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 Santa María de
la Natividad Zaachila: Christ
in a coffin |
Our Lady of Mount Carmel |
Our Lady of Mount Carmel: This Carmen is unusual. The bib is purple and the cape is gold lamé; elsewhere, the Carmen's bib and garments tend to be uniformly brown. The wigs are long, blond, and heavily crimped; they seem new. On the bib and the Virgin's scapular is a crowned M monogram, similar to those commonly found in lintels in Oaxacan religious buildings. The skin of the face and hands of both figures has an artificial, even rubbery, quality. Behind the full crown on the Virgin figure is a large sunburst diadem; the child figure has a cruciform halo. Our informant relates that the figure is carried around the pasos and up the mountain every July 16 to her capillita, where it remains for a week to be visited by the faithful. Local Name: La Virgen del Carmen. Basis for Identification: Christ Child, scapulars, lily in Virgin's right hand, crowns, purple bib, gold lamé cape, white robe. Site: Church of Santa María de la Natividad Zaachila. Location: East end of the north wall of the nave (see note). Media and construction: Wood, gesso, paint, fabric garments, metal crowns. Both figures have glass eyes, lashes, and wigs. Size: About 4½ feet (135 cm.) Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Coixtlahuaca
main altar, Cuilapan, Ejutla, Etla, Guelavia, Huitzo, Teitipac, Teposcolula,
Tlaxiaco,
Xoxocotlán, Zimatlán. External Links: Previous santo Introduction to Santa María Zaachila 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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