Santos in Oaxaca's Ancient ChurchesA study of santos in 16th-century and other churches in Oaxaca, Mexico
By Claire and Richard Stracke Funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. In
Santiago Cuilapan: |
Sacred Heart of Jesus |
Sacred Heart of Jesus: The color tones of the skin suggest that this is a more recent example. Unlike plaster Sacred Hearts, the figure does not point to the heart; the hands hang palm-forward at the thigh. The scepter is tied into his right hand. The hands are dull and have a have a rubbery look. Local Name: El Sagrado
Corazón de Jesús Basis for Identification: Heart on chest, full golden crown, scepter with detailed globe. Other characteristics: White
robe, gold sash, red cape. The palms of the hands are
half-covered by the cuffs of the robe, so one cannot
tell whether they have the marks of the nails of the
Crucifixion, as Sacred Heart images often do. Site: Basilica of Santiago Cuilapan.
Location: In a glass case in the third bay of the north wall of the nave (see note). Media and construction: Wood, gesso, paint, fabric garments, metal crown and scepter, metal heart. Hair: polyester wig. Eyes: glass, with eyelashes. Closed mouth. Size: About 5½
feet (165 cm.) Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Achiutla, Huitzo, Tamazulapan, Teposcolula, Yanhuitlán, Zimatlán. External Links: Next:
Moving to the right of the main altar, we shall examine
a statue of St. James
the Moorslayer. Introduction to Santiago Cuilapan Note: On
this
site,
references to the cardinal directions always assume
that the main altar is at the east end of the church,
the narthex or entry area at the west end, and the two
walls
of the nave on the
north and south. (The
nave is the long central section.)
Actual orientations may differ. The photo shown here is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
license. You are free to share or remix it on two
conditions: first, that you attribute it to the
photographers, Claire and Richard Stracke, without
implying any approval of your work on their part;
second, that if you alter, transform, or build upon
this photo, you may distribute the resulting work only
under the same or similar license to this one.
|