Hidden Gem of the Taos High Road: Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Las Truchas NM

Nuestra Señora del Rosario Church exterior, Truchas NM

Nuestra Señora del Rosario Church exterior, Truchas NM

Las Truchas, named after the trout found in its streams, is one of the small historic communities of New Mexico's Taos High Road.  This 56 mile road winds through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Santa Fe and Taos connecting the tiny Spanish Land Grant and Pueblo Indian villages in its path.  Initially built as a walled compound, Truchas was created in 1754 as a buffer to protect Santa Fe and Rio Grande villages from raids by roving Apache and Comanche bands. 

Las Truchas' church, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, was finished around 1805 and is still used for worship in the summer months.  It contains important altar screens (reredos) by famed New Mexican santeros Pedro Antonio Fresquis, the "Truchas Master", and Rafael Aragon. 

The adobe church is small and narrow, with a single aisle and wooden beam roof typical of New Mexican churches. A choir loft is present in the back of the church.

Nuestra Señora del Rosario Church, Truchas NM

Back of Church showing Choir Loft, Nuestra Señora del Rosario Church, Truchas NM,

The main altar, seen in the photos below, was created by the "Truchas Master", santero Pedro Antonio Fresquis between 1800-1818. The santero style was unique in the Colonial world for reasons I discuss in my  September 9, 2014 post  "Understanding New Mexico's Santos". ( Note that photos enlarge when clicked to better show detail).

Main Altar by "Truchas Master" Antonio Fresquis, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Truchas NM

Very top: God the Father- it is convention of place this image at the very top of altars.

Top row from viewer left to right:  San Juan Nepomuceno (St. John of Nepomuk, 14th century Bohemian saint), Our Lady of Carmel, Our Lady of the Rosary for whom the church is named, St. Francis, St. Gertrude the Great. 

Bottom row viewer L to R: St. John the Evangelist, St. Josep, empty niche, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Barbara.

The Latin inscriptions above the altar in the scroll-shaped pieces, Ave Maria and In Gratia Plena, are the opening words of the Hail Mary.  In front of the empty niche on the bottom row is a small bulto (statue) of the Crucified Jesus.

Bulto of Christ, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Truchas NM

Two beautiful bultos of the Virgin Mary are located on top of the front altar.

Bulto of Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Truchas NM

Bulto of Virgin of the Rosary, Nuestra Sen1ora del Rosario, Truchas NM

On a small table to the left of the altar is a bulto attributed to the Santo Niño Santero, who was most know for his exquisitely carved crucifixes.

Bulto of Jesus by Santo Niño Santero, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Truchas NM

On the wall the left of the main altar is a retablo by the famous and prolific santero Rafael Aragon, born in Santa Fe sometime between 1783 and 1790.  This retablo from viewer L to R shows St. Paul, Jesus and St. Peter.

Retablo by Rafael Aragon, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Truchas NM

To the right of the main altar, and seen below, is another retablo by Pedro Antonio Fresquis, this one dated 1821. Top: Trinity depicted as three men, a Colonial Mexican convention that was continued in New Mexican religious art.

Second row  L to R: the Crucifixion, Our Lady of Sorrows

Bottom:  Our Lady of Carmel, St. Gregory's Mystical Mass

Retablo by Pedro Antonio Fresquis, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Truchas NM

The Truchas church provides an opportunity to see images usually only found in museums (such as the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe or the city's Museum of International Folk Art)  in the setting for which they were originally created.  The retablos and bultos were not pieces of art, but liturgical art that was used in worship and very significant in the religious lives of the people of colonial New Mexico.  These images differ from the religious art you will see in other parts of the Mexican Colonial world for reasons explained in my Sept. 9, 2014 blog post.

It is difficult to visit the Truchas church since it is open only during the summer and then at limited times.  Special permission from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is generally necessary for admission to the church and photography is strictly forbidden, except with special permission which this writer was fortunate enough to obtain.  During the High Road Art Tour, which is always the last two weekends in September, the church is said to be open at certain times but it is best to check before going.

Understanding New Mexico's Santos

The santos of New Mexico are unique,  unlike any other religious art you will encounter.

Each year collectors come to Santa Fe's famed Spanish Colonial Market to look at and buy the retablos (flat painted images) and bultos (statues) displayed by over two-hundred saint-makers, the santeros and santeras.  But, as fabulous as these pieces are visually, they are much more than just artwork and have had  a fascinating history and role in the religious lives in the people of New Mexico.

Bulto of Mary with Jesus 

Retablo of the Holy Trinity

St. Joseph holding Christ Child

Bulto of the Flight to Egypt

Various Retablos and Bultos at Spanish Market, Santa Fe, NM

Retablo of Virgin and Child with Holy Spirit descending

Bulto of St. Francis of Assisi

Bulto of Virgin Mary saving souls from Purgatory

In his sermon at the recent Spanish Market Mass in Santa Fe, NM, the archbishop commented that the saint-makers, the santeros "have their religion in their fingertips".  In these few words, he summarized the history and purpose of the beautiful santos and bultos created by the makers of this form of religious art.  You see, for many years when there were very few priests in New Mexico, these paintings and statues were the New Mexican peoples' primary connection with the spiritual domain.

 Although New Mexican Santos are collected as art, this is not their real purpose. For the faithful, they link heaven and earth and for them these objects were and are plug-ins to the divine. Although the santo is not the saint it represents it takes on in its holiness and functions as a kind of go-between the earthly and heavenly realms. The santeros who created and create santos were and are expected to live morally and religiously exemplary lives.  They are not just artists, because to create a holy image they must lead lives of holiness, as well. 

Stylistically, the New Mexican santos had nothing in common with the Renaissance-baroque images of colonial central Mexico.  The retablos were painted on pieces of wood cut by the santero from local trees and do not show the attempts at perspective or scale that characterize Renaissance art.  The bultos, the statues, were also carved by their makers in a style unknown outside of New Mexico. During colonial times New Mexico was completely isolated from the outside culture and had a whole different and unique set of influences-  Franciscan piety and spirituality, local folk traditions and the indigenous cultures of the area. 

New Mexican History: Its Isolation and the Santos

Why was New Mexico so isolated?  First settled by the Spanish in 1658, the area was  intended to be a buffer zone protecting the silver-rich north of Mexico against incursions by hostile Indian groups and to prevent expansion by the English and French. Initially, missions were set up by the Franciscan order to instruct the indigenous Pueblo peoples in Christianity, but the relationship with these peoples was never an easy one.  There was a major uprising in 1680, the Pueblo Revolt,  in which many New Mexican settlers were killed and  the 2,000 settlers of Santa Fe had to evacuate; twelve years later the area was peaceably resettled.         I

Initially there were a relatively large number of priests in the area of New Mexico, but in the 18th century as the population of New Mexico became more spread out, the mission system disintegrated, The missions were understaffed and whereas in 1760 there had been 26 missions with 25 friars by 1776 there were only 19 priests and by 1820 with a population four times the size it had been in 1776, there were even fewer priests.  Some pueblos were visited only once a year by a priest.

In the latter part of the 18th century a group of lay religious societies grew up to fill the void left by the absence of clergy and church services; the most significant of these was known as the Penitentes.  They created a network of moradas, a kind of meeting-house that was open only to members, which provided a religious structure for the community in the absence of the church. These penitentes, almost exclusively male,  strove to imitate Christ's suffering and live lives of holiness and as the penitentes grew so did the demand for religious images, the santos.  A very large number of santos relative to the population were created; 5-6,000 santos from the years 1800-62 still exist.

Bulto of Christ used by Penitentes during Holy Week procession

Santo-making declined after the middle 19th century as New Mexico became less isolated and trade routes opened and connected it with Mexico and the rest of the world. Prints of saints and plaster statues from Europe began to be imported and the production of santos decreased somewhat.  The Penitentes continued to be the main customers for local religious art, primarily statues which they used in their rituals, and this continued until the 1920's when the group declined and along with this, santo production.  

In the later part of the 20th century interest in santos was again stimulated through the efforts of a  group of scholars, collectors and artists.  Santa Fe's Spanish Colonial Market was begun 61 years ago and was central in focusing attention and interest in the Hispanic culture and art of New Mexico.  


How were Santos used?

Bulto of Archangel Rafael from Chimayó Sanctuary

It was their relationship with these santos that gave the people of  New Mexico  a sense of control and security in their perilous environment. They turned to these retablos and bultos  in times of danger or need.  Scholar Thomas J. Steele describes the santos as "the parts of a power system that reached from heaven to earth and controlled hell".  The statue in the photo above is the archangel Rafael, the patron saint of fisherman and there were saints (scholar Thomas J. Steele listed 143 of them) to petition for nearly every sort of issue: San Blas for throat troubles,  San Isidro Labrador for a good harvest, San Ignacio for protection against witch-craft, Saint Rita of Cascia for women looking for a husband and many more.  

The relationship that people had with their santos was very personal. When a santo answered prayers they were rewarded (a fiesta or new dress for a statue) and when petitions were not fulfilled, a santo might be punished by being turned to face the wall.

Here is a link to my video of Santa Fe's Spanish Market and Mass:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7l_1RW_hLg

Further Reading:
If you would like to see or know more about New Mexican santos, here are three excellent books:
Larry Frank.  New Kingdom of the Saints: Religious Art of New Mexico 1780-1907
Thomas J. Steele, SJ.  Santos and Saints.
William Wroth.  Christian Images in Hispanic New Mexico

Spanish Market and Mass, Santa Fe NM 2014 with Video

Booth at Spanish Market, Santa Fe NM

You can view my Spanish Market and Mass video at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7l_1RW_hLg.  In it you will see the santeros, the artists who make the holy images, as well as the religious ceremony in which the images are blessed.  But first, please read the background information that I have provided below so that you will better understand what you are seeing.

 Background: 

Spanish Empire in New World

As you can see from the map, Spain's territories in the American continent extended well into what is now the United States.  Some areas of what is now the United States maintain a strong connection with their Spanish Colonial roots; one of these is Santa Fe, New Mexico. After consolidating their territories in Mexico, the Spanish began to move north in search of new lands and in 1598 Juan de Oñate founded the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico. In 1610, Santa Fe was established as the capital of this area and is the oldest capital in the U.S. In 1680 there was a major Pueblo Indian uprising known as the Pueblo revolt and the Spanish left the area, returning to resettle there some twelve years later.

Once peaceably settled, the cultures of the area, the Hispanic and the Pueblo intermingled in many spheres- art, architecture, dress, food and worship.  The annual Spanish Colonial Market in Santa Fe celebrates the artistic culture that emerged from this encounter.

 Santo of Virgin Mary

Several art forms are represented at Spanish Market- santos, bultos, colcha embroidery,furniture and jewelry, but it is the holy images, the santos, also called
retablos and bultos (statues) for which New Mexican art is most famous.

Bulto of Virgin and Child mounted on donkey
(from the Biblical episode of the Flight to Egypt)

Virgin Mary saving souls from Purgatory

 The culture of religious images, of the santos and bultos first flowered during the 18th and 19th centuries.  Scholars point out that there was a scarcity of clergy in the region and that religious images played an important role in keeping religion alive for the people. These images still do this, as you will hear the Archbishop say in his sermon in the video, the santeros (makers of holy images) "have their religion in their fingertips".