Epiphany! January 6th 2024.
On this feast day of the Three Kings we return to the Pueblan church of Los Reyes to look at the church interior, where ribbed vaults reflect the white and gold nave, refitted in neoclassical style.
Fortunately for us, some of the original baroque altarpieces remain.
The Main Retablo
This gilded two tier retablo in high Mexican baroque (estipite) style probably dates from the later 1700s. Prominent, swagged niche pilasters showcase statues of the Three Kings, and John the Baptist set between highly ornamental estipites.
The center tableau includes the Virgin (babeless) with Joseph and one of the Three Kings (Melchor).
Multiple cornices divide the retablo in layered style.
A large triple tier gilded altarpiece of The Virgin of the Snows (Los Nieves) is fashioned in earlier baroque style with plain, rectangular pilasters on lower tier & Plateresque columns on second tier.
Sts Francis & Anthony of Padua
Colonial statues of mostly Franciscan? saints rest in shell niches across first tier; three more in niches on second tier, flanked by large paintings.
The Franciscan arms on third tier (gable) flanks a large center niche (empty) with window behind.
transept retablo 2
This smaller gilded retablo is framed in ornate Solomonic style with vine-encrusted spiral columns enclosing shell niches containing painted statuary of Evangelists. Dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar it features large paintings illustrating scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary.
All the best for 2024!
© 2024 Richard D. Perry
images by the author and Niccolo Brooker by permission
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