A narrative ex-voto painted in oil on tin in 1953 for Toribio González Demetrio of Zapopan, Jalisco, thanking San Miguel Arcángel for curing him of a tumor in his head.
San Miguel stands at the center with cream wings spread, in a plumed blue helmet, a blue tunic with a cream collar, a red cape and a green drape, raising a flaming sword in one hand and holding the scales of judgment in the other. Beneath his blue boots the red devil sprawls across a bed of flames, horned and bearded, his arrow-tipped tail curling up behind him. Billowing cream clouds frame the scene on three sides. At the foot, on a turquoise band, Toribio kneels in white holding a lit candle beside the inscription. It measures 8 inches wide by 12 inches high.
It comes from the same source as the rest of my retablos: one unknown painter who never signed his work and has since died. Families commissioned his pieces and took them to their village churches.
An elderly custodian at one of those churches has been collecting this painter's work for decades. A picker who travels the small village churches brought it to my dealer, and my dealer brought it to me.
None of those links is documented on paper, so I give it to you as the path it traveled, not as a chain of title.
The inscription
As painted:
"Zapopan Jal. 1953: Toribio gonzalez DemeTrio: gracia San Miguel Par curarme De Un Tumar en la cabeza Mayo 18: Milagro Concevido Testimonio De gratitud"
In English:
"Zapopan, Jalisco, 1953. Toribio González Demetrio. Thank you, San Miguel, for curing me of a tumor in my head. May 18. A miracle granted. A testimony of gratitude."
The spelling is the painter's own. Par for por and Tumar for tumor show his habit of forming o's like a's, Concevido stands for concedido, and Jal. is his abbreviation for Jalisco. Irregularities like these are part of what makes the piece genuine.
Condition
Good for its age. The paint is stable, the inscription is legible, and the impasto clouds and flames are intact.
There is a nail hole at top center with a small loss around it, and a pinpoint loss on San Miguel's belt. Fine red-brown speckling runs across the sky and clouds. A diagonal crease crosses the inscription band, with small paint lifts along it through "cabeza," "Milagro" and "Testimonio." There are light scratches over the surface and minor wear at the corners.
The verso is bare tin with rust and pitting, heaviest down the left side and across the lower half, and a few old paint drips.
Appraisal
Grade: B+
A complete narrative ex-voto: dated to the day, placed and named, with the petitioner, the illness and the healing all recorded. San Miguel trampling the devil in flames is one of the most sought-after images in the genre, painted here with full attributes, sword, scales and helmet. The crease through the inscription band holds it just below the top grade. Graded against realized sales of this painter's work.
Gallery replacement value: $575, what it would cost to replace this piece through a gallery, for insurance and estate purposes.
A note on the photographs
One photograph shows the retablo staged for scale. Only the retablo is included.
Shipping and import fees
The price includes DHL Express shipping anywhere in the world, with tracking, packed by Diseños de Cartón in Guadalajara.
Import duty and tax are the buyer's responsibility. Tariff code 9701.91, hand-painted original art. Most markets let it in duty-free, and it qualifies for a reduced tax rate wherever one exists.
When it arrives, open the box along the seams; never cut down into it.
If your delivery country differs from your account country, message me before purchasing.
Destination | Import duty | Import tax | Estimated total
United States | 0% | none collected at import | $0
Canada | 0% | 5% GST, or 13–15% HST by province | $16 – $47
United Kingdom | 0% | 5% reduced-rate import VAT on works of art | about $16
European Union | 0% | 5.5% – 13.5% reduced rate, set by your country | $17 – $42
Australia | none on orders under AUD 1,000 | 10% GST, charged at checkout | about $31, paid at checkout
Where tax is collected at delivery, DHL adds a small advancement fee, typically $12 to $20.
Questions
You will always reach a real person, never AI.
God bless,
Ricardo Ivan Cardenas EMBA
St. Joseph's University New York Business School Graduate
Type: Painting
Subject: San Miguel Arcángel, healing of a tumor in the head
Original/Reproduction: Original
Date of Creation: 1953
Region of Origin: Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico
Country/Region of Manufacture: Mexico
Material: Tin, Oil
Dimensions: 8" x 12" (20 x 30 cm)
Signed: No
Artist: Unsigned by the painter, petitioner named Toribio González Demetrio
Framing: Unframed
Style: Folk Art, Mexican, Religious
Features: One of a Kind, Dated 1953, Inscribed, Hand Painted
Color: Blue, Red, Turquoise, Cream
Condition: Used
Tariff code: 9701.91