Located close to the mission town of Zempoala, whose church of Todos Santos is noted for its spectacular early murals, the community of San Gabriel Azteca is more modest.
Its colonial church front, although altered in the 1700s and again more recently, retains its original doorway of dark basalt, densely carved with bands of stylized "windmill" and eight point rosettes and vine like foliage, and the jambs framed by the Franciscan cord.
Our special interest here, however, is in the colorful murals in the church baptistry. Like other painted baptistries, the walls and ceiling are lightly covered with 18th century frescoes on the theme of baptism.
Here we see the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, simply portrayed, beneath a heavenly, Mexican style Holy Trinity—all swathed in red robes.
The scene is enlivened by several angels playing period instruments including a bassoon and a cello amid clouds and flowers.
text © 2017 Richard D. Perry. images courtesy of Niccolò Brooker
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