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 Teotitlán del
Valle: Christ
Child |
Saint Hyacinth |
Saint Hyacinth: Unlike the Teitipac San Jacinto, this statue seems to have been intended as a San Jacinto from the beginning. The hands are positioned so as to hold the monstrance and Virgin easily. The crown on the Teitipac statue may therefore be less authentic than the halo seen here. The face is stylized and strangely asymmetrical, with a dull finish. Broad patches of paint have chipped from the beard at the jaw, and from the neck. Smaller pieces of paint have chipped from the brow line. The robe is brown with large flower designs in gold. The cape is black, with roses detailed in gold and a broad gold edging. Local Name: San Jacinto. Basis for Identification: Dominican habit, tonsure, horizontal halo on peg, a monstrance in the right hand and a statue of the Virgin and Child standing on a book which rests on the palm of the left hand. Site: Church of Santa María
de la Natividad (Preciosa Sangre de Cristo),
Teotitlán del Valle. Location: On a small altar to the left of the first large altar along the north wall of the nave (see note). Media and construction: The
main statue is polychrome; the statue of the virgin and
child is wood. Eyes: sculpted. Hair: sculpted. Size: About 4 feet (120 cm.) Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Huitzo, Teitipac. External Links: Next: Near
this statue, a statue
of Christ in a coffin. Introduction to Teotitlán del
Valle 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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