 |
| Santa Clara de Querétaro |
Santa Clara de Queretaro
Like Santa Rosa de Viterbo, the narrow nave of this nuns' church is lined with an extraordinary variety of opulent, late baroque altarpieces by the Queretaran masters, including Francisco Gudiño, Mariano de Las Casas and Pedro de Rojas.
The two that interest us here are dedicated to St. Rose of Lima and St John Nepomuc. We look first at the altarpiece dedicated to St. Rose, the first American saint.
Santa Rosa de Lima
This opulent gilded retablo is believed to be
another work by Pedro de Rojas, an attribution supported by its filigree style ornament and graceful sculptures of angels—a
signature of Rojas’ altarpieces and perhaps from his own chisel.
Above a pair of elaborately framed, painted doors surmounted by
reclining angels with enormous cornucopia, ornate pilasters with
curtained niches house polychrome figures of Saints Dominic and Anthony
of Padua.
Overhead, a decorative cartouche of the Virgin of Guadalupe is encircled by Marian symbols accompanied by animated figures of Archangels.
These, with other cherubic figures, appear to be the only surviving original statuary, and may be from Rojas workshop—possibly the hand of the master himself.
Text & drawing ©2012 Richard D. Perry. Photography by Richard Anderson & Niccolo Brooker
Information based in part on Pedro de Rojas y su taller de escultura en Querétaro by Mina Ramírez Montes (1988)
 |
| click for info |
No comments:
Post a Comment