St. Dominic Group
Site: Museum of Santo
Domingo Yanhuitlán.
Location: In a niche
at floor level in the south wall (see note).
Center:
Saint Dominic
All fingers and thumbs are broken off. The
garments are badly torn. Beneath them, the statue is
unfinished.
Local Name: Santo Domingo.
Basis for Identification: Tonsure,
hole in forehead where a star would have been.
Media and construction: Wood,
gesso, paint, fabric garments.
Size: 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm.)
Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Teotitlán
(St. Peter?), Teposcolula
(Our Lady of the Rosary case), Yanhuitlán (Church) 1,
Yanhuitlan (Church) 2.
External Links:
Wikimedia Commons:
Statues
of St. Dominic in Mexico
Catholic Encyclopedia: St.
Dominic
Wikipedia: Saint
Dominic
Christian Iconography: Saint
Dominic
Left:
Saint Michael
The badly deteriorated statue on the left
in the same niche was identified by Sr. Ventura as
"Barabbas," the prisoner whom Pilate freed in preference
to Christ. This would be consistent with the
identification of the santo on the right as St. Dismas
(see below). However, the military garb seems to impose an
identification as St. Michael. Perhaps the original statue
could have been pressed into service as Barabbas for Holy
Week observances.
A cherub decorates the left sleeve. The stiffened cloth
can be seen where the polychrome has deteriorated.
Basis for Identification: Military
boots and tunic, right hand raised as to hold a sword.
Other characteristics: No
head.
Media and construction: Polychrome,
stiffened cloth.
Size: About 3 feet (90 cm.)
Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Achiutla1,
Achiutla2,
Achiutla3,
Achiutla4,
Cuilapan,
Huitzo, Ocotlán,
Tamazulapan, Teotitlán, Teposcolula1,
Teposcolula2, Teposcolula3,
Yanhuitlán, Yanhuitlán
Crucifix Group.
External Links:
Wikimedia Commons:
Statues
of St. Michael in Mexico
Catholic Encyclopedia: St.
Michael the Archangel
Wikipedia: Michael
(archangel)
Christian Iconography: Saint
Michael the Archangel
Saint Dismas:
The santo on the right, with the face
broken off, was identified by Sr. Ventura as San
Dimas. Possibly the intention was to group a "good"
and "bad" figure from the Passion story. The carved hair
is shoulder-length. Only patches of the gold remain; the
weave of the stiffened cloth shows through. The hands are
missing.
Media and construction: Polychrome,
stiffened cloth. Hair: carved.
Size: 33 inches
(84 cm.)
Comparable santos in Oaxaca: We
found none.
External Links:
Wikimedia Commons: Dismas
Wikipedia: Dismas
Next: Other santos not
photographed
Previous santo
Introduction
to the Museum at Yanhuitlán
Santos Home Page
Note: On
this
site,
references to the cardinal directions in a church
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.)
In Yanhuitlán, this schema extends the four
directions to the Museum. That is, "east" means
parallel to the east side of the church, "south"
to the south side, etc. 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.
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