Sculpture of the Virgen del Rosario restored in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

867

INAH reported that the two viceregal pieces were transferred from San Juan Cancuc to the Restoration Workshop

Two pieces from the viceregal period – the Virgen del Rosario and the Cristo de la Columna, known by the congregation as Sacramento – were transferred from the Chiapas municipality of San Juan Cancuc to San Cristóbal de las Casas, for their restoration, reported the National Institute of Anthropology and History.

The work is carried out in the Restoration Workshop of the Los Altos de Chiapas Cultural Center, in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Both pieces date from the viceregal period, when Chiapas was part of Guatemala.

Museo de los Altos de Chiapas

The main problems of the pieces are the inadequate pictorial interventions on the faces.

History, interspersed with legend, mentions that in 1712 a 13-year-old girl, named María de la Candelaria, convinced the people of Cancuc, helped by her father, that the Virgin Mary had appeared to them to tell them that they should no longer obey. the Ladinos, that is, the Spaniards, and it was time to take up arms against those who ruled their provincial capital.

After choosing a sculpture of the Virgin of the Rosary as their standard, the indigenous people rebelled in the episode known as the Uprising of the 32 peoples: zendales, coronas, chinampas, and Huitiupán.

When delving into the history of the Virgen del Rosario, the restorer of the INAH Chiapas Center, María Rosa García Sauri, explains that, although oral tradition speaks of 32 peoples, scholars of the subject have clarified that there were 28.

San Juan Cancuc is located more than two hours from San Cristóbal de las Casas and is a mostly monolingual Tzeltal town. For this reason, a basic conservation vocabulary was developed, in order to explain to the traditional, municipal, and religious authorities, the problems of his sculptures.

They were also informed that the resources were only enough for the comprehensive care of two sculptures, hence the Virgin of the Rosary and the Sacrament were chosen, the latter participant in the most important festivals of the community.

Centro Cultural de los Altos de Chiapas Secretaría de Cultura/INAH

Calz. Lázaro Cárdenas s/n
Barrio del Cerrillo 
CP 29900, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas
Tels.: (967) 678 28 06

Source: excelsior.com.mx

San Cristobal Post