St. Martin Caballero (Double figure)

Copied Enrique Rendon, St. Martin Caballero (Double figure), 1980, painted cottonwood, cloth, leather, fiber, metal, 13 7⁄8 x 8 1⁄8 x 11 1⁄8 in. (35.2 x 20.6 x 28.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.79

Artwork Details

Title
St. Martin Caballero (Double figure)
Artist
Date
1980
Location
Dimensions
13 7⁄8 x 8 1⁄8 x 11 1⁄8 in. (35.2 x 20.6 x 28.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
painted cottonwood, cloth, leather, fiber, metal
Classifications
Keywords
  • Animal — horse
  • Figure male — nude
  • Occupation — beggar
  • Religion — saint — St. Martin
Object Number
1997.124.79
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1997.124.79

Artwork Description

St. Martin Caballero is more popularly known as St. Martin of Tours, a soldier who, according to Catholic legend, cut his cloak so he could give half to a beggar. In this piece, Enrique Rendon showed St. Martin handing his cloak to a half-naked man. Both of the figures stare out at the viewer with Rendon’s trademark “piercing eyes.” (Laurie Beth Kalb, Consuming Devotions, 1992)