San Pedro Mártir
Church of Santo
Domingo
Diaz Ordaz, Oaxaca,
Mexico
St. Peter Martyr
(Dominican
holding book and martyr's triple palm; axe in head).
Polychrome, glass eyes, approx. 3 feet tall on solid wooden
base atop a
polychromed octagonal about 18 inches by 6 inches.
The polychrome is in excellent condition and the
workmanship, though
stylized,
is of great delicacy. The face is long and rectangular. The
effect, in
spite of the bleeding head wound, is of restraint in the
midst of great
suffering. The major block of the statue, the white and gold
robe, on
being
tapped, proved to be of a solid piece of wood. The black and
gold
mantle
and cape are of stiffened cloth. Three different patterns of
complicated
arabesques decorate the robe, apron and mantle. The lining
of the cape,
where it is intended to be seen, is decorated in a bold
black check
with
broad scratches of gold. The areas under and behind the arms
are of
cream
color with slight scratches of gold. The right hand lacks
the index
finger
and part of the pinky, and the right eye has slipped a
little into the
head cavity.
The martyr's palm and book have been tied on, the first to
the right
hand
and the second to the left. They are carved of wood and
polychromed.
Their
workmanship would suggest that they are original to the
statue, as is
the
axe. A long staff decorated in bold stripes of plastic holds
a circle
of
woven straw decorated in yarn and has been tied to the hand
that holds
the palm.