The Charo Murals 3: The Refectory frescoes.

In the last of our three posts on the Charo murals we look at the remarkable Refectory Murals

The third great repository of mural painting at Charo lies in the high ceilinged refectory. The most recently uncovered, this extraordinary cycle of frescoes, some on rarely depicted subjects, extends around all four walls, showing a lighter touch and a more liberal use of color than the other Charo murals. 

The side walls of this large room are adorned with two tiers of panels, each framed by ornate painted pilasters, swagged borders and grotesque friezes.

Appropriately for a refectory, the principal panel on the end (west) wall depicts the Last Supper, in which white robed apostles with red hair lounge around a long table.  This is flanked by the related Feeding of the Five Thousand, as well as a Baptism of Christ.
   Beneath the Last Supper appears another portrayal of the Agony in the Garden, although less intense than the vestibule version.

Adoration of the Virgin and the Evangelists

A delicate fresco of the Adoration of the Virgin is painted beside the east wall, opposite the triumphal golden figure of the Archangel Michael wrestling with the Devil—the only portrayal of the patron saint to appear at Charo. 

The east wall is the most complex. An enormous but poorly preserved Calvary scene forms the centerpiece, flanked by portraits of the Four Evangelists, each seated pen in hand upon a throne with his identifying attribute. 

Located at lower right is a faded but dramatic fresco of Saul on the road to Damascus. In this scene, we see the dazzled future apostle being thrown violently from his frightened horse, as a reproach issues from Heaven on an unfurling banner. 

Finally, a cautionary mural appears above a window to the refectory. A lone friar clutching a large, red crucifix—possibly the young St. Augustine—is tempted by an angel on one side and the Devil on the other, both pointing to a scripture and holding out a quill holder and inkhorn—motifs we saw at Actopan. 
   Of the seven Augustinian monasteries of colonial Michoacán lauded by Fray Matias, San Miguel Charo far surpasses the grander priories of Cuitzeo and Yuriria in its mural decoration. It is to hoped that these historic murals, under threat from damp and water damage, will be speedily protected and restored for future generations.

Text © 2019 Richard D. Perry.

images by the author and courtesy of Niccolò Brooker and Robert Jackson.