Wood carving in general and wooden carved angels in particular are ubiquitous in the Oaxacan region. There are beautiful angels, girl angels, boy angels, baby angels, dwarf angels. You name it, it comes in the form of an angel. Why is this? It is the land of churches, gorgeous churches build during the 16th century, undoubtedly with native blood, sweat, and tears, and very much against their will, I strongly suspect.
The silver lining is that while the Spanish Conquistadors are long gone, the churches remain. The Mexican government seized the church properties throughout Mexico from the Catholic church in the mid 19th century, and they have been responsible for the restoration of said churches over the last 150 years. Which has the added benefit of training and supporting lots of artisans who have the technical and artistic skills necessary to restore the churches to their former glory. You see elaborate carved angels for sale throughout the region--I brought home a couple of them as gifts. Very unusual looking, both of them (these photos are from the store that I bought them in), but who couldn't use an angel looking over the household?
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