La Candelaria

Wood, gesso, paint; glass eyes, wig, closed mouth; metal crowns; life size.
Church of San Juan Teitipac, Oaxaca, Mexico

La Candelariais a Blessed Virgin santo used at Candlemas. She has a full crown, a crowned Christ Child in her left arm, and a scepter in her right hand. The dress is white with a red cape; the Child wears a blue robe).

In 1991 we were told that the santo is processed, with San José Patriarca, in Teitipac's annual Candlemas fiesta.

Beneath the fabric clothing is a solid and finished dressed figure. The underrobe shows at the right elbow of the Virgin and the clothing of the child is a loose sack made to fit over a solid form. Both figures hold their right hands in the sign-of-the-cross position, and the Virgin's scepter rests in the circle thus formed by her fingers. The Virgin's face has deteriorated. Color has flaked away from the forehead, there is some cracking, and the sheen has dulled.

The child has a wig. Both crowns are tied on. 

More of Candlemas, the feast of the Purification of Mary

Photographed at the church by Claire and Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.