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Papier-Mâché Altarpiece at Plaza Capuchinas

Mexico City's papier-mâché folk art, built to church-altarpiece scale

Papier-Mâché Altarpiece at Plaza Capuchinas

Cartonería — Mexico City’s papier-mâché folk-art tradition, built from cartón (cardboard) rather than paper alone — usually shows up as judas figures burned at festivals or the alebrijes paraded each year at La Noche de los Alebrijes. Here it’s scaled up into a full Baroque church altarpiece at Plaza Capuchinas; the photographer’s own caption says it all: “All paper.” The likely maker is Martín Rentería, a cartonero known for realistic Christian-themed work until his death in 2023, carried on by the workshop and students he left behind.

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