We encountered these retablos, three-dimensional scenes built up of small pieces, at the Puerto Rico Museum of Art in San Juan. Each one, in its intricate detail, is a memory of a person or event of significance.
Originally, retablos were religious pictures, mostly honoring the Virgin Mary, but in the 19th century a different trend, of secular events, developed in Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
The top one above honors Don Teodoso Vidal, a well-known cultural historian. Just below, artists working on a public mural in Caguas; the retablo and miniature poster are the only reminder of the mural, which was destroyed soon after it was painted. The third is a reminder of the work of rural blacksmiths and iron-workers. Last, a retablo that recalls a devastating earthquake of 1918.
