Worship has so many faces. To tell the truth that of the Lord of Patience in Cuautlalpan has always been a little ghastly.
The statue is on display in the church of San Bartolo in the Mexican city. Its suffering features are dramatically rendered through blood trails, eyes fixed on a superior reality, a gaping mouth. With human teeth.
It is not uncommon for parishioners in Mexico to donate their hair to make wigs for the statues, but it is the first time that teeth are discovered in an artifact.
Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History has announced that it was the team of specialists restoring the 18th Century artwork that made the macabre discovery. The statue's eight teeth used to belong to an adult human and are in perfect conditions. "The teeth were probably donated as a token of gratitude," suggests head restorer Fanny Unikel.