Highland Park • Pittsburgh, PA 15206 • 1-412-661-1498 macondo@verizon.net SINCE 1974 |
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This is Room Z35. Haitian paintings by Frantz Zephirin
For A Biography and Photograph of Zephirin click here. |
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#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 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. |
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