In Biography of a Mexican Crucifix, Jennifer Hughes takes us on a journey through Mexican history with the people of Totolapan to help us understand their devotion to their patron saint, the Cristo Aparecido. For the devotees of the Cristo, the crucifix is the cornerstone of their religion, but the missionaries of Mexico used it as an opportunity to create a new, syncretic Christianity for the Indians. In this paper I will look at the conflicting implications between the crucifix as art and religion and argue that the lived religion approach does effectively help us to understand the tension between tradition, contact, and change.
“The Augustinian order, in particular, seems to have been committed to creating ever more impressive architectural …show more content…
Their convents, in comparison to the Aztec’s, were larger and intentionally built to rival the Aztec’s architecture, to which the Indians added a little of their artistic flare in the interior décor since they were primarily the builders. When they began replicating the cross they used many different materials, made them in 3-D, and varied the sizes to include smaller ones for personal use and were constructed with and without the presence of the Cristo. The focus of these artists was to capture and duplicate the beauty of the reported Cristo Aparecido received by Roa. When the image of Christ on the crucifix appeared at the door of the convent recorders of the event took note of how it had been delivered, “painted green, the color of life and vitality” (Hughes p. 24) and carefully wrapped. The way the image and its reproduction take …show more content…
The relationship between art and lived religion enabled me to envision the formation of not just a religion, but the faith of a people. Thanks to the author placing herself in the midst of the people of Totolapan to connect with them, their faith journey and devotion to the crucifix is made real to me and causes me to be more introspective about my relationship with my Christ. For them, the Cristo Aparecido is no longer art, but they reverence the image as the living Christ; not the memory of a risen or resurrected one. They Christ Appeared is who they remember and it is not the art that affects their devotion, but their devotion that influences the art and how they portray the Cristo
“The Augustinian order, in particular, seems to have been committed to creating ever more impressive architectural …show more content…
Their convents, in comparison to the Aztec’s, were larger and intentionally built to rival the Aztec’s architecture, to which the Indians added a little of their artistic flare in the interior décor since they were primarily the builders. When they began replicating the cross they used many different materials, made them in 3-D, and varied the sizes to include smaller ones for personal use and were constructed with and without the presence of the Cristo. The focus of these artists was to capture and duplicate the beauty of the reported Cristo Aparecido received by Roa. When the image of Christ on the crucifix appeared at the door of the convent recorders of the event took note of how it had been delivered, “painted green, the color of life and vitality” (Hughes p. 24) and carefully wrapped. The way the image and its reproduction take …show more content…
The relationship between art and lived religion enabled me to envision the formation of not just a religion, but the faith of a people. Thanks to the author placing herself in the midst of the people of Totolapan to connect with them, their faith journey and devotion to the crucifix is made real to me and causes me to be more introspective about my relationship with my Christ. For them, the Cristo Aparecido is no longer art, but they reverence the image as the living Christ; not the memory of a risen or resurrected one. They Christ Appeared is who they remember and it is not the art that affects their devotion, but their devotion that influences the art and how they portray the Cristo