Puebla. La Casa del Dean murals: The Sybils.

1. Synagoga 2. Erythraea 3. Samia 4. Persica 5. Europa!  6. (Plaza Coat of Arms) 7. Cumaea 8. (Shell Niche) 9. Tiburtina 10. Cumana 11. Delphica 12. Hellespontica 13. Phrygia 14. (Coat of Arms) 15. Phrygia.

The Salon of the Sybils 

The first room is now known as the Salon of the Sybils. A continuous mural depicts twelve women, fashionably costumed in a contemporary style typical of the Spanish upper class, riding side saddle on horseback in procession, along a path. Each is clad in voluminous blue and white robes, crowned with coronets and holding her appropriate standard, referring to her associated prophecy.
   Above each Sybil in the procession is emblazoned a medallion illustrating a particular scene from Christ’s Nativity and Passion, as foretold by her, each inscribed with the relevant biblical citation. Although the Sybilline Prophesies were pagan, originating in the early Roman cult of Apollo, they were adopted in Christian theology as foretelling the Coming of Christ, much like episodes in the Old Testament were thought to prefigure the events of the New Testament.
   The fact that the Sybils are shown in procession and on horseback, suggests a strong connection with the traditions of religious spectacle and drama that played such a large role in the evangelization programs of the New World.
   The accompanying landscape is also continuous, with rivers, mountains, forests and villages, alive with indigenous plants, birds, insects, animals as well as native people in their daily activities—elements that are further intensified in the extraordinary friezes that frame the procession above and below. 


Synagoga
The procession starts to the right of the window opposite the entry. led by Synagoga, who personifies the Old Testament, riding a humble mule rather than a fine arabian. She is blindfold and raises a broken standard depicting the Laws of Moses, of which she also hold the tablets.

Erythaea
Heralding the Incarnation, and accompanied by an Annunciation scene in the upper left, she holds up a banner showing the Lily of Purity.

Samia
A cradle appears on her banner, which together with the Nativity scene, indicates her role as the prophetess of Christ’s birth.

Persica

A lantern is the attribute of the Persian Sybil, who is associated with the Woman of the Apocalypse trampling the Beast in the left roundel—a figure widely thought to symbolize the Virgin Mary.

Europa
The sword on Europa’s banner signifies the Massacre of the Innocents, which prompts the Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, illustrated in the inset above.

Cumaea
The last of Nativity series, the banner of the Cumaean Sybil shows an indigenous slip knot, signifying Christ’s divinity. The humble Virgin appears with the Christ Child in the medallion.

Tiburtina
The Tiburtine Sybil raises a banner with a severed hand, symbolizing Christ’s humiliation—the first of the Passion related prophesies. The Mocking of Christ is shown in the circle.

Cumana?"
Here, this sybil is shown in association with Christ at the Column in the roundel above.

Delphica
A Crown of Thorns adorn the standard of the Delphic Sybil, a Passion instrument also illustrated in the Mocking scene beside it.

Hellespontica
The Crucifixion is the theme here. The cross appears on the Sybil’s banner and the inset shows the Calvary scene.

Phrygia
Although incomplete, this last figure in the procession may be Phrygia. The tomb emblazoned on her banner signifies her prophesy of the Resurrection.
Inset to the right is the Plaza family coat of arms.

text © 2020 Richard D. Perry.  

 images © Juan Carlos Varillas and Niccolo Brooker. 

principal source: La Casa del Dean...New World Imagery in a Sixteenth-Century Mexican Mural Cycle Penny C. Morrill. 2014. U. of Texas Press 

Puebla. La Casa del Dean murals Introduction.

The Casa del Deán in Puebla, Mexico, is one of few surviving sixteenth century residences in the Americas, built in 1580 by Tomás de la Plaza, the Dean of the Cathedral.  A devoted and learned man with sympathy for indigenous cultures gained during his years as a parish priest in Oaxaca, Tomás de la Plaza played a leading role in the planning and design of Puebla Cathedral.

   After completing his mansion across from the cathedral—its elegant purista facade was also designed by Francisco Becerra, the noted Spanish architect of the cathedral— in 1584 Tomás de la Plaza assumed additional debt in order to commission the extensive murals, only a fraction of which now survive.

   Although much of the house was tragically demolished in recent times, two of the upper rooms remain, along with their magnificent frescoes. 

   Their rediscovery and narrow escape from destruction in the 1950s and most recent restoration in 2010 revealed visionary works of art that rival European frescoes of the early Renaissance, while incorporating numerous native elements that identify them with indigenous visual traditions. 

   As we shall see, although not monastic murals, some of their content and their graphic style is related to other early monastery murals.

   

Sybils

1. Synagoga 2. Erythraea 3. Samia 4. Persica 5. Europa!  6. (Plaza Coat of Arms) 7. Cumaea 8. (Shell Niche) 9. Tiburtina 10. Cumana 11. Delphica 12. Hellespontica 13. Phrygia 14. (Coat of Arms) 15. Libyca

Triumphs

16. Love   17. Chastity  18. Time

19. (Wild Man?) 20. Death  21. Eternity 

22. Salon Three mural

The Murals

These masterful frescoes, although based firmly in Renaissance works derived from classical antiquity as are all  monastic murals, are nevertheless entirely the work of one or more native tlacuilos or elite artists, most likely trained in nearby Huejotzingo, whose outstanding native school was founded by Franciscan pioneer Juan de Alameda. 

   The murals, now in remarkably good condition considering their hazardous history, are contained in the two principal rooms, with some fragments in a third chamber. Both rooms are lined with large, colorful narrative murals on related but distinct themes, largely unique in Mexican mural art—one devoted to the Sybils, and the other to Triumphs.

Our next post will review the Sybils.

text © 2020 Richard D. Perry.  

 images © Juan Carlos Varillas and Niccolo Brooker. 

principal source: La Casa del Dean...New World Imagery in a Sixteenth-Century Mexican Mural Cycle Penny C. Morrill. 2014. U. of Texas Press 

Yucatán: San Bernabé Ixil

The church at San Bernabé Ixil is a virtual twin to its neighbor at Cholul. As at Cholul, the rugged 17th century church was grafted onto a 16th century open chapel, which is now the sanctuary.

The facade was reworked in more recent times with the addition of the two belfries. The limestone relief of the patron St Barnabas holding a cross and the Gospel of St Matthew is the notable surviving colonial remnant in the church front.

Like Cholul too, Ixil retains sections of polychrome murals around both the sanctuary arch and the apse, most likely dating from the late 1700s.  Although unsophisticated in their draftsmanship, they are richly colored in varying shades of red, blue and orange.

Above the archway,  between the folds of a framing, rust red curtain, the figure of St. Barnabus, the patron saint, is flanked by floral urns and two heraldic angels perched on clouds playing horns.

 

In the apse, God the Father looks down from the painted vault, and at the rear, another pair of angels on clouds hold ribbons inscribed Oración (Prayer) and Silencio (Silence). The figures are complemented with passages of elaborate floral decoration and polychrome friezes.

     

Another striking mural, on the nave ceiling, depicts a cross with the Host and a dove set above a globe encircled by a serpent.

text © 2020 Richard D. Perry

images by the author and © Niccolò Brooker. all rights reserved