Tlalnepantla: the convento murals

In a previous post we visited the grand early Franciscan monastery at Tlalnepantla with its fine early sculpted atrium cross. Here is a look at its few surviving 16th century murals:

The Convento and its Murals

Behind the long, colonnaded porteria, lies the airy, stone flagged cloister, with its Tuscan arcades and sculpted Gothic doorways.  Although the walks and arches have been assiduously whitewashed, revealing little trace of early narrative murals, some of the surrounding painted grotesque friezes and framing panels have survived, many in excellent if much restored condition.

   

Mostly rendered in a warm, sepia grisaille, they also include remnant portraits of Franciscan saints, friars and bishops, as well as fragmentary details of frescoes that once adorned the corner niches.

St Clare

Dove of the Holy Spirit with stars

text © 2020 Richard D. Perry

images by the author, Niccolo Brooker and ELTB with appreciation 

Morelos. The Yautepec murals 2.

This is the second of two posts on the murals of Asunción Yautepec in the state of Morelos.

The Convento Murals
Like most all the Morelos conventos, the corridors of the cloister walks and adjoining rooms at Yautepec were lavishly covered with painted friezes, dadoes and artesonado ceilings with passages of intricate decorative coffering interspersed with Dominican rosettes, sacred monograms and landscapes. 

   Bands of grotesque ornament fill the friezes entwined with acanthus and vines, festooned with garlands and animated with birds, flowers, cherubs and mythical figures—mostly in monochrome but accented with faded burgundy and blue.

The Cloister Murals
Around the cloister a grand series of narrative murals survive, albeit partially. They comprise an extraordinary compendium of portraits of Dominican saints, martyrs, bishops, and even popes, along the cloister walks and primarily on the interior piers of the cloister arcades. 
   All the figures are portrayed in conventionally dignified Renaissance poses, richly robed and bearing crucifixes as well as their traditional attributes and symbols. Each is identified by Latin inscription and elegantly framed with ornate Plateresque columns and arches. 

  

St Francis                  St Lucy

Notables include Saints Dominic and Francis, along with eminent Dominicans  like Thomas Aquinas, St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Peter Martyr. Popes Pius V and Benedict XI appear along with the Church Fathers Ambrose and Jerome, as well as lesser known figures like St. Elmo, and St. Anthony of Florence.
Only two female saints, Lucy and Catherine of Siena, are portrayed.

  

      St.  Elmo    St.  Anthony of Florence

  

St Benedict .                     St Dominic.

text © 2020 Richard D. Perry

color images by the author, Niccolo Brooker and others.

Please visit our earlier pages on the murals of Morelos: Tlayacapan; Cuernavaca, Tlaquiltenango; Oaxtepec;  Tlaltizapan; Atlatlahuacan; Tepoztlan;