Mani, located 100 kms south of Mérida was the seat of the powerful Xiu Maya clan, early opponents and later allies of the Spanish. Following the conquest of Yucatán, Mani was logically chosen as the site for the first Franciscan mission in the region. The monastery of San Miguel is especially noted for its great open chapel and fine early retablos.
The Mani Murals
Since the 1990s much restoration work has taken place within the church and monastery precincts, during which many historic artworks, artifacts and architectural details have been uncovered, including murals.
Until recently, apart from a few fragments, the Franciscan mural program at Mani was thought to be lost or minimal. During 2001 and 2002 however, several early colonial frescoes were discovered in both the church and convento, hidden behind altarpieces and layers of whitewash.
The Open Chapel
While a few traces of painting survive, no theme has been discerned, although it is tempting to speculate that at one time there were murals, perhaps related to the similar open chapel at Actopan.
The Apsidal Mural
The most spectacular find was an extraordinarily well preserved 16th century mural, uncovered behind the main altarpiece at the east end of the church. This large fresco, which fills the apse from floor to vault, took the form of a wall retablo and is believed to date from the late 1560s or 1570s?.
The painted architectural framework of the fresco is Italianate in design—unusual for this early date. The two principal niches contain polychrome frescoes that portray the Stigmatization of St. Francis, and the Archangel Michael, patron saint of Mani, lancing Lucifer, that display animated design and confident execution.
Still retaining their bright hues of red, blue/green and earth colors, these dynamic compositions convey a sense of drama remarkable for this early date, and may indicate the presence of a European artist at Mani.
The painted pediment shows the Instruments of Christ's Passion together with the Franciscan insignia of The Five Wounds, enclosed in an ornate strapwork frame flanked by the archangels Gabriel and Raphael. Framed escutcheons of the Spanish royal arms are displayed on either side.
The apsidal vault above the main altar is also painted with colonial murals of a later date. Not yet fully restored and partly effaced they are nevertheless of high quality. The most complete section portrays the Virgin Mary in her blue robe emerging from clouds dotted with angels holding various objects.
The Nave Murals
In addition to the apsidal mural, as many as fourteen polychrome frescoes were re-discovered behind the 16th century side retablos of San Antonio de Padua and Dolores as they were being removed for restoration.
Some murals are well preserved but others were in poor condition. All are thought to date from the late 1500s—among the earliest yet found in Yucatan—and may have been executed by or under the tutelage of European artists.
Behind the San Antonio altarpieces, miniature scenes from the life of the saint unfold around the arch of the niche.
The best preserved and most interesting of these murals adorn the niche behind the Dolorosa retablo on the north side of the nave They portray miracles associated with the Franciscan saint San Diego de Alcalá notably the Miracle of the Well and the Miracle of the Oven, illustrated in bright red, yellow and green hues.
Fragments of murals have also been recovered that formerly adorned the passage to the cloister and the cloister corridors, notably a tender scene of fine graphic detail depicting the Visitation between Mary and St. Elizabeth—probably one of a series of scenes in the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
One extant mural of unusual character, discovered in one of the cells adjoining the lower cloister, is this portrait of a red headed Franciscan surrounded by lamps or thuribles against a background of wavy bands of color. While the exact iconography is obscure, it may refer to the vision of Christ with seven lamp stands as related in the Apocalypse of St. John—a theme embraced by Franciscan mystics as also referring to St Francis.
text © 2018 Richard D. Perry.
color images by the author, Niccolo Brooker and others.
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