Women Santos Wood Carvers in Puerto Rico: Twenty-Five Years of Working as a Group

Abstract

While the beginnings of the santos carving tradition is considered to occur during the Spanish colonization of the island, when the Catholic Church, on its evangelizing mission, placed emphasis on the veneration of religious images, historical mentions to women carvers before the 20th century are scarce. Throughout the past century up to the present, some women‘s names begin to be highlighted as carving creators. The work of the Women Santos wood carvers will be included in the santos carver‘s tradition, formerly under a male dominance, while they also actively contribute to the tradition.