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 Pedro y San Pablo Etla:

Angel
Christ at the pillar
Christ: Ecce Homo
Christ fallen under the cross
Christ in the pretorium
Crucifix
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
St. Anthony of Padua
St. Luke
St. Paul
St. Peter the Apostle
St. Peter of Verona (Peter Martyr)
Soledad group
Unidentified saint (1)
Unidentified saint (2)
Unidentified saint (3)
Virgin Mary

Other santos not photographed


Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Our Lady of Mount Carmel:
On the Virgin's breast is what appears to be a crowned coat of arms. The wig is blond. No right arm is visible in the sleeve. The child is propped unnaturally in the bent left arm and is disproportionately small. This Carmen is unusual in that the child carries the only scapular and has no crown. As is often the case, the Virgin has a delicate oval face and large, liquid eyes.

Local Name: La Virgen del Carmen.

Basis for Identification: Sunburst halo with stars, brown habit with bib, full crown, child holding scapular.

Site: Church of San Pedro y San Pablo Etla.

Location: In a niche in the first bay of the south wall of the nave (see note).

Media and construction: Wood, gesso, paint, fabric garments. Eyes: glass. Hair: wig.

Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Coixtlahuaca main altar, Cuilapan, EjutlaGuelavia, Huitzo, Teitipac, Teposcolula, Tlaxiaco, Xoxocotlán, Zaachila, Zimatlán.

External Links:
Wikimedia Commons: Statues of Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Mexico
Wikipedia: Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Virgen del Carmen (in Spanish).
Christian Iconography: Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Next: We shall go out to the courtyard of the former convento for a statue of an unidentified saint.

Previous santo

Introduction to San Pedro y San Pablo Etla

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.