196. ST. LOUIS Of FRANCE: The King Who Would Be Saint

ST. LOUIS, KING & CONFESSOR. A small figure of the King of France, rendered in bone, stands 6 inches high, on a wooden base. Ca. 1900s. Personal Collection.

I graduated from Saint Louis University in Baguio City, Northern Philippines, and in the whole time I was there, I really never bothered to find out about the saint after whom our school was named. There was a confusion of some sorts as to who the real patron was; our university exam booklets for example, has the profile of San Luis Gonzaga (St. Aloysius Gonzaga) of Italy illustrated on the cover. Then, there is the university seal (Sword and Shield) which is described as having the "stylized lily associated with St. Aloysius Gonzaga, the patron of the school".

The school, however, was founded by CICM (Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae) missionaries from Belgium, so they could not have chosen a Italian saint for its patron. It made more sense to name the school after a French saint--King Louis of France. He was born in 1214, in Poissy, France to parents Louis VIII, and Blanche, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castille.

He was barely 12 when he lost his father, so his mother assumed the regentship and took over in raising her Louis, instilling in him the virtue of holiness in his thought and deeds. At 20, he married Margaret, the daughter of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence, with whom he had 11 children. Two years later, he took over the reins of the government of France.

He headed several crusaded, but in 1238, he was captured by Mohammedans but was able to return to France. He attempted another crusade in the East in 1267, but this time, he would never return. In 1270, he caught a sickness in Tunis and died after receiving the last sacraments.

 

In his reign, Louis had a vision to make France as the most eminent of all Catholic nations in Europe. He built religious edifices like the famous monsatery of Royamount and the convent of Maubuisson. He was responsible for the purchase of the Holy Crown of Thorns relics from the Eastern emperor at Constantinople. He heard Masses twice a day, and was surrounded with priests during his travels. He outlawed usury, forbade private wars between his feudal vassals and was renowned for charity.

This representation of him--an ebay find--was carved from a singular piece of narrow bone that resembles ivory. The slim figure is carved in the round and shows the crowned royalty holding a book. Other attributes include a sword and a shield representing his authority. He is often attired in royal robes with golden fleur-de-lis (the "stylized lily" described in our university's crest). The carving is signed with the name of the maker, "Louis Plesey", a namesake of the saint.

St. Louis is the patron saint of barbers and grooms, and is invoked against the death of children. The royal saint's feast day falls on Augut 25.

195. Heads Up: SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL

One of the very first santo heads that I got when I started my santo collection was this medium-sized head of San Miguel Arcangel (St. Michael Archangel). The head itself is about 10 inches tall, and seems to have been meant for a fully carved (tallado) body. San Miguel is always depicted in full battle gear as he fights the Devil, so he wears a helmet topped with a flower carved in relief.

Outfiitted with glass eyes and carved hair that sports a knot at the back, this San Miguel head has very patrician features, as evident from his straight, aquiline nose and a stern, almost emotion-less expression. I had to do a double take when I saw this head up for sale in a Baguio antique shop in the late 80s. I thought it first to be so unattractive; the thought of buying a santo fragment was rather unappealing to me back then.

I am glad though I got ut (for the princely sum of Php 350)!). San Miguels of this size are hard to come by; if complete, this would have been suitable for display in a church or for a procession. It would certainly have cut quite a fine figure, especially with its battle stance--holding down the Devil with one foot while in the act of thrusting a spear (or brandishing a sword)  into his nemesis.

While a popular and an important angel saint, only a scarce number of devotional santos of San Miguel in private homes. People are familiar with his imagery through the Ginebra San Miguel gin label, which has attained an iconic status in Philippine pop culture. The original "Markang Demonyo" label was drawn  for La Tondena Company, by no less than National Artist, Fernando Amorsolo, when he was but a fine arts student.

"Ang inumin ng tunay na lalake" was Ginebra's slogan. It could also very well apply to San Miguel Arcangel, the protector , the equalizer, the warrior angel--who always fought his very best in the battle of good versus evil--like a "tunay na lalake".

194. HE IS RISEN: Resureccion Restored

RISE AND SHINE. The newly-restored Resurrecion found in a Manila estate sale. Save for the staff which needs a new banner, the restoration, undertaken by Dr. Raffy Lopez, was done in under  a month. The image dates from the early '50s.

This 32 inch wooden Risen Christ figure came to me in this sorry state, from a Manila estate sale. It was unkempt and dirty, with an old hanky for a loincloth, with metal parts missing and corroded.

 Though not so old—it dates from the 1950s—it featured a refined carving style, the ultra-slim figure showing pleasingly lithe proportions.

The physique of Christ itself is noteworthy for its lean and long lines, looking perfect from all angles.

The face, gaunt and thin from his mortal ordeal, shows a calm demeanor, neither smiling nor exhibiting sorrow. This, after all is the Risen Christ, symbol of rebirth, of renewal.

Standing on a traditional cloud base, the Christ figure stands 22 inches tall, obviously made for home devotion. Its right hand is raised in blessing, the other holding a rusted banner, with the pennant missing. 

Upon acquisition of this piece, it was immediately whisked off to my santo restorer for diagnostics.

It would seem there was little to restore—some missing fingers, paint losses, unstable parts—but as it turned out, the santo needed a major overhaul.

As was always the case, I was sent updates through photos sent through my phone. After a month, the restoration was finished!

My Christ of the Resurrection—the central figure of the Easter Sunday Salubong---rises again!!

193. AN IVORY VIRGIN MYSTERY

WHO CAN SHE BE? An antique ivory-faced Virgin, with missing parts, surfaced in the market a few years ago. Her identification remains a mystery, but I suspect she represents "Our Lady of Light", and not "Our Lady of Consolation", as she was previously named by the seller.

 The identification of santos seem simple enough; one need only to look at his emblems and attributes to pin down his/her identity. A more diligent study is needed when the major attributes are missing—the attitude of the saint, his facial features, the pose of his hands, the color of the garment--can help in the identification process.

It is easy to assume that santos in a tableau (an assemblage of more than one holy figure) are easier to identify ( e.g. Crucifixion, Holy Trinity, Coronation of the Virgin), but not in the case of this ivory Marian tableau, whose identity continues to baffle me.

The dealer who showed this to me told me it was a Virgen del Carmen. At first glance, it did look like Our Lady of Mount Carmel—for it featured a small bearded ivory figure emerging from what looked like the fires of purgatorio (purgatory). The depiction of souls in purgatory are usually represented with half-bodies engulfed by flames and European paintings often include these souls (anima sola) with the image of the Virgen del Carmen.

But then, Virgen del Carmen is often represented in brown vestments, and is shown seated with a Nino—much unlike this standing Virgin in gold-embroidered clothes. Also, if this were a Virgen del Carmen, her right hand would have been in a grasping pose, to hold a scapular.

This observation then, led me to think that this was Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. I have seen figures of souls in the representations of the Virgen del Rosario, a known intercessor in saving souls from the flames of purgatory.

 However, when I further examined the figure of the man with outstretched hand at the base of the santo, I was surprised to see a pair of eyes on his back. A closer scrutiny clearly showed that the eyes were part of the features of a demon creature about to swallow up the hapless soul!! This unusual scene is depicted in the representation of Our Lady of Light or Ntra. Sra. De la Salavacion, simply here in the Philippines as Salvacion.

 “Salvacion”was one of the favorite Christian images of veneration introduced by the Jesuits, closely associated with their missionary work in Europe and in America. The inspiration for this image came from Palermo, Italy, where Jesuit Giovanni Antonio Genovese asked a nun to create the most effective visual representation for this devotion. The nun saw the image in her vision and had an artist paint it. The painting was housed in the Leon Cathedral in 1732.

 In the Salvacion tableau, a standing Virgin holding the Child Jesus would have her right, outstretched hand snatching a soul from the mouth of a demon—which would have been consistent with this figure, save for the pose of her right hand—the manikin hand could have been repositioned at some time.

 Opposite this—emerging from the cloudy base as seen in this tableau-- would have been the figure of a winged angel offering a basket of hearts, symbolizing saved souls. A pair of smaller angels would have hovered above the Virgin’s head, ready to crown her.

It would have been easy to verify this—there would have been holes or remnants of dowels and wires on the back of the Virgin that are tell-tale signs by which the angels were attached to the body of the Virgin . Unfortunately, this tableau was sold soon, so there is no way to examine the tableau and ascertain the image’s true identity.

 Our Lady of Light is invoked for protection against storms, plagues and other natural disasters. In modern times, she is the patron of electricians.

192. Santo Networking: AN ANTIQUE IVORY SAN JOSE ON FACEBOOK

SAN JOSE IS NOW ON FACEBOOK. An antique ivory San Jose found for sale on a facebook group, bought and restored to its full 25" glory, with embroidered vestments, gold-plated metal accessories, and a new gilt base. Personal Collection.

 The social networking site, Facebook, is perhaps the strangest place to find an antique treasure, an ivory santo to be specific. Sure there are facebook groups devoted to processional santos and other religious imageries, but to find an antique ivory San Jose for sale in the site is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

 But thank God for a facebook group called Pinoy Pickers Online—an association of like-minded individuals who like showing off, and selling their thrift shop and second hand store picks. A motley assemblage of stuff are peddled here—mostly refuse from old homes, odds and ends that include Coca Cola items, vintage jewelry to appliance junk, vinyl records, toys and, if one is lucky, old devotional art such as the one I discovered here.

 A Seller had posted a picture of old religious items grouped together, but sold individually. Everyone, it seems, was asking about the Santo Nino, the Virgin Mary and the collectible Bible prominently featured in the foreground. Nobody was paying attention to a rather squat-looking San Jose behind these wooden statuaries.

One look and I knew the face of the midget San Jose, originally described by the Seller as carved from deer horn, was in fact, made of ivory—and that was all that mattered to me.

I quickly contacted the Seller and was glad to learn that the San Jose was available. Upon my request, he sent additional information and photos—which confirmed that, indeed, the head was of whole ivory.

Unfortunately, the hands were wooden, but this did not bother me at all, as the heft and size of the ivory head (2.5 inches) more than made up for its flaws—which also include a disproportionately short wooden body, wire armature arms, a wig made of wiry abaca, and a halo fashioned from a twisted copper wire.

 The image was wearing its original green satin vestment that was beyond repair, and it stood on an ordinary box base stained to simulate wood grain. In all, the image stood only 16 inches, inclusive of the base. After a few phone calls, a deal was sealed between us and the image was mine!

The Seller was kind enough to make a bus trip from Laguna to Makati, just so he could personally deliver the antique ivory San Jose to me. The face of San Jose was beautifully carved, and the details of the facial features were outstanding. I lost no time in contracting the services of my santero for the repair and restoration of this fine San Jose.

 Major restoration began with elongating the manikin body of the saint through wooden augmentations done on both the torso and the leg area.

 A tall lotus base, gilded in gold, was commissioned separately to replace the boxy platform on where the image originally was mounted. Also, a new pair of ivory hands were ordered in lieu of the wooden ones that visibly didn’t fit the proportion of the image.

As for the vestment, my instructions were for a more elaborate design, which would entail more gold embroidery.

This would up the cost of restoration, but I think the quality of this San Jose warranted a bit more of extravagance!

 I had my first view of the almost-completed santo through a series of texted photos on my phone. 

Completing the ensemble was a jusi wig and the metalworks: a small brass halo and a flowering staff plated in gold, a familiar attribute of San Jose.

The resulting restoration was very dramatic: from 16 inches, San Jose now stands 25 inches, from the tip of the halo to the bottom of the base.

 I have a number of ivory San Joses in my collection, but none as impressive-looking as this latest find. In fact, even my santo restorer asked me to give him priority should I decide to unload it in the near future.

One thing for sure, that is not bound to happen soon! I never had so many “Likes” for an antique ivory santo!

 But that is bound to happen to an ivory treasure that I amazingly, incredibly found—not in an antique shop –but on Facebook! Now that’s what I call santo networking!