Christ in a coffin:
Recumbent Christ in a coffin, under a white
coverlet. The face is
finely carved and well preserved. Blood flows abundantly
from the forehead. The coverlet hides the figure from the
neck down, but the bend of the knees suggests that the
legs are carved in the position of the crucified Christ.
This would indicate that the figure is used in crucifixion
scenes during Holy Week.
Local Name: El Señor de la
Muerte.
Basis for Identification: Embroidered
on the coverlet are a small ladder and a crowing rooster
standing on a broken pillar. On the coverlet a large
carved crown of thorns and a small wooden ladder rest
against the figure's right side. These are all items
from the arma
Christi. Behind the figure, at the left calf, is a
placard of the type used at the top of the cross, with
"Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum" in the three languages.
Site: Church of Santa María
de la Natividad Zaachila.
Location: On the
altar in the first bay of the north wall of the nave
(see note).
Media and construction: Wood,
gesso, paint, embroidered cotton
coverlet. Eyes: glass, with lashes.
Hair: wig, Individual teeth.
Size: About 5 feet (150 cm.)
Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Huitzo, Mitla, Tamazulapan,
Teitipac,
Teotitlán,
Teposcolula,
Tlacolula,
Xoxocotlán
(in Soledad group).
External Link:
Wikimedia Commons:
Statues
of suffering Christ in a coffin.
Next: Above this altar, a statue of the
resurrected Christ
Introduction
to Santa María Zaachila
Santos Home Page
Note: On
this
site,
references to the cardinal directions in a church
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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