Sil: Thanks so much! This is great stuff. I k...

2010-01-24T09:57:39.830-06:00

Sil:

Thanks so much! This is great stuff. I knew Santiago was popular in Latin America, but I had no idea the transformations he had made since arriving on those shores! I find it fascinating how the Matamoros image was adopted and adapted in so many different ways to suit the needs of different peoples. Saints are famous for this kind of fluidity. They fill the need that exists. And I guess it speaks to the imaginative and generative capability of humans, who will always find a way to make what they need out of what is at hand. Maybe I do, indeed, need some more shells to do James' iconography justice! Thanks again for all the information and wonderful images!

Jacob the fisherman evolved into the archetypal he...

2010-01-23T03:36:41.212-06:00

Jacob the fisherman evolved into the archetypal hero of Western culture. From San' Tiago Matamoros (killer of the Moors) to San Tiago Mataindios (killer of Indians) to San Tiago Mataespañois (killer of Spaniards) – everyone wanted him as their hero!
In Mexico City there is a carving from the altarpiece of the Church of Santiago Tlatelolco showing him as Santiago Mataindios - the Indian-slayer.
And although Christianity and the Catholic religion were taken to the Americas by the Spaniards, when Mexico fought to obtain its independence from Spain in 1810, San Tiago was exalted as Santiago Mataespañois - the slayer of Spaniards!
In Peru, during an indigenous uprising in 19th-century they adopted Santiago as its champion, using the "Matamoros" iconography of “Santiago Mataespañois” that in Peru had come to be associated with a pre-Columbian deity who drove out evil forces.
There is a mid-19thC silver statue of Santiago Mataespañois in the Museum of Pilgrimages in Santiago de Compostela.

http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/spain2005/mataespanoisSantiago.html

and another one – scroll down to under Ano 1998 - (as well as pictures of items from the museum) here:

http://www.mdperegrinacions.com/paxinas/historia.html

You can see the altarpiece of Santiago Mataindios here (click on the photo to enlarge it)

http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/bevans/Art454L-03-TlatelolcoXochimilc/I00004.html

You can see paintings of Santiago Matamoros and Mataindios together here:

http://www.huancainos.com/literatura/babelandes.htm

Perhaps you need three shells - one for the Apostle, one for the pilgrim and one for the warrior!

Comments on The Celery Museum: Of Saints and Pilgrims and the V(ogel)-Effekt

Sil: Thanks so much! This is great stuff. I k...

Jacob the fisherman evolved into the archetypal he...