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Our Lady of the Rosary

Original Language TitleNuestra Senora del Rosario
Artist José Manuel Benavides (Mexican, ca. 1789-after 1845)
Dateca. 1830-1840
MediumPolychrome wood and cloth
DimensionsOverall: 31 inches (78.74 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number33-1344
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 210
Collections
Exhibition History
New Mexican Santos,[1] Charlotte Crosby Kemper Gallery at the Kansas City Art Institute, November 16–December 7, 1971,[2] no cat.


Frontier America: the Far West, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 23-March 16, 1975; The Denver Art Museum, April 16-June 1, 1975; The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, July 2-August 17, 1975; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, September 17-November 2, 1975; Milwaukee Art Museum, December 5, 1975-January 18, 1976, no. 214.

 

Inventing the Southwest: The Fred Harvey Company and Native American Art, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ, September 30, 1995-May 4, 1997; Albuquerque Museum, June 15, 1997-August 31, 1997; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, October 30, 1997-January 4, 1998; Autry Museum of Western Heritage, February 7, 1998-April 19, 1998, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, June 13, 1998-September 6, 1998, unnumbered.



[1]  This is a description of the exhibition, not the official title. It comes from a letter written by one lender to the curator or registrar at KCAI.

[2] The opening date is documented as November 16 in the letter referred to in the previous note, but the exhibition closing date is unknown. December 7 is the date of a document acknowledging the return of the Nelson-Atkins’ loans.



Gallery Label
Devotional sculpture played a key role in religious life throughout the Spanish colonies of North America, which included today's southwestern United States.  Believed to possess miraculous powers, these artworks speak powerfully to the Roman Catholic foundations of New Spain.  Such sculptures (bultos) were carved by workshop artisans (santeros), most of whom remain anonymous.

An exception is this fine sculpture that has been recently attributed to José Manuel Benavides, who was active in the region now called New Mexico.  Following tradition, it presents the Virgin Mary frontally and dressed in an elaborate gown.  A crown once adorned her head, and her gestures indicate that she originally held a rosary in her right hand and the Christ child in her left arm. 
Published References

Frontier America: the Far West, exh. cat. (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1975), 153, 221.

 

Kathleen L. Howard and Diana F. Pardue in cooperation with the Heard Museum, Inventing the Southwest: The Fred Harvey Company and Native American Art (Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing, 1996), 16-17.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.