Retiree Creates Life-Size Santos : Love of Art Takes Root in a Downtown Tree

As a child in Mexico, Cornelio Limon says, he always admired the santos, carved wooden figures of saints, in Mexican churches.

His late father, Ausencio Limon Ramirez, was a well-known santero, or carver of saints, in his hometown of San Juan de Los Lagos, in the central Mexican state of Jalisco. The town church houses an old, much-visited image of the Virgin Mary.

“I loved the art of the santos,” says Limon, 52, a father of two who has lived in San Diego for 20 years.

Eight years ago, Limon followed a longtime urge and began carving his own santo. The site was a palm tree in front of his home on 17th Street, between Market and Island, in downtown San Diego.

Limon started by slowly carving an image of Christ, which would eventually be more than life-sized, on the tree. “I was afraid of the police” because the palm is on city property, he said with a laugh.

But the police never bothered him. His progress was slowed, however, by a longtime handicap, traceable to a childhood accident; he walks with a cane.

Gently, Limon, who is retired, carved away the bark and began applying the plaster and paint. The image came to life, gradually.

But Limon wasn’t satisfied.

After the image of Christ was completed, Limon began carving the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of Latin America and Mexico’s most revered religious figure. He carved it alongside his rendering of Christ, on the same palm. Limon says he has never visited the original shrine of the Virgin in Mexico City, but, like many natives of Mexico, he feels close to the Virgin.

“She is the patroness of all the Americas,” Limon says.

Two years ago, he finished his carving of the Virgin. Now, the twin figures, each about 6 feet tall, watch over this street of simple homes, not far from the bustle of downtown. Occasionally, passers-by leave a flower in homage. From his window, Limon looks on approvingly at his work.

“I feel I was born to do these,” he says.