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 San Pablo Huitzo: Christ |
St. Isidore the Laborer |
Saint Isidore the Laborer: The tunic was made by applying cloth to wood before the polychroming. At the bottom left of the tunic, the polychrome pattern shines through the recent paint. The statue shows deterioration. The left boot is chipped and the rotting wood and worn cloth can be seen. The left hand, which holds the basket, has broken middle and pinkie fingers; the right pinkie has been glued on crookedly. From the extended right arm, the full sleeves of the tunic hang down to hip level; the belted tunic closes with four black buttons. At the neck, the white collar of the shirt shows. The oxen have been decorated with necklaces of blackware beads. The basket is of Tlacolula design. Local Name: San Isidro Labrador. Basis for Identification: Yoked white oxen, goad, white straw hat, short brown tunic, basket, sheaf of straw carried on the back. Other characteristics: Bead
necklaces on the oxen. Site: Church of San Pablo Huitzo. Location: On an unpainted andas on the extreme right of the altar in the first bay in the north wall of the nave (see note). Media and construction: Repainted polychrome. The oxen are of modern wood, gesso, paint. Woven straw hat. Split-bamboo basket. Size: About 2½
feet (75 cm.) Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Coixtlahuaca, Tamazulapan, Teitipac, Teposcolula, Zimatlán. External Links: Next:
Moving ahead to the second altar along the north wall,
we find a statue of
St. Anthony of Padua. Introduction to San Pablo Huitzo 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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