Highland Park • Pittsburgh, PA 15206 • 1-412-661-1498
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SINCE 1974

This is Room Z35. Haitian paintings by Frantz Zephirin

For A Biography and Photograph of Zephirin click here.

#2613 Frantz Zephirin
48x15" Acrylic on plywood with glued polychrome paper.
"In Hoc Signo Vinces"
2002 POR unframed.

* This piece is painted on a slab of half inch exterior plywood. Like many things Haitian, it is not
perfectly square, measuring 15"wide at the top and 16" wide at the bottom. The length is square at 48"

The phrase, " In Hoc Signo Vinces" was said to have appeared to Constantine the Greek in 312AD, along with a cross in the sky. It translates to " Under this sign you shall triumph". The phrase has also been used by secret societies as diverse as the Freemasons and the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Zephirin says that although the Christians used the sign, the cross, to oppress the slaves, they in turn were conquered by the same slaves who assembled under the same cross but synthesized the Catholic religion into Vodou, a form of their ancestral religion. These gatherings facilitated in planning the revolution that finally defeated the Christians, in this case, The French.

The painting features four trinities, representing the four elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth, plus five polychrome images which have been adhered to the board.

The hand of God is an ancient symbol that provides protection from evil. In Vodou it symbolizes the Asson of Papa Loko. The image of Archangel Michael represents the vodou lwa Jupiter Criminel. The image of St. Patrick is Dambala. The image of Mater Dolorosa is Erzuli Dantor and the image of St. George represents Ogun.

The ship at bottom left is a ship that brought the slaves but opposite is the Spirit that also came with the slaves.

Direct Access to the Zephirin Archive,
paintings that have been sold, via the hot pink box below
Room Z1 Room Z2 Room Z3 Room Z4 Room Z5 Room Z8 Room Z9
Room Z10 Room Z11 Room Z12 Room Z13 Room Z14 Room Z17 Room Z19
Room Z20 Room Z21 Room Z22 Room Z23 Room Z26 Room Z27
Direct access to rooms that contain some Zephirin paintings that are available,
as of August 2007 , via the pale turquoise box below.
Room Z6 Room Z7 Room Z15 Room Z16 Room Z18 Room Z24
Room Z25 Room Z28 Room Z29 Room Z30 Room Z31 Room Z32
Room Z33 Room Z34 Room Z35 Room Z36 Room Z37 Room Z38
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