San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Farmer), 1866. Joaquin CastaƱon (Bolivian, n.d.), Oil on canvas. 83-1/3" x 62-1/2" Museum Purchase: The Lillie and Roy Cullen Endowment Fund
 

10 of 11  

 
 
    SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR

an Isidro, the patron saint of farmers, is one of the most popular images in Latin America. According to legend, this devout Spanish farmer was unable to attend church services because he had too much work to do in his fields. God sent an archangel to help him till his land, and most paintings of this saint show an archangel plowing behind oxen.

This extraordinary painting shows San Isidro clad in 19th-century garb, surrounded by typical scenes of daily and festive Bolivian life. It depicts a microcosm of 19th-century Bolivia, with churches and thatched huts, mountains and jungles, mestizos and Indians.

Stylistically, this painting is typical of costumbrista paintings of mid-19th- century Latin America with its special attention to folkloric elements. It also shows strong ties to the 18th-century Cuzco School, particularly in the physical attitude of San Isidro .