Yucatán. the lost murals of San Bernardino

San Bernardino de Sisal is one of the handful of great 16th century Franciscan monasteries in Yucatán. Founded in 1552 and sited atop a vast underground cenote, it was dedicated to Bernardine of Siena the noted 15th-century Italian preacher and reformer, known as the "second founder" of the Franciscan Order.
   Among its other treasures, the church is noted for its remarkable group of wooden altarpieces, fabricated in a variety of styles that span the colonial period. We described these in a previous post.

The Sanctuary Murals
With the removal for restoration of two altarpieces that faced each other across the raised sanctuary, previously unknown murals were discovered in the niches behind the retablos. 
    Originally containing statuary, these decorated niches are thought to date from the 16th or early 17th centuries and are dramatically painted in bright tones of crimson, orange and a vibrant “Maya” blue.

Christ in Triumph
On the north side, the area above the sculpture niche is covered with a lively tableau illustrating Christ in Majesty.

Raising his cross, Christ wearing a red sash of triumph presides over a host of saints and martyrs. Larger portraits of individual saints extend down both sides.

Above and below the niche, a celestial orchestra of angels sing and play flutes and a variety of string instruments.

 

Female saints flank the niche on either side, of whom St. Catherine of Alexandria on the left, a Franciscan favorite, is best preserved.

The Baptism of Christ 
In the opposite niche, angels hold up a dark blue curtain in the center of which the Baptism is portrayed against a tapestry like fringed red ground. 

The naively drawn, near naked figures of Jesus and John the Baptist find an echo in the nude angels holding a lamb and a banner of triumph on either side below, while God the Father looks down from the arch above the niche amid celestial clouds and angels.

As in the previous mural, an orchestra of angels plays overhead.

Text © 2018 Richard D. Perry.  
mural images by the author, Niccolo Brooker and Charlotte Ekland

Yucatán. the Camarín murals at Tabí

Tabi, the sacred cenote and shrine chapel

One day in the early 1600s, the astounded villagers of Tabí, in eastern Yucatan, witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary rising from the town cenote, formerly sacred to an ancient Mayan water goddess. Soon afterwards, the Virgin miraculously reappeared, this time carrying to safety a horseman whose mount had lost its footing at the brink threatening to plunge him into the watery depths. 

The Virgin of Tabí

A painted image of the miracle-working Virgin of the Assumption soon became the focus of a popular cult, attracting followers here from across the region. This led to a large scale reconstruction of the church and, behind its beautiful, new main altarpiece, an elevated camarín to house the image of the Virgin.

Tabí, the restored camarín retablo (detail)

The Camarín Murals
Although the image of the Virgin has gone, a cycle of elaborate, later 17th century murals covers the walls of the empty camarín raised behind the main altar. Until recently in dire condition, together with the camarín retablo, they have been fully restored by the conservation agency Adopte una Obra de Arte.

Niccolò Brooker

Set in a dramatic matrix of swirling foliage with giant rocaille flourishes and floral strapwork, three large narrative panels adorn the upper walls of the rectangular chamber. 

    Vigorously drawn with sharply observed perspective and much anecdotal detail, and rendered in a narrow color range of red, brown and yellow ocher, with some blue areas, they illustrate events in the life of the Virgin in a rustic baroque style adapted from print sources.

The Presentation in the Temple (Niccolò Brooker)

Scenes include the Presentation in the Temple, on the south wall of the camarín, and a partial Flight from Jerusalem? on the north wall.

Flight from Jerusalem? detail (Niccolò Brooker)

The most arresting of the three panels depicts the Nativity of the Virgin. St. Anne, with the infant Mary in the child bed in the background, is attended by angels. These include, unusually, St. Michael at center, who spears a writhing, winged demon with his trident—a prophetic sign that the birth of the Virgin Mary will lead to the vanquishing of the Devil.

The Devil

Below the narrative panels, on the lower walls, life size folkloric angels in swirling robes sing songs of praise and play period wind instruments, including horns and a bassoon. 

 

Niccolò Brooker

The restored vault of the camarín is elaborately painted with passages of bold, writhing foliage in monochrome, crisscrossed by broad rib like bands. The sun and moon at the apex—symbols of the Virgin—provide the only touch of color.

text and graphic © 2018  Richard D. Perry
color images by the author, Niccolò Brooker and Adopte una Obra de Arte

other colonial murals in Yucatan: Dzidzantun;