Cross & Crosses: El Salvador Painted Cross

Painted Cross
El Salvador, c. 1980s
Wood and paint, 12 inches

This crucifix with one of the most inviting images of Christ in the collection was made by an inmate at one of the worse prisons in El Salvador, then known as "La Esperanza" (Hope) or Mariona. A Lutheran bishop provided materials for inmates, mostly political prisoners, so that they could make crosses or some of the other painted crafts that had become popular with Fernando Llort and the village of La Palma and sell them to help support their families. Llort is an artist who preferred the triumphant versions of Christ. These crosses also commonly have peaceful village scenes and include common birds and animals, like the duck, which arrives in great numbers during the spring. The Rev. Stiver obtained this cross on a visit to the country in 1985 with other Americans. The prisoners also made small crosses out of large seeds.

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