Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Santos Reyes Metztitlán:
facadeOn the 12th of September 1997, at 6.30 in the morning, a major earthquake struck the Barranca de Metztitlán, 70 kms north of Mexico City - a sensitive ecological region home to many rare cactus varieties***. Especially hard hit was the Augustinian priory of the Three Kings (Los Santos Reyes), an imposing 16th century structure in the principal village of Metztitlán.
When Augustinian friars arrived in 1538, the primitive mission was located on the valley floor. Because of endemic flooding in the canyon, the permanent monastery buildings were re-sited on a former temple platform on the hillside above the settlement. (Although a massive drainage scheme was later instituted by the friars, flooding still occurs - as evidence the widespread inundation of 1999.)
Although subsidence and earth movements had damaged the church and its adjacent convento over the centuries, the 1997 'quake threatened the integrity of this gem of early colonial architecture togther with the art works both within and on its walls - the convento is famous for its early murals. Fissures had opened up around the church and cracks appeared in the fabric of the building. Alarmed residents notified the authorities who, under the guidance of Juan Benito Artigas, a noted architect and authority on Mexican colonial architecture, took steps to stabilize the structure and its immediate precincts. While restoration and conservation work to stabilize the priory continue, limited resources and the danger of future subsidence and earth tremors, continue to threaten this magnificent early colonial monument.
The Main Retablo
To compound the problems, less than a year later a fire in the church destroyed the gilded colonial retablo of San Miguel, together with its paintings of the Five Archangels and a 1690 portrait of the Virgin and Child by Spinoza.
Fortunately the superb main altarpiece (left) was spared the holocaust. Created by the well known sculptor Salvador de Ocampo*, with paintings of the Life of the Virgin by the prominent Mexican religious artist Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez**, this recently restored, late 17th century retablo remains one of Mexico's foremost colonial art treasures.
** See the painting of the Three Kings by the artist's brother Juan Rodríguez Juárez
Ocampo's gilded relief of the Three Kings (right) is one of the finest sculptural tableaux of late 17th century Mexican art.
* The sculptor Salvador de Ocampo was the son of the noted native woodcarver and sculptor Tomás Xuárez and his extended family of sculptors and woodcarvers, unrelated to the Juarez painting dynasty. In fact the success of the talented Xuarez family provides a rare example of indigenous nobility achieving artistic acceptance at the highest levels of colonial society.
The Murals
Numerous fine murals have survived in the church and convento. Among the most notable are those in the porteria, including a Crucifixion with Tree of Life (1577) and an exceptional portrait of La Purísima (right) framed by her symbols, which has been called the Blue Virgin because of her pale, blue/gray face and hands.
The Cross
The 16th century stone atrium cross (left) is another of the numerous outstanding works of art at Metztitlan. Standing on a tall, stepped base opposite the church front, this austere but imposing cylindrical cross was probably the model for others in the region.
Its signature sculpted features include a wreath like Crown of Thorns at the crossing and three bleeding Wounds: two on the arms and one on the shaft, all carved in bold relief. A prominently bordered INRI plaque transects the neck of the cross, and crossed bones adorn the pedestal. The cross has been restored in recent years to include its original cannonball finials.
