Santos in Oaxaca's Ancient Churches
A study of santos in 16th-century and other churches in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Claire and Richard Stracke. Funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Santos in Oaxaca's Ancient ChurchesA study of santos in 16th-century and other churches in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Claire and Richard Stracke. Funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. |
Santa Eduviges, Reyna de Polonia |
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St. Hedwig (Identified by a rough script on a small platform on which is set the statue. Separate, full golden crown, tunic with crenelated hem; eyes cast heavenward; red cape).
Polychrome; 2½'. The statue is of a beautiful young queen looking up in adoration. She has a round face with full cheeks and a pointed chin. Her thick brown curls frame her upper face, but are pulled back off her ears and shoulders. She stands resting slightly on her left hip; her right hand is held up and her left hand is extended forward. She may originally have held something (a martyr's palm?) in her right hand. Over a red under garment, she wears a green and black full-sleeved robe and a hip-length tunic decorated in sworls of large gold flowers and leaves. The crenelated hem of the tunic is edged in gold and marked by the distinctive scratches of polycrhome work. She wears a heavy poly-chromed-gold necklace, aparently a symbol of her status. A red mantle is caught at the belt over her right hip and goes behind the body to be draped over her left shoulder. It has been repainted. Some paint is nevertheless peeling from the edge of the mantle as it drapes over the left arm; carved wood is visible there. The statue is of a piece with its simple round base. The crown has been tied on under the chin. A reference to this saint was found in the Oaxaca Museum of Lithography, which owns the copper plate for an aguafuerte engraving sold widely during the second half of the 19th century. The figure was identified as, Santa Eduvige Princesa de Polonia, Especial Abogada de Pobres Adeudados ynsolventes y desvalidos y todos Necesidades. In Oaxaca at that time, more engravings of Santa Eduvige(s) were sold than of any other saint. The aguafuerte in the museum has little ressmblance to the statue in Santa Maria del Tule. An identification of this figure as St. Helena is suggested by the "Roman" look of the garments: the crenelated tunic is seen also in the Santa Elena at Xoxocotlan; Though not as old as the statue, the crown is remarkably large and heavy, consistent with the representation of an empress; and the polychrome includes a representation of a quite heavy gold necklace. |