Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Homepage | Archive | Publications | Ordering El barroco poblano: a series
Although the principal colonial buildings and monuments of the city center of Puebla are well known, it is often in its outlying barrios that the vernacular flavor of the art and architecture is truly experienced. While the colorful tiled fronts of Puebla represent one well known and immediately recognizable strain of this distinctive popular tradition, several "retablo" style facades of painted stone and stucco show another, equally folkloric face of el barroco poblano.
One of these is that of the 18th century Capilla de Los Misterios Gozosos de Nuestra Señora, simply called Los Gozos. Located in a former artisan's barrio south of the city center, this modest chapel dates from 1736 and was formerly part of a Franciscan nunnery and college in the quarter. (13 Poniente 113 /16 de Septiembre &5 Sur)
Framed by classical fluted columns, the church front displays seven large reliefs, four of them lozenge shaped, illustrating the Los Gozos, or The Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary, a popular devotion promoted by the Franciscans.
This Seraphic Rosary, as it is known, commemorates these Seven Joys, namely, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity of Jesus, the Adoration of the Magi, the Finding of the young Jesus in the Temple, the Resurrection of Jesus, the Ascension, and the Coronation of the Virgin, all of which are shown on the Gozos chapel facade.
The Coronation of the Virgin is represented as a statue set on a pillar in the gable. She wears a crown of roses and is swathed in billowing robes. The Seven Joys are depicted as spear points piercing her breast, following the more common pictorial tradition of the Seven Sorrows.
The oval relief above depicts the Nativity of Jesus. The other Joys are depicted in the remaining reliefs.
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The Annunciation The Visitation The Finding in the Temple? The Ascension of Christ The Resurrection of Christ The Coronation and the Nativity
