The mystery of the Christ with human teeth

The churches of the world are populated with religious images .Paintings, sculptures, frescoes, etchings, enamels...some are very old and usually need restoration.In some cases the surprise jumps when they are repairing the work .An earlier painting may appear under which it is being fixed or, as in the case at hand, a real part of the human body.Discover the mystery of the Christ with human teeth .

The mystery of the Christ with human teeth

The mystery jumped into the media in 2014 .Se I was proceeding to the restoration of a statue of the Christ of Patience of the church of San Bartolo Cuautlalpan of Zumpango , State of Mexico.It is a polychrome carving of the century XVIII , from the viceregal era, which represents Christ before the crucifixion measuring 1'15 m.Tall.

The members of the INAH (National Institute of Archeology and History) proceeded to perform a series of radiographs before beginning the rehabilitation .Fanny Unikel, responsible for the restoration of the Polychrome Sculpture Restoration Workshop of the National School of Conservation, Restoration and Museography (ENCRyM) reported his Surprised to see that, although at first glance they were barely visible, the statue had 8 teeth and that these were human .It was not just the pieces, but that they had been inserted with its roots.That the religious sculptures had real teeth was not strange at the time it was carved, but it was always animal and non-human pieces. Some figures of Jesus child wear small rabbit teeth or there are devils to whom the denta has been installed It takes a dog to make them more terrifying.But this is the l only known case of carving with human denticion .

Who donated the teeth remains a mystery .being a single person who donated his teeth at death, as did the Bishop of Guadalajara, Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz or Viceroy Baltasar de Zuniga, who left them to be kept as a relic to two convents of nuns, or of several deceased persons or not .There is also the possibility that the unknown artist will film the teeth of a corpse without the subject's consent in life.

Curiously the teeth, which are completely healthy, practically do not see each other , so it was unnecessary to include them in the sculpture.Everything suggests that it is a promise or exvote , to those who were so fond of other Catholics times.Teeth cannot be removed from size to do a deeper study and find out who they might belong to, but if it is considered interesting to continue studies to try to find out at least the sex and age of the donor or donors .

If you have been interested in this article about the Christ with human teeth, you may want to know: Foreskin, honeycombs, sighs; the rarest relics preserved by the church.