Exploring Colonial
Mexico©
Exploring Colonial
Mexico©
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The World Monuments Fund recently announced its list of 100 most endangered sites for 2006. Among those selected in Mexico is the village church of San Nicolás Obispo, located just outside the colonial city of Morelia, Michoacán. The mission church was founded and built by the Franciscans in the late 1500s, but was later handed over to the Augustinians.
San Nicolás Obispo retains many remarkable original features, many in the distinctive regional style of western Michoacán. These include the intricately crafted wooden artesonado ceilings (see picture below) that stretch from the underchoir to the apse, in this unusual case secured by leather latticework and accented with red and blue stars. A rugged basalt cross faces the 16th century doorway, whose typically broad jambs are carved with vines and rosettes. A monolithic stone font, probably dating from Franciscan era, stands near the church door. San Nicolás Obispo is also one of a handful of churches in the region with a freestanding tower.
In the 18th century San Nicolás Obispo attracted pilgrims from across the region. The baroque upper facade was added in 1736, in celebration of a visit by Bishop Hoyos, and a magnificent Baroque altarpiece commissioned, which now fills the apse. Time and the elements have taken their toll however, and new plans are being drafted for the urgent conservation and restoration of this unique colonial monument.
< The baroque altarpiece at San Nicolas is a stunning example of an early 18th century craftsmanship. Painted and gilded throughout, the retablo takes a screen-like form: the layered center section projects forward, as the lateral calles flare outwards to embrace the worshipper.
The principal niches are framed by spiral columns and projecting cornices hung with spindles in the Oaxacan fashion. Deep niches house 18th century? statues of the Franciscan San Antonio de Padua, and the Augustinian bishop Nicholas of Tolentino for whom the church is named. Painted panels in the upper level portray ? All the intervening spaces are densely ornamented with whorls of vines and floral decoration.
A remarkably sumptuous work of art for such a humble church.
The church interior showing the mudéjar ceiling and main retablo >
Here are some comments from the WMF report, a cautionary tale on the use of cement in restorations:
"Over the centuries, the tower, roofs, choir and wood ceiling have been weakened and damaged by natural aging, insect infestation, and moisture infiltration. These conservation problems were exacerbated by an attempt to restore the church in 1975, at which time the community replaced the original painted mud stucco with moisture-trapping cement stucco, and destroyed the side altars. Although the site is still in use, its community has not had the resources or technical capacity to carry out proper restoration work. Recently, however, the Fundacíon Herencias Patrimoniales, an NGO formed by architects and engineers dedicated to the conservation of Mexico's historic patrimony, began developing a conservation masterplan for the site and has launched a public awareness campaign. The most pressing issues, however, are the stabilization of the roof, tower, and choir-funds for which have yet to be secured."
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