Retablo artist Luis Roman distinguished himself both by having one of his retablos enter into the collection of the State Historian of Texas, and later for his having exhibited his work and given a demostration of his art at the Smithsonian Institute’s annual Folklife festival.

Retablo art was in danger of dying out after the Mexican Revolution when it was, if not revived, at least given importance by Frida Kahlo, who is reported to have actually made a practice of stealing retablos from churches, where they were often destined to tossed out or sold for scrap by the local priests.

Retablos were normally painted by untrained itinerant folk artists, who copied their original works from the paintings in the cathedrals. These paintings were, in turn, brought over from Italy and Spain.

The content was stricty governed by the Inquisition, who set guidelines as to what poses, colors, symbolic objects and the like were to be featured in these icons

Since this art form has effectively died out, Fausto’s began commisioning local artists to begin painting them once again, and our efforts have resulted in the showing of Mr. Roman’s work at the Smithsonian.

Retablos are normally painted in oils on tin sheets. Originally they were painted on wood, but copper sheets eventually replaced the wooden plaques that were common in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, and their use was in turn eventually displaced by that of tin coated iron sheets by the beginning of the Eighteenth Century.

By the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, retablo painting went on the decline, as cheaper paper prints drove them into extinction.

Luis Roman and other artists who exhibit in Fausto’s Art Gallery are now reviving that form, and their work is an important step in bringing to light and in paying homage to the tradition religious folk art of Mexico.