Los Penitentes Diptych

images: 3” x 2 ½”

2001

colored pencil, brass, velvet, Avonite

This diptych derives from residency work in Spain, where I studied the strife between the Moors and Christians during the Inquisition period, spanning several centuries.  Here, a Christian woman is pursued by penitents (religious zealots) in the left image.  She’s wearing a St. Andrew’s cross over her forehead.  On the right, a Moorish, African male, wearing a sanbenito tunic with a red cross of St. Andrew slashed across the front, is awaiting trial for heresy, as he holds a dying dog.  A Christian friend, facing the same fate, screams behind him.  These were placed in identical, Avonite frames, and were displayed inside “Kaaba.”