Huarache or sandals of Baby Jesus; Viceroyalty work, Guatemala, XVIII century.

Huarache or sandals of Baby Jesus; Viceroyalty work, Guatemala, XVIII century.
Gilded silver.
Measurements: 3 x 13,5 x 6 cm.
Weight: 121gr.

The huaraches or sandals of the Child Jesus elaborated in gilded silver in Guatemala in the XVIII century are a representative piece of the religious art of the viceregal period in Central America. More than a utilitarian object, it is a devotional accessory destined to dress a sculptural image of the Infant Jesus, probably of processional or domestic size, within the framework of the intense baroque religiosity that characterized the Kingdom of Guatemala.
During the 18th century, the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which included territories of present-day Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, was an important center of artistic production. The local workshops developed a remarkable tradition in polychrome sculpture and religious gold and silver work, influenced by Spanish models but reinterpreted with their own sensitivity and technical resources. Silver, abundant in the American commercial circuits, became a privileged material for the creation of liturgical objects and votive offerings. Overgilding, a technique that consists of applying a layer of gold over the silver, not only increased the symbolic and material value of the piece, but also reinforced its association with the sacred and the celestial.