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 Nochixtlán: Calvary
Group |
Unidentified Female (Mary
Magdalene?) |
| Unidentified Female (Mary Magdalene?): This is an undistinguished piece of work, with not much sheen to the skin and a rudimentary treatment of the facial features. Some of the fingers are broken. Behind this statue is a plaster santo. Basis for Identification: St. Mary
Magdalene is a frequent figure in Calvary groupings. The
wig worn by this figure is a dark brown and continues
back onto her shoulders, perhaps reflecting the traditional iconography that gives this saint long blond hair.
However, her hair is almost never shown covered, and we
have never seen it covered in Calvary images. It is
possible, therefore, that this could be a second Virgin
Mary statue to the one on the left in this Calvary Group. In
Oaxaca we often found multiple statues of the same saint
in the same area; sometimes different statues are in the
care of different community organizations. Other characteristics: Pink gown
with pink fabric "rose," white mantle, earrings. Site: Church of Santa María de la Asunción Nochixtlán. Location: On the right in the Calvary Group. Media and construction: Wood, gesso, paint, fabric garments. Eyes glass, with lashes. Hair: wig. Size: Slightly shorter than the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows on the left of the Calvary Group. Comparable santos in Oaxaca (St.
Mary Magdalene): Achiutla,
Coixtlahuaca,
Ejutla, Huitzo, Ocotlán,
Tamazulapan,
Teotitlán,
Teposcolula. Comparable santos in Oaxaca (generic
Virgin Mary): Achiutla,
Etla1 (in the
Soledad group) Etla2, Guelavia1,
Guelavia2, Ocotlán, Teotitlán1, Teotitlán2, Tilantongo1,
Tilantongo2,
Yanhuitlán1, Yanhuitlán2, Zimatlán. External Links: Next: Other santos not
photographed Introduction to Asunción
Nochixtlán 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.
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