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 Tlaxiaco:

Bust of the Virgin Mary
Christ carrying the Cross
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of the Assumption

Our Lady of the Rosary (no photograph)
Unidentified priest

Our Lady of the Rosary
(No photo available)

Our Lady of the Rosary:
The face is unremarkable and does not seem characteristic of the early period. Both figures are so fully clothed that one cannot see how the hands might fit to the arms. The Virgin wears a lace veil and holds the rosary in the right hand toward the viewer.

Local Name: La Virgen del Rosario.

Basis for Identification: Holding the Christ Child, rosary, blue cape.

Other characteristics: Pink robe.

Site: Church of the Assumption, Tlaxiaco.

Location: In a glass case on the third altar along the north wall of the nave (see note).

Media and construction: Wood, gesso, paint. Eyes: glass, with eyelashes on the Virgin only. Hair: wigs on both figures.

Size: About 5 feet (150 cm.)

Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Achiutla, Coixtlahuaca, Cuilapan, Teitipac1, Teitipac2,
Teotitlán, Teposcolula, Xoxocotlán.

External Links:
Wikimedia Commons: Statues of Our Lady of the Rosary in Mexico
Wikipedia: Our Lady of the Rosary
Christian Iconography: Our Lady of the Rosary

Next: In the apse of the church, a statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Previous santo

Introduction to Tlaxiaco

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.