church of La Merced)\
• San Judas Tadeo, (Church of la Merced, ”un San Judas tadeo, Buena escultura de Esteban Sampzon, escultor Filipino, fue regalado en 1803 por Francisco del Escalado”)
• Christ of the Good Death • Santo Domingo Penitent (Fernández Blanco Museum, Buenos Aires. The penitent is depicted naked, characterized by a finely carved hair, though not as fine as those in Sampzon’s native land)
• San Matias, Lucas, Marcos, Juan, (the 4 Evangelists, Cathedral of Córdoba, Córdoba

 SOURCES:
ART OF COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA, by Gauvin Alexander Bailey.Phaidon Press, Ltd. 2005, p. 64. 
POWER + FAITH + IMAGE, by Regalado Jose & Ramon Villegas, Ayala Foundation. (c) 2004.

172. Holy Week Santos: SENOR DE LA PACIENCIA

One of the most moving images processioned during the Lenten season is the image of a seated Christ, right after he was scourged, crowned and cloaked. It is a depiction of him right after Pilate brought Jesus out and presented him before the crowd with the words, "Behold the Man!" (Ecce Homo in Latin).

This image of Senor de la Paciencia (or Paciencia, as simply known in the Philippines) is just one of the many variations of the Ecce Homo representation. Some tableaus represent the entire scene -- with Pilate and his soldiers, a bound and bleeding Jesus in his crown and cloak, and a crowd led by priests.

Others present only the figure of a bound Jesus, either with the cloak and crown. Spanish and Latin American countries have a longer appellation for this seated Christ:  El Cristo de la Humildad y Paciencia (Christ of Humility and Patience).

On a low stone seat an exhausted Jesus sits bound and crowned with thorns, wearing a loin cloth, a rope yoke, and a red or purple cloak and holding a reed scepter.In Mexico, people call these santos  El Dios or Señor de la Peña ("The God of Suffering").

Philippine images conform closely to this depiction of the Paciencia: local santos show the tired, sad Jesus seated with his hands on his chin, in deep contemplation of his inevitable fate that is forthcoming. His hands are often bound together, but there are representations that show him with hands free, with one hand holding a reed scepter as a symbol of mockery.

There are no no references in any of the gospels that has Jesus seated at any time after the crowning with thorns, but the seated Jesus may derive from a misreading of John 19:13, where Pilate once again takes Jesus out in front of the crowd and "he sits down on the judgment seat" (Pilatus ergo cum audisset hos sermones adduxit foras Iesum et sedit pro tribunali). 

Shown here is a selection of Paciencia images--some antiques, some contemporary, from different parts of the Philippines.

(Photos taken by Dr. Raymund Feliciano and entrusted to the author)