Santos in Oaxaca's Ancient Churches

A 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 San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca:

Assumption + St. Peter
Christ at the Pillar
Christ Child (1)
Christ Child (2)
Christ Fallen with the Cross
Main altar
Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows (Soledad)
Our Lady of the Rosary
St. Anthony of Padua
St. Isidore the Laborer
St. Martin de Porres + 2 angels
St. Peter of Verona (Peter Martyr)
Unidentified Dominican saint
Unidentified, possibly St. Lucy
Unidentified saint (1)
Unidentified saint (2)
Unidentified saint (3)
Virgin Mary (1)
Virgin Mary (2)
Virgin Mary (3 - in a coffin)
Santos not photographed
Saint Anthony of Padua
Saint Anthony of Padua

Local Name: San Antonio de Padua.

Basis for Identification: Left hand holds book on which sits a figure of the Christ Child.

Site: Church of San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca.

Location: In a case along the north wall of the narthex (see note).

Media and construction: Polychrome. Hair: carved.

Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Etla, Huitzo, Mitla, Tamazulapan, Teitipac, Teposcolula, Tlacolula.

External Links:
Wikimedia Commons: Statues of Saint Anthony of Padua in México
Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Anthony of Padua
Wikipedia: Anthony of Padua
Christian Iconography: Saint Anthony of Padua

Next: Also along the north wall of the narthex, St. Isidore the Laborer

Coixtlahuaca introduction

Santos Home Page

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.