Peruvian Retablos

Retablos are wooden boxes filled with brightly colored figures arranged into intricate narrative scenes of religious, historical, and everyday events important to the indigenous people of the highlands of Peru.  All of the retablos displayed here are the work of the Jimenez family who are renowned retablistas from the Andean region of Ayacucho.  The figures are created from a doughy mixture of boiled potato and gypsum powder.