Picture in Focus: Christ Carrying the Cross Mola by Unknown Kuna Artist

March 11, 2018

Picture in Focus: Christ Carrying the Cross Mola by Unknown Kuna Artist

We travel this week to the San Blas Archipelago off the Caribbean Coast of Panama for our next new Lenten image from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, depicting the fifth of seven moments from the Passion story, when Christ takes up the Cross to follow the Way of Sorrow to Calvary. This image of Jesus struggling under his heavy burden while a taunting Roman soldier keeps watch is the work of an unknown textile artist from the indigenous Kuna people. These multi-layered, cut-out, and embroidered cloth panels, known as molas, were originally made to decorate blouses, and frequently depict stories from the Bible amid colorful local flora and fauna. The new fabric art piece of Christ carrying the Cross joins six other images of the Crucifixion in the gallery of the Molas of the Kuna People page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. (John Kohan)