Shango

In Cuba there are two religions rooted in African traditions: Santería and Palomonte. Santería (also called Regla de Osha or Lucumi) comes from the Yoruba people and identifies one of the main African ancestries of the Cuban people. Palomonte is rooted in Central African traditions. These popular paintings (2750/1-5) portray four orishas: Oyã, Oshun, Obbatalá and Shango. Orishas are said to have been ancestors a long time ago, and thus carry human attributes. In a somewhat unorthodox fashion Shango is represented twice in this set: as a male and a female. In some narratives, Shango—the fourth king of Oyo—is a direct descendant of Olodumare, the main orisha. His weapons are a double-bladed axe, a sword and a cup. He exercises his ruling capacities, his aptitude for war and his control over thunder and lightning as natural talents inherited from his royal ancestry. Shango is also the orisha of justice, and under Catholicism, is equated with Saint Barbara, the patron saint of thunder, which may explain why he is depicted (in 2750/2) as a woman.

Unframed painting on small rectangle of canvas cloth depicts the personification of Shango, a spiritual power in Afro-Caribbean Santeria religion. A male in striped pants and red and white crown, holding a sword and arrows, is painted onto an orange background with a border of white and black designs.