Saint: Nuestro Señor de Esquípulas/Our Lord of Esquípulas

Quill Pen Santero, New Mexico, 1828-1840 Gesso, and water-soluble paint on wood 13” x 10” History Collection NMHM, 2007.32.131

Nuestro Señor de Esquípulas is an image that originated in colonial Guatemala and devotion to him spread throughout Mexico northward up to New Mexico in the early nineteenth-century. He is venerated at Chimayó where the shrine is dedicated to him. It is said that the cross of Nuestro Señor de Esquípulas miraculously sprouted fresh green leaves and branches, symbolizing Christ’s power of spiritual regeneration. In Guatemala and Mexico where he is very popular with indigenous people, the image is associated with sacred earth and the cross becomes a tree of life, hence the branches on the cross.