Murals of Michoacán. Santiago Copándaro

 Shortly after construction began on the great priory at Cuitzeo, The Augustinians established the visita of Copándaro across the lake, to serve as a house of retreat as well as a way station for travelers journeying north from the capital at Morelia.

Laid out in the 1560s by Fray Gerónimo de la Magdalena, the architect of Cuitzeo, this little gem of a mission is a Plateresque showplace, likened by the Augustinian chronicler Diego de Basalenque to “a beautifully worked silver goblet.”

The Church

Although finely sculpted throughout, the church retains little of its early mural ornament. Traces of delicately drawn and colored grotesque friezes run along the nave and into the baptistry, weaving angels, serpents and religious insignia into a sinuous matrix of foliage.  

The Convento

The principal surviving fresco at Copándaro, at the north end of the arcaded portería, depicts the Spiritual Lineage of St Augustine. 
   In poor condition and partially erased, the mural is broadly similar to those at nearby Charo and at Atlatlahucan in Morelos, although closer in form to the Tree of Jesse model followed for other such murals, as at Zinacantepec. 

   The tree sprouts from the recumbent figure of the founder, the latter largely obliterated by the intrusion of a later doorway and now only identifiable by his disembodied episcopal miter. 

Rendered in a blue gray monochrome without the customary color, the mural portrays kings, nuns and martyrs of the Order perched on the spreading branches amid a variety of leaves , fruits, buds and blossoms.

In contrast, a partial Coronation of the Virgin at the other end of the portería glows with color. The Virgin rises through the clouds, escorted by angels, detailed in tones of blue and chestnut red.

  

The Cloister

Painted barrel vaults, crisscrossed by red ribs and blue, floating angel heads, cover the cloister walks.   Modern painted frames and friezes overlie and coexist with older friezes.

A few large narrative wall murals depict various scenes including what may be an Arrival of the Augustinian friars in the New World headed by St Augustine. Much overpainted at different times, it is difficult to discern or date the originals of these, if any, although the themes suggest an early colonial date.

  

Two other cloister murals of interest appear in the corner niches and lunettes at the end of the corridors. Of later colonial date, although possibly repainted, they are more folkloric in style and rendered in a variety of muted colors. The principal mural portrays Christ at the Column, gesturing towards a kneeling St Peter. An inscribed ribbon reads, Conversus Dominus respexit Petrum— “the Lord turned and looked at Peter" St Michael, resplendent in blues, red and eater tones, occupies another niche.   A crowded Via Crucis appears in the lunette above. A fallen but unperturbed Christ hefts the reddish brown cross accompanied by the traditional cast with peasant like faces and a mule.

In another lunette, is a dramatic scene of Abraham and Isaac in similar style and coloration.

text © 2019 by Richard D. Perry.  mural images by Niccolo Brooker