Pictures in Focus: Two Peruvian Arpilleras of the Lord of Miracles Procession by Unknown Artists

March 12, 2017

Pictures in Focus: Two Peruvian Arpilleras of the Lord of Miracles Procession by Unknown Artists

Our Lenten series on new images of Christ on the Cross from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection takes us this week to Peru, where unknown textile artists have created two arpillera embroidered cloth panels, showing the yearly Procession of the Lord of the Miracles, when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims join together every October to carry a wonder-working Crucifixion scene through the streets of Lima. Both arpillera panels show pilgrims in the procession dressed in traditional purple robes, paying reverence to the holy image of the Crucified Christ. The larger of the two pieces (left) shows the skyline of Lima; the smaller, more homespun version includes a Red Cross ambulance! This new pair of Peruvian embroidered story-telling cloths can be found in the gallery of the Andean Arpilleras page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. (John Kohan)