St. Peter the Apostle:
The statue is the product of mixed
talents. The head and hands are powerful, delicate and
individualized, but the body has a folk roughness and lack
of proportion. The face is believable as that of a
fisherman become Pope, with weathered cheeks and piercing
eyes. The hands are long, well-sculpted and the wrists are
powerful. Though the dimensions of the upper body are
proportional to the head and hands, the simplicity of
their execution is in a very different style that suggests
that the body was newly made for a set of older
extremities. As in more sophisticated works, white paint
over light gesso at neck and sleeve is probably intended
to hide the joining of head and hands to the body.
In contrast to the skilled work of the head and hands,
the body of the santo suggests a folk artist and the
deeply carved blue robe and brown mantle reflect a
humble vision. The lower body is squat and thick and
gives the saint the appearance of a dwarf. The body and
cape are carved of one block of wood. The brown "rope"
belt is carved as one piece with the rest. The v-neck of
the robe is edged in gold paint as are the edges of the
sleeves, hem and mantle.
The golden halo is a flat, carved disk decorated with
stylized fluting. A large, rough wooden key is tied to
the right hand, and a carved book to the left. A large
silver coin is tied to the left hand in a complicated
ar-rangement of threads. The two middle fingers are
missing from the right hand and the left hand lacks the
pinky and index fingers.
Local Name: San Pedro Apóstol
Basis for Identification: Balding
saint with book, keys.
Other characteristics: Gray
beard, simple robe.
Site: Church of Santo
Domingo Díaz Ordaz.
Location: On the
altar along the north wall of the nave, just past the
narthex (see
note).
Media and construction: Wood,
gesso, paint. Glass eyes, carved halo.
Size: About 30
inches tall (76 cm.), on a two-inch (5 cm.) wooden slab
that roughly outlines the saint's feet.
Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Coixtlahuaca,
Etla, Huitzo, Mitla, Tamazulapan,
Teitipac1,
Teitipac2,
Teotitlán1,
Teotitlán2, Teposcolula1,
Teposcolula2, Yanhuitlán.
External Links:
Wikimedia Commons:
Statues
of St. Peter in Mexico
Catholic Encyclopedia: St.
Peter, Prince of the Apostles
Wikipedia: Saint
Peter
Christian Iconography: Saint
Peter the Apostle
Next: A statue of the Trinity
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Introduction to Santo Domingo
Díaz Ordaz
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.
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