Carved Wooden Saints: The Craft

Woodcarving has always been an important craft in the island even before the coming of the Spaniards. Such materials as wood, stone, bone, ivory, crocodile teeth, and gold were used to make deity images. The primitive Cebuano religious images were described as having arms and legs spread wide apart and feet turned up under them. “They had large faces with ‘four huge tusks like those of a wild boar and are painted all over’ ”. Although most of these images have disappeared, the tradition of carving wooden images still exists up to this day.

The carving of santos (saints), therefore, is a deeply-rooted old tradition in Cebu. Spain’s contribution to the craft was its introduction of realism in body proportions and the toning of the flesh. There are two types of wooden santos. The Bestido is a type of santo fitted with a miniature dress, thus, only its head, hands, and feet are finished. Detalyado refers to the santo which requires no additional dress because its torso and legs are carved in detail. The local santoses are polychromatic and are finished with enamel paint and makes use of a local tree, Santol, which is the material of choice for most carvers.

One establishment in Cebu noted for this craft is Araneta Sculptural Works in the Taboan District which was founded in 1930 by Fidel Araneta, Sr. Araneta produced many of the sculptural monuments of the city. His craft works include Balamban church’s main altar, the front gate of the San Nicolas church, and the monument of Jose Rizal at the Cebu Normal School.

Extracted from an article by Raymund Fernandez