San Juan Teitipac: the Last Supper

San Juan Teitipac church front and convento entry

In our earlier posts on Teitipac we looked at the murals in the portería of the convento: the processional frescoes on the south wall and those of the Virgin of the Rosary on the north and east wall.
   Before the tragic destruction of the cloister, many of its walls were also decorated with murals, most of which have been lost. However, vestiges remain of some early examples in what is left of the former refectory, notably an extraordinary Last Supper fresco on the rear wall.
   For many years open to the weather, this mural has been largely washed away, save for some outlines and partial portraits of Christ and the Apostles, originally painted in a warm monochrome.

the Last Supper in 2005

Nevertheless, from these surviving fragments, we can still appreciate the refined draftsmanship, most noticeably in the sensitive treatment of the faces of the Apostles.

While the recent installation of a beamed roof on the room provided some protection, the repair work unfortunately contributed to the further damage to the mural, all the more of a loss since, unlike the portería frescoes, its unrestored state reveals the original skill of the anonymous native muralist.

the Last Supper in 2008

text and color images © 2018 Richard D. Perry.