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Santiago Matamoros
Cuilapan,
Oaxaca, Mexico
Wood,
gesso, and paint; textile clothing; boots added;
eyes seem too dull to be glass; approx. 4 feet tall
excluding horse.
Santiago Matamoros (Knight on horseback
in helmet; sword raised in right hand; left hand
holds reins; red cape, yellow shirt, blue
breeches, black boots).
The figure rides on an andas (carrying
platform). Face has a greenish sheen. Hands are in
good condition. The sword is tied onto the hand.
The horse is white and has a cocked head and alert
expression; it is painted wood with braided rope
harness, leather saddle, metal stirrups, and real
hair for forelock and tail; newer it is than the
saint. Santiago is the patron saint of the parish.
The position of the hands, shape of the beard,
gentle expression of the face, and the downcast
eyes suggest the statue was originally a Palm
Sunday Christ, though the mount is definitely not
an ass. Moreover, it is too small for the horse,
and the feet do not fit in the stirrups.
The helmet is too small for the head.
The cape is velvet and the tunic and pants are
polyester brocade. Woven into the brocade of the
pants are the words "Pater, Filius, Spiritus
Sanctus" and the symbols of the Trinity. This same
fabric appears in purple and in red in the
chasubles of the two statues of San Pedro Apostol
at Teotitlan. The informant says the horse and
statue are carried in a procession on January 25.
The andas appears to be of a different
maker than the statue. There is a folk feeling to
the painted flower and leaf design of blue on a
red background. The andas is trimmed in yellow and
has four green turned legs.
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