Ecuadorian Bulto of Saint Cajetan Holding the Infant [SOLD]

This religious Bulto has been identified as representing St. Cajetan. He is known as the patron saint of Argentina, the unemployed, gamblers, document controllers, and good fortune (Wikipedia). It was carved from wood and painted with polychrome pigments.  The age is unknown.

St. Cajetan was born in October 1480, the son of persons of the first rank among the nobility of the territory of Vicenza, Italy.  His father died when he was two years of age. Quiet and retiring by nature, he was predisposed to piety by his mother. Cajetan studied law in Padua, receiving his degree as doctor utriusque juris (i.e., in civil and canon law) at age 24. In 1506 he worked as a diplomat for Pope Julius II, with whom he helped reconcile the Republic of Venice. But he was not ordained a priest until the year 1516.

With the death of Pope Julius II in 1513, Cajetan withdrew from the papal court. Recalled to Vicenza by the death of his mother, he founded, in 1522, a hospital for incurables there. By 1523 he had established a hospital in Venice, as well. His interests were as much or more devoted to spiritual healing than the physical kind, and he joined a confraternity in Rome called the "Oratory of Divine Love".  He intended to form a group that would combine the spirit of monasticism with the exercises of the active ministry.

In 1540 he founded a bank to help the poor and offer an alternative to usurers, who charged high interest rates.  It later became the Banco di Napoli.

Cajetan died in Naples on 7 August 1547. His remains are in the church of San Paolo Maggiore in Naples.  He was beatified on 8 October 1629 by Pope Urban VIII. On 12 April 1671 Cajetan was canonized.   Saint Cajetan's feast day is celebrated on 7 August.

Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino in 1691 established the mission San Cayetano de Tumacácori in honor of St. Cajetan. It is now Tumacacori National Historical Park in Arizona.  

Condition:  this Ecuadorian Bulto of Saint Cajetan Holding the Infant is structurally in very good condition with some paint abrasions

Provenance: this Bulto was purchased from Pachamama Gallery of Santa Fe in 2011, without documentation as to its age.  The owner of the gallery, who made purchases on annual trips to South and Central America, identified the image.