Nobles and Saints. Notes on the Imaginaries of Santiago the Apostle in Communities of Central Mexico

Abstract

Based on a religious sculpture of Santiago the apostle and its various painted representations in a central region of Mexico, this study examines and analyzes contemporary interpretations formulated from both the cultural traditions of indigenous rooted groups who venerate him and the dogmatic religious position on Catholicism during the Viceregal period. The methodology coordinates two processes: long-term ethnographic work during sacred festivities and the study of images associated with the figure on its pedestal from a Galarcian perspective. The findings indicate that the figure and its associated images represent, in the cosmovision of three peoples, the very origins of these groups in relation to a transcendental historical conjuncture in the country´s history, based on sociocultural stratifications typical of the sacralized definition of the process. Additionally, it relates to agricultural cycles inherent to the region’s production processes.