Unknown artist, Saint Francis of Assisi, about 1650. Paint and gold leaf on wood with estofado technique; 47 × 22 × 15 in. Bequest of Robert. J. Stroessner, 1992.27.

This statue of St. Francis of Assisi would have been created for and used in a Mexican church. Latin American churches were decorated with carved wood statues and relief carvings, just as they were in Europe. In the 17th century artists who emigrated to the Americas from Europe worked to decorate churches, often assisted by Indigenous artists.
     Statues such as this St. Francis of Assisi were first carved out of wood. Fabric areas were created by covering the wood with a red gesso and then tissue-thin sheets of hammered gold were applied. Next, paint was applied over the gold leaf. Then the paint layer was etched through to reveal the gold underneath, in imitation of the elaborate brocade fabrics of the period. This Spanish technique of imitating fabric is called estofado. However, areas depicting skin, such as the faces and hands, were created using a different technique known as encarnación, in which white gesso was applied to the wood and then was painted in flesh tones, shellacked, and gently sanded. The process was repeated until the buildup of layers achieved a glowing surface imitating real skin.
-- Donna Pierce & Julie Wilson Frick, 2015