Mexican Wooden Heart with Milagritos

Mexican Wooden Folk Art Heart with Tin Milagros

Size: 12 cm x 16 cm

Milagritos means "little miracles" - and this tradition stems from the Times of the Spanish Conquest in Mexico. Traditionally, milagrito's are the small metal icons that you see nailed to a piece of fashioned wood. These milagro's are pinned to saints and on prayer boards, sometimes with a photo of the person one is praying for. The tradition of carving hearts, saints and crosses, then adorning them with milagros belongs to the Lake Patzcuaro region of Michoacan, where artists began fashioning these beautiful pieces about 60 years ago.

Artists create milagro pieces in the form of hearts, crosses, picture frames with an image of Our Lady Guadalupe, or Santo Martin Caballero - and also on three dimensional carvings of saints and Our Lady Guadalupe. They fascinate Christians and non-Christians alike, for the remind one of the old world and an old time, when talismans and amulets were common tokens of good luck.