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
Photo: Claire and Richard Stracke. This
photo is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported license.