Mexican Folk Retablos
by Gloria Fraser Giffords
$30 (216 page paperback)

First published in 1974, this is the definitive study of retablos (religious paintings on tin) which flourished in Mexico in the 19th century.  The book contains beautiful color photos with detailed descriptions of each image. During the 1800s, there was a sudden surge of religious art produced for the common people of central Mexico. One of these art forms was small paintings on tinplate pieces - which were produced by the thousands by hundreds of different artists over a span of one hundred years.  Inspired by inexpensive prints of the miraculous imagery of Catholicism, retablos achieved a status of their own. This book contains colored reproductions of both types of retablos - the "retablo santo" and the "retablo exvoto".  This book is an aid for identifying  various retablos and their iconographic characteristics and also an insight into their methods of creation as well as their religious and social significance.