Exploring
Colonial Mexico©Exploring
Colonial Mexico©
Asunción CupilcoIn earlier pages we have described a number of "folk baroque" churches in different regions of Mexico: mostly from the states of Puebla, Morelos, Michoacán and Querétaro.
But other example abound elsewhere in Mexico.
On this page we look at several painted churches in Tabasco, on the fringes of the modern Maya world. Although most of these are post colonial, they continue the ancient Mexican use of color in sacred edifices, a living folk tradition carried on by the Maya villagers of the steamy Gulf coast of Tabasco.
First we look at the celebrated Temple of the Assumption, located in Cupilco, just north of Villahermosa in the coastal wetlands. We also include pictures of the neighboring village churches of Guaytalpa and Ayapa.
Cupilco
Although there
has been a church at Cupilco since colonial times, the present
basilica is modern, dating from the 1900s, when the neoclassical
front and floral stucco decorations were added. The church has
an exuberant folk quality in its elongated, but non functional
domed towers and its spreading espadaña capped by a lofty
clock, but above all in its colorful facade, painted predominantly
in red, green and ocher.
Juan Diego and the Virgin of Guadalupe
Repainted every year or so for the popular festival of the Virgin, the focus of the decorative front is a naive relief of the best known apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, set above the doorway. Painted in 1967 by local artist Angel Izquierdo Orueta, the brightly colored tableau shows St. Juan Diego kneeling before the Virgin in a rocky, cactus strewn landscape, his cape, or tilma, open to reveal freshly blooming roses.
Stucco figures of angels adorn the upper facade, together with a tiny statue of St. Joseph atop the espadaña.
< photo© Jeffrey Becom
The Virgin of the Assumption
The image of the Virgin inside the church reputedly dates from the 17th century and is lavishly costumed in the traditional manner as La Purísima, the Queen of Heaven. The santa is the focus of a popular regional festival in mid-August (the feast of The Assumption) when she is taken from the church, and carried in procession around the town.
According to local legend, in 1634, the inhabitants of the neighboring village of Ayapa discovered the image of the Virgin resting in a fishing boat on the shore of the nearby lagoon. Although they placed the statue in the local church, they noticed that during the night, the Virgin would change her position to face Cupilco. Eventually she was brought to Cupilco, where she now rests on the main altar of the temple.
In recognition of her widespread veneration, the statue of the Virgin was ceremonially crowned by the visiting Pope John Paul ll in 1999.
The arcaded interior of the basilica is also brightly painted in popular style. The capitals of its interior columns are decorated with painted relief figures of the infant Jesus and the head of Christ with a crown of thorns. >
Cupilco: basilica arcade capital,
detail © Jeffrey Becom
Beside the winding waterways and lagoons of the Usumacinta delta lie several other villages with painted churches. Here are a few pictures of those at Guaytalpa and Ayapa, courtesy of photographer Jeff Becom, who has spent time there.
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*My special thanks to Jeff Becom and Sally Aberg who first made me aware of the "brightly painted church row," as they term it, of Tabasco, and who have graciously allowed me to feature some of Jeff's spectacular images on this page.
