Jerez Part 6 of 7: Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción, the town's oldest existing church

 

Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción, from the southeast. The church is located on the corner of Calles de la Parroquia and Del Reloj, about two blocks southeast of the Plaza Principal. This is the oldest church in Jerez. There were earlier chapels and churches but they have since been replaced by later structures. Construction on the Parroquia began in 1727, with the exterior finished in1739 and the interior in 1741. 

The church was originally built using the Baroque style popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries. The steeple, however, shows elements of an earlier style called Herrerian, named for the late 16th century work of Spanish architect Juan de Herrera. The interior of the Parroquia was remodeled in Neo-Classic style in 1805. The exterior underwent restoration in 1930.

In this posting, I'll show you various features of the exterior and interior of the church. I'll also explain the meaning and history behind some of the statues and paintings found in the interior's three naves. 

Exterior features

The entrance facade. It was constructed as a retablo, with niches for statues. There are three "bodies" or levels of the facade. The statues framing the first two levels are the Four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. According to Christian tradition, they are the authors of the four Gospels of the New Testament. The facade's top level contains three more statues, shown in detail in the next photo.

While the walls of the church were built using white sandstone, the facade was carved from an easily-worked volcanic stone known as cantera. The facade faces a large, open atrium, bounded by a fence with gates on three sides.

Three statues decorate the top level. The identity and meaning of the figures were a mystery to me until an anonymous blog fan provided me with some convincing information about the ones on the right and left. However, the central figure remains a mystery. His hair and beard are closely cropped hair and he wears clerical garb suggesting a priest or friar. His left hand holds a reliquary, while his right is outstretched. Anyone who can identify him is invited to leave a comment below. 

The figure on the right, holding a sword and a broken wagon wheel, is almost certainly Santa Caterina (St. Catherine) of Alexandria (287-305 AD). She was martyred by the Roman Emperor Maxentius. According to the legend, he ordered that she be broken on a spiked wheel, but the wheel fell apart when she touched it. The Emperor then condemned her to be beheaded with a sword. This succeeded in killing her, but milk poured from her neck instead of blood. 

My informant suggested that the figure on the left is either Santa Clara de Assisi (St. Clare) or San Ramón Nonato. Both are often portrayed holding a sacred religious object called a monstrance. The figure on the left holds one it its right hand. I favor Santa Clara because the figure wears a dress and has long hair. In addition, Santa Clara famously held off an invasion of her convent by French troops by confronting them while holding up a monstrance. 

One of the Four Evangelists stands in a niche to the left of the door. None of the figures is specifically identified, either by a plaque or in the literature, so it is hard to say which is which. The exuberance of the Baroque style can be see in the spiraling Solomonic columns. Other indications include the three small faces appearing along the horizontal bar above the statue.  The luxuriant vines and flowers that appear at the bottom of the columns and on the arch above the statue's head are also Baroque.  

A winged cherub seems to be fighting his way through the lush vegetation. This carving is located just above and to the right of the main door. A similar cherub appears on the left side. More vegetation decorates the arch of the doorway and the horizontal crosspiece above the cherub. A general characteristic of Baroque is that it tends to leave no available space undecorated. 

The Naves

The three parallel naves are separated by two sets of columns. The interior of the Parroquia was remodeled in Neo-Classic style in the same year that work began on the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (see Part 4). This sort of remodeling occurred all over Mexico during the last part of the 18th century and the first part of the 19th. The emotionality of Baroque art and architecture fell out of favor and was replaced by the rationality of the Era of the Enlightenment. 

An extraordinarily life-like statue of Jesus on the cross. He is covered with wounds dripping with blood. This appears to be one of the famous pasta de caña (cornstalk paste) crucifictions by the indigenous artisans of colonial-era Michoacan. These statues are always very realistic, with every rib, muscle, and toenail clearly defined. Also, like this one, they tend to be quite gory. 

To create the statue, native craftsmen made a paste from corn-stalk pulp and applied it to a wooden or bamboo frame. Statues like this were very popular in their time. From the workshops of Michoacan, they were sent to churches throughout the central highlands of Mexico, where they can still be found today.

An elaborately carved wooden pulpit is attached to one of the nave's columns. The pasta de caña statue can be seen in the lower right. Various niches within the church hold statues of saints. A triangular painting of San Mateo (St. Matthew) can be seen in the upper right. I will have more to say about this painting and those of the other three Evangelists a bit later. For a brief history of pulpits, and an explanation of why those in many Catholic churches are hung on one side of the nave, see Part 4.

Statue of a martyr. José Ramón Miguel Agustin Pro Juárez was a Catholic priest executed during the Cristero War (1926-29) The war was an uprising by Catholics against the post-revolution Mexican government. Presidente Elias Plutarco Calles was carrying out reforms mandated by the Constitution of 1917. Some of the changes he sought targeted the core of the Church's social and economic power and were bitterly resisted by its hierarchy. 

The reforms included redistribution of land from the great haciendas to poor campesinos and indigenous people. Much of this land was owned by close allies of the Church, as well as by the Church itself. Calles also took education out of the hands of religious authorities, thus undermining Church social power. Calles' reforms sparked an armed revolt, tacitly (and sometimes actively) supported by the Church hierarchy. 

Padre Miguel Pro was a Jesuit priest from Zacatecas who was involved in the resistance. The statue above portrays the moment of his execution by a firing squad, with his arms extended as if he was being crucified. A photograph of the execution was widely distributed by Calles. He intended it as a strong message to Cristeros, but it was a huge political blunder. Miguel Pro became a martyr and symbol of the Cristero movement. 

The Apse

Neo-Classic columns form a half-circle at the back of the apse. Statues of various saints stand in niches set between the columns. Above the apse is a dome with three religious-themed paintings. In the center of the apse's columns is a statue of Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada Concepción, for whom the Parroquia is named.

Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada Concepción. The Immaculate Conception concerns how Mary herself was conceived, while the Virgin Birth is about Jesus' conception. In both cases, the pregnancy was allegedly caused by divine intervention instead of sexual intercourse. It was therefore "without sin". The idea of Mary's immaculate conception was controversial within the Church for more than 1500 years. During the Middle Ages, the Franciscan Order was in favor of the idea, but the Dominicans were opposed and they nearly had a civil war over it. 

The issue was finally settled in 1854 through a decree by Pope Pius IX. The decree was considered "novel",  i.e. highly unusual, since the Immaculate Conception was not supported by anything either in the Bible or official Church tradition. It was declared to be dogma (incontrovertibly true) simply because the Pope and his cardinals said it was. Protestant denominations and the Eastern Orthodox Church have never accepted Immaculate Conception.

A gold reliquary stands just below the statue of the Virgin. Reliquaries are containers for sacred relics. These might include the physical remains of holy sites or holy persons or objects with which that person had contact. One of the most famous of all relics is the Shroud of Turin, which contains the image of Jesus and was long believed to be the cloth which was wrapped around him in his tomb. In 1988, the Shroud was radiocarbon-dated to more than 1300 years after the Bible says Jesus died.

By the time of Charlemagne (9th century AD) every church altar was expected to have a reliquary and the objects within were considered to possess supernatural powers. Relics were so highly coveted that they were sometimes stolen from one church only to appear later in another. Objects considered so valuable required beautiful containers and reliquaries became a major focus of religious art in the Middle Ages.

Side Altars

Side altar with niches displaying statues of several saints. The Parroquia has several side altars along the walls of the naves. The figure at the top is identified on a plaque as San Pedro (St. Peter) one of the most important of the original Apostles. To the left is San Francisco de Assisi (St. Francis), who founded the Franciscan Order in 1208. He can be identified by the skull at his feet, which represents the ephemeral nature of life. 

The statue in the center, holding an infant, is unidentified. The two saints who are most often shown with a baby are San Jose, the father of Jesus, and San Antonio de Padua (St. Anthony). He was a Portuguese Franciscan who was considered so pure of heart that he was canonized in a lightning-fast process lasting less than a year. Just below San Antonio is another small reliquary.

Another side altar displays Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and San Pedro. Jesus is on the left, wearing a billowing white robe and displaying wounds on his hand, foot, and chest that he received during crucifixion. The painting in the center shows the Virgin Mary seated with the Baby Jesus on her lap. Both are wearing crowns and have halos surrounding their heads.

San Pedro stands on the right, with a scroll representing the Gospel in his left hand. His right hand extends across his chest and holds the key to heaven. While researching this statue, I came across a Roman statue from the Vatican Museum in an almost identical posture. This suggests a sculptural convention that Christian artists adopted from Roman statues they encountered.

The dome and its paintings

The dome over the intersection of the central nave and transept. The octagonal dome has a glass chandelier hanging from its center and is supported by four arches. The triangular spaces where they meet contain paintings of the Four Evangelists. Each has a totemic figure peering over his shoulder. 

A bald and white-bearded San Mateo writes in a book while an angel looks on. San Mateo (St. Matthew) is the reputed author of the first of the Gospels and the painting shows him at work, inspired by an angel from heaven. The other corners contain paintings of San Marcos (St. Mark), San Lucas (St. Luke), and San Juan (St. John). 

The four figures that accompany the Four Evangelists--a man, a lion, a bull, and and eagle--also appear in the Old Testament's Book of Ezekiel. There, they are described as surrounding the throne of God. From the earliest days of Christianity, each of theses totemic figures has become associated with one of the Four Evangelists.

San Lucas and the angelic lion. A legend holds that San Marcos briefly stayed the night in Venice when it was still a small fishing village. In a dream, he encountered an angel in the guise of a lion who told him he would die there. However, he ultimately died in Alexandria, Egypt. 

In 828 AD, relics reputed to be his bones were stolen from Alexandria. They were delivered to Venice by merchants who hoped to profit from pilgrimage traffic to a basilica they wanted the city to build. Twelve hundred years later, a winged lion is still the symbol of Venice.

 

A bull leans over the shoulder of San Lucas. A winged ox or bull often appears in paintings or scuptures of San Lucas. The bull represents sacrifice, service, and strength. Interestingly, winged bulls are common in ancient Middle Eastern religions. Their images date back thousands of years before Christianity and represent strength, fertility, protection and divinity. Ancient pagan symbols have often been incorporated into Christian beliefs. 

 

An eagle perches just behind San Juan in this painting. An eagle became associated with him because the Gospel he is alleged to have written is much more lofty, and theological than the other three. Because the eagle soars up into the sky, it has also become a symbol of Christians who have died and are rising to heaven. 

This completes Part 6 of my Jerez series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question in the Comments, please include your email address so that I may reply in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim