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 Teitipac:

Christ carrying the Cross
Christ: Ecce Homo (1)
Christ: Ecce Homo (2)
Christ in a coffin
Christ in the Pretorium ("Pensive Christ") 1
Christ in the Pretorium ("Pensive Christ") 2
Christ resurrected
Crucifix (1)
Crucifix (2)
Crucifix (3)
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Our Lady of Candlemas
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows (Soledad)
Our Lady of the Assumption
Our Lady of the Rosary (1)
Our Lady of the Rosary (2)
Palm Sunday Christ
St. Anthony of Padua
St. Benedict
St. Hyacinth
St. Isidore the Laborer
St. John the Baptist (1)

St. John the Baptist (2)
St. John the Baptist, head of
St. Joseph
St. Nicholas Factor
St. Peter Avril
St. Peter the Apostle (1)
St. Peter the Apostle (2)
St. Simon Stock
Trinity
Unidentified saint

Other santos not photographed

Saint Hyacinth

Saint Hyacinth:
In a carved polychrome niche. The skin tones are flat and the features are undistinguished. Just below the hem of the bib is the tag of a scapular. The habit and stole are in white and gold; the cape is red and black. The statue of the Virgin holds a Christ child and wears a gold crown. It has its own base and is separately carved. Teotitlán's Saint Hyacinth has a monstrance in the right hand and, like most images of this saint, has a halo rather than a crown. Also, in Teotitlán the left hand is held out flat as a base for the statue of the Virgin. Teitipac's version may have been adapted to serve as a Saint Hyacinth: the right hand is extended as if in blessing, and the statue of the Virgin perches in the crook of the left arm.

Local Name: San Jacinto.

Basis for Identification: Dominican habit with white stole, holds a statue of the Virgen del Pilar in his left arm.

Other characteristics: Crown.

Site: Church of San Juan Teitipac.

Location: A niche, north wall of the nave (see note).

Media and construction: Polychrome.

Size: About feet (105 cm.)

Comparable santos in Oaxaca: HuitzoTeotitlán del Valle.

External Links:
Wikimedia Commons: Statues of Saint Hyacinth in Mexico
Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Hyacinth
Wikipedia: Saint Hyacinth

Next: Also along the north wall, a santo of Christ in a coffin

Previous santo

Introduction to San Juan Teitipac

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.