San Juan Teitipac: the North Wall murals

In our first post on the Teitipac murals, we described the dramatic sequence of 16th century processional frescoes adorning the south wall of the two-story vestibule just inside the entry portería. 
   These well known frescoes have attracted much commentary, but in this post we consider the largely ignored group of murals opposite, on the north wall of the portería.

The north wall frescoes: west to east

The North Wall frescoes
This cycle comprises three large scale murals. Although partially erased and still largely unrestored, as we shall see, they do not relate to the processional frescoes opposite. 

The center panel of the triptych illustrates the Annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist, the patron saint of the monastery.  A richly robed, kneeling figure, identifiable as the priest and prophet Zacharias, waves a censer at an altar emblazoned with a large foliated cross. 
   A now partial San Gabriel rises in a cloud above the altar to announce the divine conception of John the Baptist to the incredulous Zacharias. 

An awed group kneel in prayer from the doorway of an adjacent temple.

The adjacent panel, nearest the west entry to the vestibule, is the least well preserved, although the details are fairly well outlined. 
   Here the event is the actual birth of John the Baptist. The hazy figure seated on the left again is the now mute Zacharias holding a book.  Above him, an attendant brings towels or warm water. 

The figure lying in the canopied bed above right is St. Elizabeth, the mother of John, while below, the infant, crowned with a halo, is held by the Virgin Mary amid a group of female attendants. 

The Dominican emblem of the foliated cross appears once more on the base of the center column.

The dramatic easterly panel, the best preserved of the three, portrays a reported dream of St. Dominic in Rome.* Christ sits in Judgment on a celestial cloud brandishing three arrows representing Famine, War and Pestilence—considered divine punishments for Pride, Avarice and Lust.

 

On the left, the Virgin Mary (standing) intercedes on behalf of St. Francis and St. Dominic who kneel, arms outstretched, below. 
Sun, moon and stars light the sky above Mary, and flames leap from the gaping mouth of Hell on the lower right. 
* Dominic was puzzled by the humble figure beside him in his vision. The following day he met Francis and realized that he was the person in the dream.

text © 2018 Richard D. Perry

photography © courtesy of Niccolò Brooker.  All rights reserved.