Saint Rita
Artistattributed to
José Benito Ortega
(American, 1858–1941)
Dateabout 1875
Mediumoil on wood panel
Dimensions17.8 x 12.1 cm (7 x 4 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineRuth and Loring Holmes Dodd Fund
Object number2010.10
Label TextKnown as the patron saint of impossible causes, Saint Rita was born near Spoleto, Italy, in 1381. She became a nun after surviving an unhappy arranged marriage to a violent husband.
José Benito Ortega was one of the last major santos artists working in New Mexico in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries. He began his career with devotional panels such as this work, then moved into three-dimensional bultos figures, for which he is best-known.ProvenancePrivate Collection, New Mexico, early 20th century;On View
Not on view
