The cross is painted with natural pigments extracted from the earth and from plants. It was painted by the group, Tablas of Sarhua. The cross pictures an Andean woman carrying a spindle of thread with a woven pack and is decorated along the top with Andean flowers.
These panels derive from a custom in the small Andean community of Sarhua, located in the department of Ayacucho. For generations godparents here give a young married couple a roof beam to place in their first house. The roof beam depicts the living parents and relatives of the young couple; each person is shown working at their own occupation.
The group Tablas of Sarhua - the Artists of Sarhua - first moved to Lima in the early 1970s, where they continued to paint on wood, but in Lima they adapted their work, often reflecting the fruits and flowers of their Andean village of Sarhua.
