Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Exploring Colonial Mexico©
San Juan de Dios: gateway lionRecently we made a return visit with Felipe Falcón, the talented photographer of colonial Mexico, to the attractive hill town of Atlixco de las Flores, located just 30 kms southwest of the City of Puebla. Atlixco is renowned for its charming "folk baroque" churches, several of which we have described in an earlier posting.
In addition to revisiting its early Franciscan monastery, where we viewed the recently restored main altarpiece (the subject of a forthcoming feature), we took a closer look at the remarkable colonial hospital of San Juan de Dios (hillside location at 11 sur/3 poniente).
The first hospital
on this site was founded in the 1580s and dedicated, like so many
early hospitals, to La Purísima: the Virgin of the Immaculate
Conception.
Although, the institution continued to function through the 1600s,
by 1731 financial and administrative problems obliged the viceroy
and local bishop to hand it over to the juaninos, the more
experienced hospital order of St. John. The hospital was then
expanded with the new church, a second level added to the cloister,
and many additional rooms and wards. The juaninos continued
to run the institution until 1821. The hospital continues to function
today as a community clinic.
Please click on thumbnails to view larger images
The Gateway
Both church and hospital are set back from the road beyond a narrow, divided atrium. An ornamental double arched gateway, crowned with pierced pediments, opens to the atrium. An elaborate escutcheon of the Hapsburgs, painted in stucco relief with rampant lions, rises between the two gables - a handsome entry whose effect is currently marred by an obtrusive utility pole festooned with wires.
The Hospital
A narrow tiled lobby - with many colonial era azulejos - leads directly into the interior patio. The arcaded lower level features stout columns of dark gray basalt with a pronounced batter. These probably date from the late 1500s or early 1600s and are capped with ornate capitals of corinthian inspiration.Small carvings of hearts and a crowns of thorns project from the keystones, beneath an elaborately carved foliated frieze supported by cherubs.
The upper level of the cloister, believed to be the work of the architect Agustín de Oliva, is later and reflects the popular baroque taste of the mid-18th century.
Rectangular windows replace the arcades of the lower level and are flanked in the corners by paired, spiral pilasters densely carved with stucco foliage, shells, rosettes and angels. The pilasters are headed by ornate capitals, with carved pelicans emerging from acanthus foliage. Decorative balconies front the center openings on each side.
For us, the most intriguing feature of the patio is its elaborate fountain, dominated by a large, ambiguous stone figure thought to represent Hercules and the Lion, although claims have also been made for John the Baptist, as well as San Adrián, a minor saint believed to prevent epidemics - more appropriate for a hospital setting.
The Art
Gallery
Perhaps the most interesting, and unexpected, aspect of the hospital
is its extensive art gallery, which occupies a large salon opening
off the upper cloister. It contains a substantial collection of
late colonial paintings, most of them recently restored, that
include works by noted 18th century poblano artists Luis
Berrueco, Pablo José Talavera and Alonso
López Herrera. (see detail)
Highlights of the collection include portraits of the archangels
with scenes of healing and ministering to the poor and sick; and
two cycles depicting scenes from the life of St. John of God,
represented both as San Juan de Dios, the patron saint of the
hospital, and as Juan Ciudad, his secular given name. One
cycle portraying the juanino founder is believed to be
the work of the artist Pablo Sebastián. Painted
in the 1740s and based on the engravings in Fr. Antonio de
Govea's 1660 biography of the saint, these canvases may be
the most complete such sequence in colonial Mexican art.
The Church
The small 18th century church is unexceptional; attractive but
quite plain with a clean neoclassical interior. A tiled cupola
in the Pueblan style crowns the single tower.
