La Candelaria
Church of San Juan Teitipac, Oaxaca, Mexico
The santo is processed, with
San José Patriarca, in Teitipac's
annual Candlemas fiesta.
The Blessed Virgin at Candlemas
(Full crown, crowned Christ child in left arm, scepter in right hand; white
dress and red cape, blue robe on child).
Wood, gesso, paint; glass eyes, wig, closed mouth; metal crowns; life size.
Beneath the fabric clothing
is a solid and finished dressed figure. The underrobe shows at the right
elbow of the Virgin and the clothing of the child is a loose sack made
to fit over a solid form. Both figures hold their right hands in the sign-of-the-cross
position, and the Virgin's scepter rests in the circle thus formed by her
fingers. The Virgin's face has deteriorated. Color has flaked away
from the forehead, there is some cracking, and the sheen has dulled.
The child has a wig. Both
crowns are tied on.
More of Candlemas, feast of the Purification
of Mary