Saint: San Cayetano/Saint Cajetan

José Aragón, New Mexico, Active 1820-1835 Gesso, and water-soluble paint on wood 16” x 12” History Collection NMHM, 2007.32.129

San Cayetano is dressed in the black robe of the order of the Theatines Regular Clerics. He is credited with establishing pawnshops in Naples, Italy that were designed to help, rather than to exploit customers. He is depicted with a jeweled chain around his neck which might possibly be a reference to the pawnshops he founded. In New Mexico he is considered the patron saint of gamblers. At the bottom of the figure there is an escutcheon with S. Cayetano año de with an illegible date. The dimensions of his retablos often seem to be based upon the Mexican vara system of measurement.