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San Juan Nepomuceno (Saint John Nepomuk)
The halo of five stars around the head of San Juan Nepomuceno, the patron saint of confessors, spells out TACUI, Latin for "I did not speak." The letters lead the viewer's eye to the figure of Christ, the object of the saint's devotion. This painting reminded priests of their obligation to remain silent regarding what they heard from those they absolved. Jose Campeche, a descendant of freed slaves, made a career for himself as an artist and architect, using colonial, European, and folk traditions to create distinctively Puerto Rican artwork at the close of the eighteenth-century.
Jose Campeche, c 1798 |