St. Anne (Anna Selbdritt)

Wood, gesso, paint
Church of Santa Ana del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico

In this Mexican take on the Anna Selbdritt image type all three figures raise their arms and the child also holds an orb in his left hand and blesses the viewer with his right. I have encountered a few other images in which just the child raises his arms (one in Spain and one in Italy), but it is rare in this type of image. The orb in the child's hand is also found elsewhere, but rarely (example).

Detail: The child holds the orb in his left hand and forms his right hand into the blessing configuration.

The figures are carved as two separate statues, but they were designed as an ensemble. Although the faces are flat and almost coarse, and the hands show little detailing, the figures and the rhythms are powerful. The lines of the Mary figure, with upraised arms and draped cape, continue the shape of the protective Anne figure behind. The child is carved as a part of the Mary figure and sits on the left arm, the head tilted up and parallel to the upraised left arm of the Anne figure.

The Anne figure is painted with golden 6-petaled flowers, but the front of the robe has not been finished. The mantle is painted with large arabesques of flowers and leaves. It is as delicate as work in stiffened cloth, but Sr. Arcadio Aquino Cruz, the topil of Santa Ana del Valle at the time of our visit, informed us that the entire ensemble is wood. The Mary figure wears a red robe and a blue mantle edged in gold; there is no pattern on either robe or mantle. On the front edge of the mantle is a chip which reveals the wood beneath. The child is in white.

Read more about images of St. Anne.

Photographed at the church by Claire and Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.