Penitente Cross, Carved Wood

Art Historical Context

This watercolor rendering captures a carved wooden Penitente Cross, a powerful example of New Mexican folk art documented around 1937. Created as part of the Index of American Design—a New Deal-era project that employed artists to record America's decorative and folk traditions—the work preserves the appearance of a handmade object tied to the Penitente Brotherhood. These Catholic lay, rooted in Spanish colonial heritage in the Southwest, used such crosses in processions and rituals, especially during Holy Week, blending faith, community, and craftsmanship. Artist Majel G. Claflin, one of man...

About the Artist

Majel G. Claflin

Majel G. Claflin (1893–1941) was an American artist best known for her meticulous documentation of Spanish Colonial folk art from northern New Mexico. Active in Taos, New Mexico, during the late 1930s, she produced watercolor renderings as part of the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration that aimed to catalog regional American crafts and tradition...