Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Set between the sparkling waters of Lake Texcoco and the slopes of the snow capped volcanoes of Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, the eastern Valley of Mexico was often viewed as a paradise. (1) In early colonial times, churches and monasteries rose in towns from Otumba to Ozumba (2) many celebrated for their innovative architecture and striking works of art.
In this page we take a closer look at Ozumba, whose baroque church and Franciscan monastery contain many unique and historical colonial works of art.
The Monastery
The Franciscan
convento at Ozumba dates from the middle years of the 16th century.
The entry portería of the monastery is decorated with several
unique murals that document key episodes in the "Spiritual
Conquest" of Mexico, in which the Franciscan Order played
a leading role.
The Arrival of the Twelve
On June 24, 1524, twelve ragged Franciscan friars finally reached Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the new capital of colonial New Spain, then rising from the ruins of the Aztec island city. Exhausted, they had walked barefoot from Veracruz on the Gulf coast 250 miles to the east.
The stupendous task assigned to these Apostolic Twelve, who had been sent on the request of Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of Mexico, was no less than the evangelization and conversion to Catholicism of the vast native population of New Spain.
Awaiting the Twelve on the causeway leading into the city was Cortés, at the head of a grand retinue of high ranking Spaniards and splendidly attired native nobles.
To the astonishment of the assembled Indian lords, all the Spaniards, including the great Cortés himself, promptly fell to their knees before the humble friars, thus emphasizing the importance of the Spiritual Conquest.
Los Niños Mártires
< One of the best known episodes of the Spiritual Conquest is that of the Niños Martires. The story goes that shortly after the conquest, in 1527, Axotecatl, one of the Four Lords of Tlaxcala - allies of Cortés in the defeat of the Aztecs - sent his three sons to be educated in the Franciscan monastery of Tlaxcala.
On their return, the young men set about smashing idols and reproaching their father for his polygamy and excessive drinking. The enraged lord beat his son Cristobal and burned him to death. The other two boys fled, but continued their preaching and iconoclastic ways, until they too soon suffered a martyr's fate.
The Church
The present church of Santa Maria is much later than the convento, dating from the early 1700s. Its discreetly ornate retablo facade, pictured at top, is an attractive example of the "sober" baroque fashion of this period.
< Inside the church, the principal work of art is the superb gilded main altarpiece, an outstanding example of the "Solomonic" baroque. Framed by the signature spiral columns of this style, the numerous compartments are filled with elegant statues of Franciscan and other saints dating from the 1700s. Expressive sculpted reliefs of the Apostles decorate the base.
At its center, graceful figures of archangels flank the stylized image of the La Purísima, the patron saint of the church >.
Other colonial retablos in various styles line the nave and stand in the side chapels, some with paintings by well known Mexican artists such as Juan Correa and the Arellano family.
SOURCES & LINKS
