The stone fonts of Puebla: Acatzingo

In previous posts we looked at stone baptismal fonts and carved holy water basins in several states, including Oaxaca, Yucatán, Michoacán and Tlaxcala.

   We have also featured fonts in the Puebla region, notably those at San Gabriel Cholula and Tecali. 

   In this and subsequent posts we illustrate some of the other interesting examples in the state, starting with the extraordinary sculpted font at Acatzingo.

Acatzingo
The formidable 16th century "fortress" church of San Juan Evangelista Acatzingo boasts one of the finest and most intriguing sculpted baptismal fonts in Mexico. 

  

4 Rabbit glyphs: from the font and on an Aztec sculpture

Set prominently in the middle of the nave, instead of in the baptistry, and rimmed by the Franciscan knotted cord, the font stands atop a stylized, feathered or petaled base on which the date 1574, or 4 Rabbit, is inscribed in Aztec pictorial glyphs.

Acatzingo place glyphs

The town coat of arms, also in indigenous style, is emblazoned on the other side, incorporating reeds and water—a reference to Acatzingo's place name: Where Reeds Grow.
    Painted at one time, the basin is boldly sculpted with winged Angels of the Apocalypse who seem ready to take flight. Flanking a relief of the Sacrament, the angels point upward to the Latin words of the Benediction of Baptism inscribed around the rim, the beginning and end of which are visible here:

Ite, docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.

Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

text © 2016 Richard D. Perry.  images by the author and Tacho Juárez Herrera

review some of our other posts on Puebla: Puebla cathedral; San José Chiapa; San José de Puebla; San Francisco de Puebla; Izucar; El Carmen; La Luz; San Antonio; San Marcos; Guadalupe; Eagle Warriors; Jolalpan; Tecamachalco; Quecholac; 

Puebla. The Acatzingo fountain

In an previous post we described the early baptismal font in the Franciscan monastery church of Acatzingo, in Puebla. In particular we noted the unique relief of the town place glyph carved on one side.

In this post we look at the related fountain located in the patio of the adjacent parish church, a sumptuous, later colonial tiled building in the Pueblan style.

Acatzingo, the parish church

Although not currently functioning and not clearly dated, the essential elements of the fountain remain in place; it has several features of interest, including corner reliefs, some replicating the ancient place glyph of the community in the monastery church.

Each relief - four in all - is held up by a helmeted angel, a figure also derived from the monastery church font. Elements include a heart pierced by an arrow, crossed eagle claws, one feathered, the other almost skeletal, a feathered headdress and below, two reeds emerging from water—a clear reference to the ancient place name (Where Reeds Grow)

Four lion's heads with embedded spouts sit atop the central column ringed by a now indecipherable inscription, while additional spouts issue from the helmets of the angel reliefs.

text © 2020 Richard D. Perry 

images by the author and courtesy of Niccolo Brooker

The stone fonts of Puebla: Atlixco

In earlier posts we looked at the exceptional altarpiece in the hilltop Franciscan monastery church of Asunción Atlixco. For this post we feature two old carved stone fonts also found in its precincts.

Like the baptismal font at Acatzingo, this scalloped basin is rimmed by reliefs of fluttering angels, although on a more modest scale and, in this case, supporting the wreathed, woven monogram of Christ (IHS)

The second, older and more primitive font in the church is carved overall in a basketwork pattern of interwoven strips.  

A third sculpted stone font in Atlixco is located in the Franciscan sister church of the Third Order, down the hill from the main monastery. 
Interestingly, none of these fonts feature the knotted cord of the Franciscan order.

text and color images © 2016 Richard D. Perry

See our posts on other Pueblan pilas at Acatzingo and Tecali, and those in other states, including Oaxaca, Yucatán, Michoacán and Tlaxcala.

Barroco Poblano: San Pablo de Las Tunas

We continue our series on the popular baroque churches of Puebla with a visit to the former Franciscan visita of San Pablo de Las Tunas, aka Felipe Angeles, set among cactus fields in the east central part of the state near Acatzingo.

  

The Church

Aside from its rustic name, the village of San Pablo (St. Paul of the Cactus Fruits) is mainly remarkable for the picturesque colonial church, situated on its western outskirts. Founded in the 1500s, the church was entirely refaced during the 1700s in a style strikingly similar to the renovated parish church of nearby Acatzingo, possibly by the same designer or artisans.

   The ornate "folk baroque" facade is divided into three tiers of carved, molded and colorfully painted stucco. Bold spiral columns, some capped with busts of angels, divide the lower two tiers, whose four large niches, now vacant, are festooned with drapes and putti.

The complex top tier is an elaborately scrolled gable whose sinuous profile is made even more conspicuous with the addition of several ornamental urns or pinnacles. The central niche, framed by flamboyant rocaille decoration, retains its bulto of San Pablo, and is flanked by exuberant folk estípite pilasters, once again entwined with carved foliage, from which emerge numerous winged cherubs and saints' heads. 

   Filled with other decorative motifs, including rosettes, scrolls, shells and assorted objects - their details freshly picked out in bright reds, blues and earth colors - the church front is beautifully maintained and a feast for the eye. Its symmetry is offset by the mismatched towers and an added belfry, although this merely adds to its offbeat charm.

The Main Retablo

This extraordinarily ornate gilded altarpiece provides yet another surprise in this rural community. Designed in full blown Mexican Churrigueresque style, it is far more sophisticated in its intricate, layered forms and masterful execution than the folk baroque facade, and indicates the work of an accomplished urban taller, or workshop, probably in Puebla or even Mexico City. 

  

The figure of the patron St. Paul appears in the upper niche, while another image is that of a sorrowful Jesus, known as El Señor de la Paciencia.

 

The baptismal fonts are also items of interest in the church. One venerable example, rimmed with fleurs-de-lis and the Franciscan knotted cord, stands beneath the choir. And the basin of a second font is ringed with an unusual crown of thorns relief—a motif more common on stone crosses—and set on a base carved with an archangel.

 text © 2019 by Richard D. Perry

color images by the author and Niccolò Brooker

Please review our earlier posts on the folk baroque churches of Puebla: San Jeronimo Aljojuca; Santa Inez Xanenetla; Tlancualpican;  Santa Ana Jolalpan; Santa Maria Jolalpan;  San Simón Quecholac; San Pablo de Las Tunas; 

Tlalmanalco: The Baptismal Font

In our series of posts on the early baptismal fonts, we go next to the venerable Franciscan monastery of San Luis Obispo Tlalmanalco to look at its historic font.

The open chapel baptistry

Originally placed in an arched baptistry to one side of the grand open chapel, formerly accessible through the church, this monolithic stone basin, now located inside the nave, may be the earliest documented baptismal font extant in Mexico.

Reportedly carved in 1533 by order of Fray Martín de Valencia, the leader of the first Franciscan Twelve and at that time Guardian of Tlalmanalco, its large, round basin is emblazoned with heraldic monograms of Jesus and Mary and the Franciscan emblem of the Five Wounds, as well as unusual foliated or feathered pedestals or urns.

   Of special interest is the unequivocal Latin quotation from the gospel of St. Mark (16:15) carved around the rim:

Qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit, salvus erit; qui vero non crediderit, condemnabitur.

Whomever believes and is baptized will be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

text and color image © 2018 Richard D. Perry

Please see our earlier posts featuring early Mexican fonts of  interest: Oaxaca; Yucatan; Michoacan-east; Atlixco (Puebla); Acatzingo; Tlaxcala; Cholula; Ciudad Hidalgo; Tepepan; Molango; Tecamachalco; Quecholac; Tecali; Zinacantepec; Cuernavaca; Otumba; 

Morelos: Ocuituco fountain

Adding to my previous posts on outstanding colonial fountains,* this is a post on the example in the monastery at Ocuituco. 

The church front as restored in 2020

The large hexagonal fountain is set on a similar pedestal in the center of the cloister. Carved stone lions crouch on each corner, several of them now headless.

Currently the fountain does not function.

*San Agustin Morelia; Tochimilco; Acambaro; Acatzingo;

text and color photography © 2024 Richard D. Perry

Hidalgo. Epazoyucan: the baptismal fonts

In previous posts we have described the church and convento of Epazoyucan, in the state of Hidalgo. Here we look at early artifacts inside the church.

The church at San Andrés Epazoyucan houses at least two early stone baptismal fonts. The first, located in the baptistry itself is the more distinctive, its monolithic basin crisscrossed with basket like lattice work, giving it the appearance of an outsize pineapple. 
   This archaic look and its presence before a 16th century mural of the Baptism of Christ suggest a possible Franciscan origin antedating construction of the Augustinian church from the 1540s.

A second font stands before the altar steps in the nave.  Set atop a pedestal carved with relief decoration, the basin is scalloped in a shell like pattern, and spouts in the form of fish or animal mouths are let in below the rim suggesting its possible origin as a fountain.

* Please see our earlier posts featuring early Mexican fonts of interest: Yucatán; Oaxaca; Michoacan; Zacatelco; Tlalmanalco; Cuernavaca; Tepoztlan; Zacualpan; Otumba; Chimalhuacan; Acatzingo; Tlaxcala; Zinacantepec; Tecali; Tecamachalco; 

text © 2020 Richard D. Perry

images by the author

Barroco Poblano: SAN PEDRO TECOMATLAN

After the mid-1700s, the influential Pueblan baroque was in turn influenced by newer fashions, notably the Mexican Churrigueresque or barroco estípite style, which spread from Mexico City to the silver cities of the north, and south to the colonial cultural capital of Puebla. Strongly influenced by the stucco facade of La Compañía (date) in the city of Puebla, in the late 1700s this new style reached its popular apogee in a handful of other rural churches such as Acatzingo, Aljojuca and San Pablo de las Tunas in the central part of the state.

However, the distant plain of southern Puebla, known regionally as la mixteca poblana, seems an unlikely place to find this decorative example of the late Pueblan baroque. Although the parish church of San Pedro Tecomatlán dates back to 1500s, it was substantially rebuilt in the latter years of the 18th century, and fitted with an elaborate facade in the still fashionable Mexican Churrigueresque style.

 

San Pedro Tecomatlan facade before and after recent restoration

The Facade
Although the architect and source of funding for this ornate church front is so far unknown, the facade is remarkable for its profusion of statuary and relief ornament in a popular folk idiom. The decorative center facade is framed by its two pairs of elaborate estípites, decorated with herms and grotesque masks. Prominent niche-pilasters (interestípites) in carved stone and modeled stucco feature the statues of the Four Evangelists, housed in swagged niches complete with their associated symbols, and quill pens held aloft.

A naive, frontal figure of St. Peter (San Pedro) rests in a plain niche over the doorway. Above the "bulls-eye" choir window, a group of flying angels in 16th century style surround a curtained upper niche which contains another small statue. A pair of large, naked atlantes support the crowning gable. Every element is densely ornamented with delirious swirls of vegetation & scrollwork.

St Mark

Unfortunately, some of these figures have been mutilated in recent years, notably St. Matthew's faceless angel. and St. Mark's now headless lion.

St Matthew

Text © Richard D. Perry 2005/2019

Color images ©2004 Felipe Falcón, by special permission.

Please review our earlier posts on the folk baroque churches of Puebla: San Jeronimo Aljojuca; Santa Inez Xanenetla; Tlancualpican;  Santa Ana Jolalpan; Santa Maria Jolalpan;  San Simón Quecholac; San Pablo de Las Tunas; 

Puebla. Los Reyes de Juarez

As is our custom at t his time of the year we like to feature a church dedicated to the Three Kings, or Los Reyes Magos

In this post , the first of two, we look at the town of Los Reyes, a medium size market town in central Puebla state, across the autopista from Acatzingo, SE of the city of Puebla.

This is the first of two posts on the church, focusing here on the ornate facade of painted stucco relief.

Facade:  

The church of the Three Kings presents a triple tier facade in the lacy, wedding cake style of popular Pueblan baroque,; its classical retablo format is enhanced with abundant applied surface ornament of carved stucco in good condition, and usually painted orange or yellow.

Lower tier: classical fluted columns are set on complex, raised carved bases.  doorway. Applied surface decoration - whorls, foliage starbursts, etc - appear on and between columns, and in spandrels over the plain arched doorway. 

Oval medallions between the columns framing stucco reliefs of the  Four Evangelists in folkloric style each with his symbol.

 Matthew                           Mark

 Luke                               John

The second tier features rectangular pilasters with scrolled/foliated ornament densely carved in low relief.   Oval cartouches between pilasters show the two other Evangelists (Mark & Luke) 

The plain rectangular choir window is flanked by ornamental relief pendants

Decorative pinnacles extend above pilasters into the gable area. 

The large center relief medallion shows one of Magi kneeling before mother & child, flanked by two other kings (reyes) on horseback.  A stucco star above at apex, is supported by angels.

The gable is capped by a sinuous projecting mixtilinear pediment.  

Giant pilasters flank the entire facade, ornamented in the same fashion as the upper tier pilasters, as are the cornices between the tiers.A substantial, triple staged tower with prominent tiled dome on south side. 

  The ornamental atrium gateway follows the facade in style.

© 2024 Richard D. Perry

images by the author and © Niccolo Brooker by permission

Otumba: The Baptismal Fonts

In our first post on Otumba we looked at the sculpted doorways of the church and convento.  For our second post we survey other examples of early stonework there, notably the various fonts.

Carved stone basins in all shapes and sizes proliferate in the church. They have a family resemblance, ringed with the Franciscan knotted cord and emblazoned with large, eight-pointed rosettes.

The larger baptismal font, housed beneath a shell niche in the baptistry, sports huge ball pendants and a trumpet-shaped hood.  This font is accompanied by a smaller version as well as a third font with a barbed quatrefoil basin, foliated swags and an inset ceramic bowl.

 

 

The knotted cord rims another font in the nave, in front of a similarly banded dado, also with star-like relief rosettes. 

Finally a more elongated version rests in the convento, carved with four petaled rosettes and a cross relief.

text © 2018 Richard D. Perry. images by the author and ELTB

Please see our earlier posts featuring early Mexican fonts of interest: 

Oaxaca; Yucatan; Michoacan-east; Atlixco (Puebla); Acatzingo; Tlaxcala; Cholula; Ciudad Hidalgo; Tepepan; Molango; Tecamachalco; Quecholac; Tecali; Zinacantepec; Cuernavaca; Otumba; Chimalhuacan; Tlalmanalco;

Water, Water: The great pila of Zinacantepec

In earlier posts in this series we have described a variety of early carved stone fonts, in Puebla, Tlaxcala, Michoacán, Oaxaca and Yucatan.*
   Although we have looked at a few in Mexico city and state, we have not yet mentioned the monolithic baptismal font at the former Franciscan convento of Zinacantepec, west of Mexico City near Toluca. 

Until recently this monumental sculptural work still resided in the outdoor baptistry of the Zinacantepec convento, however it is currently on display in a more secure location in the Museo de Bellas Artes in Toluca.
   The carved decoration of this enormous basin is arranged in several tiers. The Franciscan knotted cord forms the rim of the font, below which is a dedicatory inscription in native Nahuatl that translates as: 

"In the year of Our Lord 1581 this baptismal font and baptistry were completed by order of the Guardian Fray Martin de Agüirre in the town of Zinacantepec."

The main section encircling the basin consists of a band or frieze of beautifully carved foliage in a stylized pattern that includes birds and speech or song scrolls issuing from the flowers—a frequent feature of early colonial carved and painted ornament in Mexico.

 
Baptism of Christ;                                                    The Annunciation

  
St. Michael;                                                       St. Martin of Tours

Of special interest are the four relief medallions prominently set into the frieze at intervals. They are also expertly carved with detailed, miniature scenes comprising a Baptism of Christ, The Annunciation, the Archangel Michael skewering Satan (San Miguel is the patron saint of the monastery), and St. Martin of Tours dividing his cloak with a naked beggar. (San Martín was the personal patron of Fray Martín de Aguirre)
   The use of Nahuatl in such a prominent inscription seems a little surprising considering the patron and the late date, although of course all the carving is by indigenous craftsmen.
* Please see our earlier posts featuring early Mexican fonts: Oaxaca; Yucatán; Michoacán east; Atlixco (Puebla); Acatzingo; Tlaxcala; Cholula; CiudadHidalgo; Tepepan; Molango; Tecamachalco; Quecholac; Tecali; Cuernavaca;

text © 2018 Richard D. Perry.  images by the author and © Niccolo Brooker