339. FACES OF CHRIST

FACE OF CHRIST, Small painting on canvas. (PC)

As imagined by man, and created by hands both trained, unschooled and self-taught. Here are His Holy Images, captured in Western classical paintings, Mexican tin retablos, Philippine icons, and various portraits on wood, canvas, cloth and glass.

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SAGRADO CORAZON, by unknown Filipino painter. (PC)

HOLY FACE, vintage painting, after the Shroud of Turin. (PC)

ECCE HOMO, 19th C.pastel on board, U.S. (PC)

CHRIST BEARING HIS CROSS, Oil on canvas, 19thc, (PC)

BEHOLD THE MAN! 1940s U.S.painting, (PC)

ECCE HOMO, Undated and anonymous Phil. painting
sighted at a Tiendesitas antique shop.

SACRED HEART, American vintage painting on ebay.

ECCE HOMO, Reverse painting on glass, 19th c. (PC)

STO. ENTIERRO, painting on tin, Philippines (PC)

AGONY IN THE GARDEN, '50S painting (PC)

ORACION, by Domingo Celis, 1950s, (PC)

VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS,
Station of the Cross, painting on tin, 1900s. (PC)

*PC = Personal Collection, all others, from private collections and shops.

236. Santo Stories: SAGRADO CORAZON DE JESUS y STA. MARGARITA MARIA ALACOQUE of the Dela Cruz Family

The city of Mabalacat in Pampanga resides an antique devotional tableau rarely seen in private homes. The two-figure tableau depicts the apparition of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Beginning on 27 December 1673, St. Margaret Mary received private revelations of the Sacred Heart.

 The images were inspired by this divine vision that has been traditionally visualized in old holy cards showing the French nun, Margaret Mary, kneeling in front of Jesus Christ exposing his heart.

 They were commissioned by the couple Vicente dela Cruz (b.9 Sep. 1888) and wife, Felipa Lim, prominent sugar planters and entrepreneurs, who own one of the largest residences in the city—complete with a high tower.

 The de la Cruzes have always had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but they chose to include the image of the visionary nun, St. Margaret Mary.

The lifesize statues possibly date from the late to early 30s, and they have a gothic feel in the way the images were carved. Many miracles have been attributed to these images.

During the War, the tower house of the Dela Cruzes was commandeered by Japanese military leaders and transformed it into their headquarters. At  the time of the Liberation, when the Japanese learned that the Americans were coming to take back Mabalacat, they threaten to burn the house as well as the whole town.

The Dela Cruz household prayed and invoked the name of the Sacred Heart to deliver the house from fire. As it turned out, the enemy forces fled the town in panic, leaving the house unscathed. In more recent times, when the heavy roof of the tower was blown off by a typhoon, it fell on a vacant spot on the yard, safely away from nearby apartments and houses around the mansion.

 The Dela Cruz heirs continue to lend the images to the Church of the Divine Grace for the annual feast of the Sacred Heart, where it is processioned on its own carroza.

142. IMMACULATE HEART OF JESUS & MARY

I took Friday off last week as I thought I needed a longer weekend to recover from the stress of writing, presenting, pre-producing and shooting a couple of commercials. I had not planned on going out on that day—until my Plaridel dealer texted me about some items in his shop “that may be of some interest to me”. I usually dismiss nebulous messages like this—in the past, a dealer had sounded me off about “great vintage paintings” he had, but when I rushed to check, they were just awful paper prints.

When I got there, the first items I saw and, which I eventually took home, was this unusual set of busts representing the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Jesus, in a classic 1950s urna.

The busts, all of 8 inches high, are made of high quality plaster and they have retained their brilliant colors through the years. They are screwed onto the base of the simple, but well-assembled urna.

There are charming home-made flower decorations inside the urna, fashioned from cloth and plastic flowers, with small bottles and caps servings as vases. The backboard of the urna has been pasted on with various estampitas of Agony in the Garden, Virgin of Lourdes and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

A souvenir fold-out paper fan commemorating the blessing of the Redemptorist Shrine in Baclaran in 1952 (and where Our Lady of Perpetual Help is the center of devotion) is also attached to the backboard.

The excellent condition of the santos and the urna's contents attest to the care that the previous owners had for this private devotional piece and I am fortunate to have acquired it for such a reasonable price.

132. Private Devotions: CRISTO REDENTOR of Familia Llacer-Teotico

ENTHRONEMENT OF CHRIST THE REDEEMER OF THE LLACER-TEOTICO FAMILY, 20 October 1925.

A rarely-seen representation of Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) in a standing position, holding a cross, owned by the Llacer-Teotico family. It is possible that the Teotico side of the family is related to the acclaimed multi-awarded sculptor from Sta. Cruz, Manila, Domingo Teotico. He had a religious statuary shop along Palma St. in Quiapo.

Christ the Redeemer is carved in the round, and stands on a magnificent cloud base adorned with 4 cherubs. The plain cross he holds in His left hand stands out from the classically-carved image dressed in white robes wth decorative gilding on the edges. The other hand is raised in benediction. Normally, the exposed heart is not part of the iconography of Christ the Redeemer, but the sculptor probably took creative license and carved the sacred heart in relief.The most iconic image of Christ as the redeemer of the world is the giant marble statue in Brazil, which today is recognized as one of the world's seven wonders.

Christ is the world’s Redeemer, 

The lover of the pure, 

The font of heavenly wisdom, 

Our trust and hope secure, 

The armor of his soldiers 

The Lord of earth and sky, 

Our health while we are living, 

Our life when we shall die.

(--attributed to St. Columba)

122. SACRED HEART MADE REAL

This wooden Christ head with matching hands is one of the earliest antique santo heads that I bought for my collection. I had forgotten where I got it, but it was definitely from a Mabini antique shop and that I paid Php 6,000 for it, inclusive of the damaged hands, which I thought was just too much then.

The head itself shows some wear and wood damage at the neck. But the original encarna, though a bit scruffy, is intact, which shows that the santo head is really old, my only reason for buying it. I was not particularly impressed by the carving and I thought the narrow-faced Christ was a bit ‘cross-eyed’. 

By surprise, I found a similar Christ head in the workshop of Mang Kiko Vecin—a twin, in fact, with the same narrow head, same ‘banlag’ (cross-eyed) eyes and shallow beard carving—leading me to believe  that these were mass-produced heads from some early 20th century Manila religious shop.

Nevertheless, I took it home and for the longest time, I kept figuring what to do with it. The hands with missing fingers bore wounds. It could be a Sacred Heart, although popular depictions show Christ with a raised pointing finger. I could also have it made into a Salvador del Mundo, standing on a half-globe with arms outstretched. Christ the King was another possibility, a standing one, like that from Vigan. But since I had other priorities, I put this Cristo project momentarily in the sidelines.

 

Two years ago, an officer from our church asked to borrow a Christ the King image from me. But the only one I had was an altar-size seated Cristo Rey in an urna, too small for church use. This year, I was once again asked if I had a Sacred Heart Christ that I can lend for church use.

 

It was then that I decided to proceed with the restoration project for a Sacred Heart statue, using the antique Cristo head and hands—convertible to a standing Cristo Rey image!

Off to Mang Kiko Vecin I went, for the construction of the body. I thought it would be an easy task, as it took only three weeks for the carvers to make the body.

The finishing was done in another week or so—followed by the drying process. I had earlier told Mang Kiko to have the body painted and white, but when I was called to check on it—the body was painted blue!

 

That was no big deal compared to the retouching of the head.  The head had some discolorations and pockmarked holes, but Mr. Vecin wanted to preserve the original encarna by just doing  light washes on the facial scruffs. But the encarnador couldn’t get the right mix of color right, and the first attempt had the Cristo head looking like it had  ‘an-an’ (ringworm) all over the face! 

The damages on the wood couldn’t be repaired completely by putty or epoxy, until I suggested the use of clay epoxy which I recently discovered and which can be easily be placed in crevices and molded by hand. The hands were no problem at all, although the painter had the same color mixing problems.

 

The new,  flaming Sacred Heart to be set on Christ’s breast was carved separately and then set on brass rays. The image, standing on a simple half globe base, measures 52 inches from the top of Christ’s head to the bottom of His peaña. 

Dressing up the image was next.
Since I wanted a set of no-frills vestment, I asked Ramon Gutierrez to create the robes of the completed Sacred Heart, to be done in traditional colors of white (for the tunic) and bright red (for the cape, with a pink lining).  The draping was also conventional, with the cape tucked under the armpit, with one end over the shoulder. As Sacred Heart, the image now looks like this:

Meanwhile, the other metal accessories that will help transform this Christ image into a standing Cristo Rey were ordered separately from my pukpok (metalsmith) boy from Mexico, Jeric Canlas. Specifically, the image needs a royal crown, a scepter and an orb.

A few more weeks of work and my Christ image--as Cristo Rey-- was ready to be installed at the Divine Grace Church, in time for the Nov. 13 Christ the King celebration.

I am happy with the results of the restoration, and happier still with the convertible transformation—from Sacred Heart to Christ the King. Viva Cristo Rey! Viva Sagrada Corazon de Jesus!