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 Pablo Mitla:

Calvary group
Christ: Ecce Homo
Christ in a coffin
Christ resurrected
Crucifix
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows (Soledad)
Our Lady of the Assumption (1)
Our Lady of the Assumption (2)
Palm Sunday Christ
St. Anthony of Padua
St. John the Baptist
St. Joseph (1)
St. Joseph (2)
St. Paul (1)
St. Paul (2)
St. Peter
Trinity
Unidentified saint

Other santos not photographed

Our Lady of the Assumption

Our Lady of the Assumption:
The face has a fine sheen and beautiful sculpted eyes with thick lashes. The lips are red and well formed. The thick edges of the robe and cape, and a reticence in the way the folds fall, suggest that the garments are carved from the wood rather than formed from stiffened cloth.

Local Name: La Virgen de la Asunción.

Basis for Identification: Standing on horned moon, praying hands, upward gaze.

Site: Church of San Pablo Huitzo.

Location: Right third of the retablo of the main altar.

Media and construction: Polychrome. Eyes: painted, with lashes. Hair: carved hair.

Size: About 3 feet (90 cm.)

Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Coixtlahuaca, Ejutla1, Ejutla2, Mitla1, Tamazulapan, Teitipac, Tlacolula, Tlaxiaco, Tule.

External Links:
Wikimedia Commons: Statues of the Assumption of Mary in Mexico
Wikipedia: Assumption of Mary
Christian Iconography: The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Next: Moving over to the south wall of the nave we find a statue of the "Soledad" iconographic type.

Previous santo

Introduction to San Pablo Mitla

Santos Home Page

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.