Our Father Jesus of Nazareth

José Benito Ortega, Our Father Jesus of Nazareth, ca. 1885, carved and painted wood, painted cloth, and leather with metal, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.258
Copied José Benito Ortega, Our Father Jesus of Nazareth, ca. 1885, carved and painted wood, painted cloth, and leather with metal, 30 x 9 3⁄8 x 9 3⁄8 in. (76.2 x 23.8 x 23.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.258
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Artwork Details

Title
Our Father Jesus of Nazareth
Artist
Date
ca. 1885
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
30 x 9 3⁄8 x 9 3⁄8 in. (76.2 x 23.8 x 23.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
carved and painted wood, painted cloth, and leather with metal
Classifications
Subjects
  • Religion — New Testament — Christ
Object Number
1986.65.258
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.258

Artwork Description

The arms on this figure of Jesus can be positioned to represent different episodes from the Passion, such as the scourging at the pillar, the presentation of Christ, and the deposition from the Cross. The image of the scourged Jesus was an important one to a group called Los Hermanos Penitentes (the Penitent Brothers), because they believed it represented the pain of human existence. In this piece, José Ortega painted Jesus’s wounds a vivid red to emphasize the extent of his suffering. The Penitentes carry figures like this through the small towns of New Mexico and Southern California during Holy Week to remind them of Jesus’s sacrifice.