Plate 5: Main Altarpiece, Santa Cruz: From Portfolio "Spanish Colonial Designs of New Mexico" 1935 - 1942

Editor: This is "Plate 5: Main Altarpiece, Santa Cruz: From Portfolio 'Spanish Colonial Designs of New Mexico'", a drawing made with colored pencil and watercolor sometime between 1935 and 1942, by an anonymous artist. It gives me the impression of something…theatrical? Stage-like? I wonder what you see in it. Curator: Ah, a portal to another world, wouldn’t you say? It reminds me of wandering through old New Mexico churches, their hand-carved altars vibrant with colour. This drawing, with its bold lines and almost playful use of religious iconography, it makes me think of a folk rendition of heaven. See how the artist has captured the essence, distilling the scene to its simplest, most heartfelt form? What do you make of the curtain at the bottom? Editor: The curtain looks like…well, it looks like it could be the front of a puppet show stage. But why render a church altarpiece in this childlike way? Curator: Precisely! Isn’t that charming? I think the drawing highlights the intimate relationship that the local population had with their faith. Think of this work as less about formal religious observation, and more a joyous, accessible interpretation, full of local character and artistic license. Almost as if someone was reimagining those grand European traditions through their own cultural lens. It’s personal, wouldn't you agree? Editor: So it’s like a loving translation, preserving tradition through the filter of folk art. That really reframes how I look at it. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. These artistic translations are how heritage survives, morphing with the present while winking at the past. A reminder that even the holiest of things can wear a touch of the everyday.