Standing inside the battlemented atrium with its four surviving corner posas, the
Augustinian monastery comprises a rather plain 17th century church and an earlier
convento with an arcaded, two story cloister.
The church interior is unprepossessing,
with few original furnishings aside from a venerable baptismal font beneath the choir
carved with vine leaves and monograms.
The Murals
The Murals
Although 16th century murals once covered almost every space in the convento, due to
the repurposing of several important conventual rooms including the porteria,
anteporteria and sacristy, almost all of the surviving visible murals are now found in the
cloister.
Beneath painted vaults of meandering ribs with floral bosses and bands of decorative friezes filled with grotesque decoration, inscriptions and roundels of Augustinian saints and insignia, the cloister walks and pillars of the arcades are a gallery of large narrative murals, mostly outsize portraits of Augustinian luminaries.
Although in varied
condition, all are framed by extravagant Plateresque borders colored in a bright palette
of blue, green and earth colors.
But the principal attraction here is a cycle of polychrome frescoes illustrating the Life and Passion of Christ—among most complete to be found in any Mexican monastery. Derived from a Flemish or northern European print source, the compositions and figures are confidently drawn in sweeping strokes, whose vigor combines with subtlety in gesture and facial expression.
Color is applied in large background washes and to specific details—a later addition to the original grisaille treatment.
The Lower Cloister
Four pivotal scenes from the early life of Jesus unfold in the corner niches, starting in the northwest corner with a simple Nativity. The Adoration of the Magi follows, then the Presentation in the Temple and lastly, the Flight into Egypt.
Beneath painted vaults of meandering ribs with floral bosses and bands of decorative friezes filled with grotesque decoration, inscriptions and roundels of Augustinian saints and insignia, the cloister walks and pillars of the arcades are a gallery of large narrative murals, mostly outsize portraits of Augustinian luminaries.
 |
portraits of saints along the cloister walk
|
But the principal attraction here is a cycle of polychrome frescoes illustrating the Life and Passion of Christ—among most complete to be found in any Mexican monastery. Derived from a Flemish or northern European print source, the compositions and figures are confidently drawn in sweeping strokes, whose vigor combines with subtlety in gesture and facial expression.
Color is applied in large background washes and to specific details—a later addition to the original grisaille treatment.
Four pivotal scenes from the early life of Jesus unfold in the corner niches, starting in the northwest corner with a simple Nativity. The Adoration of the Magi follows, then the Presentation in the Temple and lastly, the Flight into Egypt.
Clockwise from top left: The Nativity; Flight into Egypt; Magi; Presentation.
The Stairway
Along with a painted balustrade, fragments of wooded landscapes with jagged hills, alive with birds and butterflies, cling to the side of the stairwell, probable remnants of a customary Augustinian Thebaida tableau.
Fish swim amid blue waves in the lower sections—suggesting an earthly paradise rather than the arid Egyptian desert of tradition.
Along with a painted balustrade, fragments of wooded landscapes with jagged hills, alive with birds and butterflies, cling to the side of the stairwell, probable remnants of a customary Augustinian Thebaida tableau.
Fish swim amid blue waves in the lower sections—suggesting an earthly paradise rather than the arid Egyptian desert of tradition.
text © 2019 Richard D. Perry
images by the author, Niccolo Brooker and Robert Jackson.
No comments:
Post a Comment