Following on the early life of Christ in the lower cloister, a sequence of eight Passion scenes continues clockwise around the upper level, again executed on a large scale and brightly colored although some are better preserved than others.
The cycle begins with the Agony in the Garden above the entry to the stairwell, and continues with the Betrayal by Judas or Taking of Christ; Jesus in the House of Ananias (Caiaphas?) The Flagellation; The Mocking of Jesus (Crown of Thorns); The Judgment of Pilate; The Via Crucis, and ends with the Crucifixion in the northeast corner. !
Judas’ Betrayal of Jesus
Via Crucis or Road to Calvary
Veronica (Via Crucis detail)
Jesus before Caiaphas
The Judgment of Pilate
The Crucifixion
Also of interest are the monochrome friezes that run along the sides of the long, narrow ambulatory on the south side of the upper cloister and its northerly extension extending into the adjacent cells.
On the east/west corridor, a running grotesque frieze incorporates framed roundels that constitute an extensive portrait gallery of Augustinian saints and martyrs, including St. Augustine, St. Nicholas of Tolentino, and St. Monica.
St Augustine with miter and crozier upholding the church
John of Sahagun; St William the Hermit;
Bishop John the Good; Nicholas of Tolentino;
St Monica; St Felicity.
St Andrew; St James Minor,
St Peter; St Philip;
John the Evangelist; St Matthew.
The Twelve Apostles occupy the larger medallions along the extension: !
At one end of the corridor a sepia monochrome fresco in the lunette depicts a Resurrection scene crowded with Roman soldiers toppling away from the triumphant Christ.
Several other devotional murals continue in the adjacent friars’ cells including the Prior’s room. These also depict Passion themes with a Crucifixion. Saints Peter & Paul flank the doorway below the frieze.
text © 2019 Richard D. Perry
images by the author, Niccolo Brooker and Robert Jackson.
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