Colonial Churches- Art 216

COLONIAL CHURCHES Architecture & sculpture

CHURCH OF CONCEPCÍON,CHIQUITANÍA,

BOLIVIA1756• Church of Conception

• Monumental size and fortress-like appearance gave them a dominant position in their villages and recalled that of pre-Conquest temples.

• Wooden and adobe construction, built like large rectangular halls divided into three aisles

• Built quickly and without prior architectural experience

• Large plaza area in the front was used to perform church ceremonies outdoors- echoed pre-Conquest tradition, in which worshippers stood in a plaza facing the pyramid

IGLESIA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LOS

REMEDIOS (CHURCH OF OUR LADY

OF REMEDIES)1574-1629

CHOLULA, PUEBLA, MEXICO

Recognizing the significance of the pyramid mound, the Spanish chose to construct a church upon the remains of the native temple grounds. The church is situated atop the Tlachihualtepetl (Grand Pyramid). Its worship, like that of its pre-Hispanic native predecessors, is associated with the propitiation of the rain.This archeological structure consists of several superimposed pyramids, accumulated over six centuries. The base is 450 m (1,480 ft) on each side and 54 m (177 ft) high, twice as large as that of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan and four times bigger in volume than that of Keops in Egypt

Artist rendition of what the Great Pyramid of Cholula would have looked liked. According to myth, the pyramid was built by a giant named Xelhua of adobe bricks, after he escaped a flood in the

neighboring Valley of Mexico .The pyramid consists of six superimposed structures, one for each ethnic group that dominated it.

CATHEDRALS

•Metropolitan cathedrals and churches were not merely works of architecture but the site of incalculable quantities of artworks, reflecting the patronage of figures ranging from the kings to religious orders to wealthy families. •Cathedrals became symbols of power and dominance over pagan religious and old customs•Baroque style• Highly theatrical • Baroque architecture works as a means of

impressing visitors, and expressing triumph, power and control

METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL OF MEXICO CITY

• Façade divided into 3 vertical sections• Flanked by two towers

1 2 3

Sagrario Metropolitano(Tabernacle)Lorenzo Rodríguez (1749-1768)

The Cathedral serves a perfect example of Baroque style cathedrals. The cathedrals of the New World were heavily supervised during their construction as they are symbols of power, dominance and religion.

METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL OF MEXICO CITYMEXICO CITY, MEXICO1573-1817• Began a decade after the Conquest and completed in 1817!

• Largest building in Colonial America. • 360ft long and almost exactly half as wide

and tall. • Dates mostly from 17th and 18th centuries • Composed mostly of brick and tezontle.*• Built using the foundation of Templo

Mayor• Faces south, to face the Zócalo (which

replaced the main Aztec ceremonial plaza)

• Partly covers the principle Aztec temple- a standard symbol of Christian victory over paganism.

ARCHITECTURE • Embraces every Spanish style that

ever reached the colonies: Gothic ribs, Renaissance piers and vaults, Baroque scrolls, twisted columns, estípites and Neoclassical finials.

• Estípites: A column or pilaster, tapered at the bottom and formed of several elaborately carved sections.

• Typical of late Baroque buildings in Spain and Latin America.

• The façade is Baroque

CHAPELS • Many of the city’s religious orders, guilds and

confraternities had their own side altar, brimming with gold statues, paintings and silver adornments.

• There are 16 chapels.• Each chapel is dedicated to a different saint or

saints, and each was sponsored by a religious guild.

• The chapels contain ornate altars, altarpieces, retablos, paintings, furniture and sculptures.

• The Chapel of Saint Joseph (Spanish: Capilla de San José), built between 1653 and 1660, contains an image of Our Lord of Cacao, an image of Christ most likely from the 16th century.

• Its name was inspired from a time when many indigenous worshipers would give their alms in the form of cocoa beans.

THE ALTAR OF THE KINGS

• Meant to fill the whole interior of the apse and serves as a reminder of royal authority.

• One of the first works in the Estipite-Baroque style on Mexican soil

• Demonstrates the development of the retablo style- design in which paintings and sculpture cede their primacy to architectural ornament

• The Altar allows structural elements like pilasters and niches to dissolve into a mass of jagged and curved lines, decorative scrolls, angels and garlands.

• The overall effect is one of textural richness.

Two gargantuan Baroque organs (the largest in Latin America)

CUSCO CATHEDRAL 1559-1654

Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin-The Incas built the temple known as Kiswarkancha on the main square in Cusco. It was the Inca temple of Viracocha

-The location of Viracocha's palace was chosen for the purpose of removing the Inca religion from Cusco, and replacing it with Spanish Catholic Christianity. Because 1559 was only 26 years after the conquistadores entered Cusco in 1533, the vast majority of the population was still of Quechua Inca descent. The Spaniards used the Incas as a labor workforce to build the cathedral.-Gothic-Renaissance Style

• Cathedral format: • Façade divided into 3 vertical sections• Flanked by two towers

THE ROSARY CHAPEL-SANTO DOMINGO

PUEBLA, MEXICO- 1690• One of the most overwhelming

Baroque experiences on earth• Chapel built to house a miraculous

image of the Virgin for whom the Dominicans had a special devotion.

• Interweaving, twisting mesh of three-dimensional gold and white stucco covers the walls and dome, incorporating foliate decoration, scrolls, birds, grapes, angels and ribbons

• This technique of stucco work, using a plaster made of flour, egg white and water under gold leaf, was typical of Puebla.

• Design combines tradition of Spain, Italy and Flanders

• Lace-like ornament takes over the architectural elements, sculptures and paintings.

• Allegories of the Life of the Virgin

SANTA MARÍA TONANTZINTLA, MEXICO• Located in Cholula, Mexico• Considered the maximum expression

of “indigenous baroque”• Mix of Christian iconography and pre-

Columbian

• plaster molding painted in bright, vibrant hues covers every last inch of the church's interior walls and ceilings

• intended as a native adaptation of the nearby Capilla de Rosario (Rosary Chapel)

• explosion of faces, figures, masks, flowers, fruits, and birds alongside more abstract decorative design features.

• introduction of Christianity to the region, the Aztec goddess Tontantzin, for whom the church is named, was re-appropriated as an iteration of the Virgin Mary.

SAN FRANCISCO ACATEPECPUEBLA, MEXICO• San Francisco Acatepec has a

spectacular facade, described by Mexican art historian Don Manuel Toussaint as a "porcelain temple."

• The entire front is totally covered with locally produced talavera (ceramic) tiles in rich reds, blues, and yellows.

• (Talavera is the famous trademark pottery of the capital city of Puebla, less than an hour away.)

TALAVERA • is a type of pottery, which is

distinguished by a milky-white glaze. • Authentic Talavera pottery only comes

from the city of Puebla. • The design of the pieces is highly

regulated by tradition. The paint ends up slightly raised over the base. In the early days, only a cobalt blue was used.

• Maiolica pottery was brought to Mexico by the Spanish in the first century of the colonial period. Production of this ceramic became highly developed in Puebla because of the availability of fine clays and the demand for tiles from the newly established churches and monasteries in the area

• blue on Talavera pottery was reinforced by the influence of China's Ming dynasty through imported Chinese ceramics that came to Mexico via the Manila galleons.

ATRIUM CROSSCHURCH OF SAN

FRANCISCOMICHOACÁN,

MEXICO 16TH CENTURY

• Instead of showing the full Crucifixion, with the body of Christ attached to the cross , these works of sculpture usually show only Christ’s face at the center (or no face at all)

• Adorned on the cross are glyph-like conglomeration of symbols of Christ’s Passion.

• The cross is mounted on top of a stepped platform of rubble masonry intended to represent an Aztec pyramid- Christian triumph.

• Contains an obsidian disk in the center- Aztec tradition of symbolizing the heart of the universe/ goal of human sacrifice

ATRIUM CROSSMONASTERY OF ST.

AUGUSTIN OF ACOLMAN

ACOLMAN, MEXICO 1550

• Christian Cross- sacririce and reserurection of Christ made it possible for the redepemention of humans

• The Acolman cross features at the top the INRI inscription, then the Augustinian emblem of the arrow-pierced heart, an impressive realistic head of Christ in bulk at the intersection of the arms and the shaft, a chalice, pliers, a ladder, the spear, a palm lead, a human bone and a skull.

• The arms of the cross are decorated with vegetal motifs like flowers, vines, and leaves

• The base that supports the cross intends to emphasize the theme of Calvary, showing a crude image of the Virgin of the Sorrows

INRI Augustinian emblem

The arms are decorated with vegetable motifs like flowers, vines and leaves

Symbols of the Passion

Skull with bones

Virgin of the Sorrows

Amerindian Cross- Representation of the World Tree It was the Axis Mundi that connected the gods of the Upperworld and Undrerworld with the human beings on the surface of the earth. In Mesoamerican vision of the World, the cycle of planting and harvesting of the maize became sacred because it was the main source of sustenance for humans. At the same time the cycle of the maize was a metaphor for the death and rebirth of humankind. This same agricultural and cosmological belief was somewhat compatible with the Christian idea that God came to the world incarnated as Jesus Christ dying with a great deal of suffering like any mortal create. He rose form the dead and the blood of his sacrifice on the cross would be a symbol of the redemption. So, for the Indian view, Christ is the Maize God and the Cross is the maize plant. The fleurs-de-lys at the end of the arms of the cross are the sprouts of the maize plant that represent the endless rebirth of fertility and life. The carved flowers, vines and leaves that decorate the arms are the vines of beans and squash that the grow together in the milpas. The cross is rising from Calvary that is the mountain on the earth where Christ defeated death. In the same way the maize plant rises from the “monster of the earth” where the transformation of death into life takes place.