Valladolid Adventures: Part 13: Convento de San Bernardino de Siena - Church Nave and Sacristy

 The Church Nave & Third Order Chapel

Nave and main altar of the church. The church has a single nave, ending in an apse. The apse contains the main altar and a huge, floor-to-ceiling altarpiece called a retablo with niches for nine statues. On the side walls, there are several other elaborate retablos crafted in the 16th and 17th centuries. I will show them in detail in a later posting. In addition, there are niches in the walls that are covered with murals painted in the 16th century. They were hidden from view for hundreds of years and only rediscovered in the late 20th century. My photos of several of these mural paintings will be shown later in this posting.

The church is the central architectural element of the Convento complex. It is dedicated to San Bernardino de Siena, a Franciscan friar who evangelized all over Italy. He drew immense crowds to hear his carefully thought-out sermons, some of which went on for many hours. San Bernardino helped revitalize the Catholic Church in Italy. and to spur reforms in the decadent late-Renaissance society of mid-15th century Italy. His views were controversial in his own time and some of them would be today. San Bernardino is known as the second most important Franciscan after St. Francis himself.

An unrestored pilaster which is part of the original church construction. A pilaster is a non-load-supporting pillar that is used for decorative purposes. This one appears to have been deliberately left in the deteriorated condition in which the church's restorers found it. 

Bernardino Albizzeschi was born in 1380 in Massa Marittima in the Republic of Siena. The Republic was in a part of Italy controlled by the Holy Roman Empire at that time. He came from a noble familly and his father was Governor of Siena. However, he was orphaned at six and was raised by a pious aunt who sent him to school. There he learned civil and canon law. In 1403, he joined the strictest part of the Franciscan Order and in 1404, he was ordained as a priest. In 1405 he was commissioned as a preacher and became one of the greatest preachers of his time, with a style that was simple, populist, and full of imagery.

Hallway leading to the Capilla de la Tercera Orden. The Third Order Chapel extends off to the right, about half way down the length of the nave. It is one of several chapels within the Convento and the only one that branches off directly from the nave. In its apse, there is a retablo, guarded by the statues of angels on either side.

Most preachers of Bernardino's time recited rhetorical orations during mass, usually in Latin. Unlike them, Bernardino preached to the public in colloquial Italian. Captivating as a speaker, he used imagery and creative language his audience could appreciate. His themes were drawn from the daily lives of the people to whom he spoke. As a result, he drew huge audiences. The civil authorities in the towns where he preached quickly realized that these big crowds brought in money. Consequently, speaking invitations often came from them rather than from the local clergy, who were sometimes put off by his populist style. 

Retablo in the Chapel of the Third Order. The Third Order is a subdivision within the Franciscan Order. It is composed of people who want to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis, but don't want to give up marriage, or live in a convent. This retablo contains a reliquary (container for sacred relics). Reliquaries are usually guarded by a pair of angels like the ones you see above. The relics may include the bones of a saint or other objects considered to be holy because they came in contact with the saint during his lifetime. There was no sign indicating what kind of relics this one contains.

The Renaissance period of the 15th century was a time of great decadence, It was the age of the Borgia popes, who lived in great luxury and led scandalous lives. Much of the Church hierarchy followed suit. Bernardino's work reflected the growing public revulsion against Church decadence and that of Italian society in general. He preached against immodesty, excessive luxury, gambling, and blasphemy. He also considered homosexuality to be a great sin. However, Bernardino's sermons were not always well-received by those who didn't see these things as problems or profited by them. Consequently, at times he was physically attacked.

16th Century Murals that were concealed for centuries

The Baptism of Jesus. Mural showing Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist. Two angels observe the action. The one seated on the left caresses a lamb, while the other brandishes a banner. This is one of a number of early colonial murals found in 1978 by Padre Andrés Lopez Ruiz. They were painted in the 16th or early 17th century but had been covered over later. They were discovered when Lopez Ruiz removed a couple of the nave's retablos for restoration. Behind the retablos were niches covered with scenes of holy figures and biblical events, painted in a naive style. 

Angels sing to the tune of a stringed instrument. Many of the scenes in the murals are celebratory. Above, a trio of winged figures surrounds a book of music. Their gestures and facial expressions indicate that they are singing. To the right, another angel strums a stringed instrument. The unsophisticated style of the paintings, as well as the materials used, suggest that they were the work of an indigenous artist, rather than a European. The Franciscan friars employed large numbers of Maya workers to construct the church and these included many craftsmen and artists. However, the name of the mural artist is unknown.

Jesus speaks to a reverent crowd of saints, martyrs, and popes. This scene appears in the curved top of one of the niches. Why the paintings were hidden, when, and by whom, are all unknown. Perhaps the more sophisticated retablos that concealed them were considered more appropriate to the tastes of a later era. The color used in the backgrounds of many of the scenes is the famous "Maya blue", a striking turquoise color. 

The Maya developed the blue pigment around 800 AD, in pre-hispanic times. After the Spanish arrived, it was employed by native artists to decorate early colonial convents, but the secret of its ingredients was forgotten after the 18th century. Finally, in the 1950s, an analysis showed that the pigment was made by mixing organic and inorgaic materials that included clay, palygorskite, and indigo. In 1993, Mexican historian and chemist Constantine Reyes-Valerio published the first recipe for making Maya blue since early colonial times.

Santa Catalina de Alejandría (287 AD-305 AD). Wearing a crown and wielding a sword in her left hand, St. Catherine of Alexandria stands to the left of the niche. A sign at the mural identifies her as Santa Barbara (3rd-4th century AD), but my friend Richard Perry (an expert on colonial Mexico) believes she is actually Santa Catalina. These two saints have both been portrayed with swords and wearing crowns, so it can be difficult to tell them apart. Santa Catalina wears a crown because she was a princess, while Santa Barbara's crown symbolizes her sainthood. The swords they carry indicate they were martyred by beheading.

I finally came to the conclusion that Richard is correct after I reviewed a number of Google images of both saints. What I discovered is that Santa Barbara is nearly always portrayed carrying a glowing chalice in one of her hands, while I found none showing Santa Catalina holding one. The chalice symbolizes the cup of suffering. Often, it is only through little symbolic details that you can tell the difference between images of saints. It is also instructive that even an official sign can contain inaccuracies, so it's good to double check.

Statues around the Nave

San Judas Tadeo. One of the statues displayed along the nave's wall is of San Judas Tadeo (St. Jude Thaddeus), also known as Jude the Apostle. He is sometimes confused with Judas Iscariot, whose betrayal led to Jesus' crucifixion. Both names originate from Judah, a common name at the time. Images of San Judas Tadeo usually show him holding a staff, symbolizing the weapon with which he was martyred. He also wears a circular pendant hanging from his neck. On it is the image of Jesus, which he touches with devotion. The pendant refers to a miracle of healing in the city of Edessa (modern southeast Turkey). 

According to the legend, which doesn't appear in the New Testament, King Abgar of Edessa was dying. He sent a message to Jesus asking him to come and heal him. Instead, Jesus sent Judas, along with a cloth that he had pressed to his own face. When Judas presented the cloth to Abgar, Jesus' face appeared on it and the King was immediately healed. As a result of this story, Judas is always shown wearing a pendant bearing the image of Jesus. The Franciscans revered San Judas Tadeo because he is the patron of hope in desperate situations, an appealing idea to friars who often found themselves in just those circumstances. 

Another display along the nave's wall. This one shows Jesus and God, seated together under a sunburst with a dove at its center. Winged cherubs frolic at their feet. God is the old man on the right with the gray hair. Given the importance of these two in the Christian religion, I find it odd that their placement is off to the side, in the rear of the nave. You would think this display would be at the center of the great retablo in the apse, or at least at its top, looking down on all the rest of the lesser figures. 

The Sacristy and Vestments

An armoire in the sacristy contains vestments. These include several of the pieces of clothing worn by priests during mass. The garment inside the armoire is called a chasuble and is worn as an outer garment. Its color signifies the liturgical season or feast. In this case the color red symbolizes the Holy Spirit and martyrdom. The long narrow cloth on the left, with crosses on its ends, is a stole. It is worn around the neck and symbolizes the priestly office. The fringed cord hanging on the right is called a cincture. This is worn around the waist and symbolizes chastity and continence. 

In a Catholic church, the sacristy is the room where religious clothing like that shown above is stored and where the priest dresses before conducting mass or other religious rituals. Usually, it is located adjacent to the nave. The sacred clothing, statues, and paintings, as well as church architecture, have all been developed over two millennia. Despite many changes along the way, there has been an amazing continuity over that length of time. Tradition is a very powerful force in the Catholic Church.

This completes Part 13 of my Valladolid Adventures 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, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim