All That Glitters is Gold: La Compania de Jesus, Quito Ecuador

La Compania de Jesus, Quito Ecuador

For many tourists, Quito is simply an overnight stop en route to the Galapos Islands and they have no idea of the city’s colonial riches.  Quito, along with Cusco in Peru, was one of the two main cities of the Inca Empire with which the Spanish fought for an extended period from 1532 util its eventual victory in 1572.

There are many colonial era treasures in Quito and most famous among them is La Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus which is also the least photographed, due the prohibition of tourist in the church.  I received special permission to photograph for educational purposes.  

Two Roman Jesuit churches, the Church of Gesu and that of Sant’Ignazio de Loyola, were the inspiration of the Quito Jesuit church, which was begun in 1605 and completed over a century and completed 160 years later in 1765.

Partial Ceiling and side view, La Romania de Jesus, Quito, Ecuador

Behind the stone façade of La Compania lies a glittering world; La Compania is sometimes call a gold box, and rightly so.  There is not a square inch in its interior that is not covered with elaborate carving, inlay and gold leaf.  As in so many Baroque churches, it is difficult to stay focused on any one detail, because the visual environment, with the Churrigueresque decorative style of the interior, is so extraordinarily complex, it is difficult to focus on any one thing. 

Front Altar and Nave, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Front Altar, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

A Miraculous Image:
In the bottom tier of the altar there is a very significant painting, that of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Main Altar: Our Lady of Sorrows, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

This painting once hung in St. Garbriel's Academy, a Catholic boy's boarding school in Quito. On April 20, 1906, a boy noticed the eyes of this painting slowly open and close and this, seen by others as well, repeated itself for a period of about fifteen minutes and later on a few occasions. The church declared it miraculous and six weeks later, the image was carried in procession to La Compania where it now hangs on the main altar.

Marianna de Jesus:

Statue of Marianna de Jesus, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Part of memorial to Marianna de Jesus, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Mariana de Jesus, a 17th century Ecuadoran miracle-working holy woman, in1853 became first Ecuadorian to be canonized; she is the patron saint of Ecuador.  During the 1645 earthquakes and epidemics that followed, Mariana de Jesus is said to have publicly offered her life as a sacrifice for the salvation of the city. She died soon after and miraculous events accompanied her death including a white lily springing up from her blood.  Her remains are entombed at the base of the altar of her chapel in La Compania.

Tomb of Marianna de Jesus, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Mudejar Elements:

Mudejar, (Spanish Muslim) architectural elements persisted in Spain and later in its colonies even after the country was re-captured from its former Moorish rulers in the Reconquista. Mudejar design is seen throughout La Compania as in other Spanish Colonial churches.  

For more information on this phenomenon, please read: https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/03/islamic-influences-in-colonial-latin.html

Mudejar architectural elements, La Compania Quito

Mudejar architectural elements, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Mudejar elements around pulpit, La Compania, Quito Ecuador 

Mudejar elements in wall ornamentation, La Conpania, Quito, Ecuador

Arches also reflect Mudejar design.

Mudejar influences in arches, La Compania, Quito, Ecuador

Indigenous Elements:

As is typical in Colonial Latin American churches, indigenous influences are present, reflecting both the artistic hand and culture of the people these churches were built to serve.  Much of the artwork in colonial churches was made by local indigenous craftsmen trained in schools built by the Spanish  The carved figures in the first photo are not in a European style, but reflect local convention.

Figural group from altar carving, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

The ceiling of this baroque doorway with its Solomonic columns merges Christian and indigenous symbolism with a sun containing the Christogram IHS, the monogram that symbolizes Jesus Christ. This merging of the Christian and the indigenous was aimed at reinforcing an association in the minds of the newly converted people between Christ and local solar deities.

Entrance Doorway, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Entrance Doorway Ceiling Detail, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Altars:

As is typical of Latin American colonial churches, La Compania has many side altars dedicated to various saints and all of them very are beautiful, Baroque and ornate.

Side Altar, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Side Altar, La  Compania, Quito Ecuador

Side Altar, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Side Altar, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

A Unique Trinity:

The altar dedicated to the Trinity is one of a kind.  You will see numerous and varied figural representations of the Trinity throughout Mexico and the rest of Latin American,  but this writer has never seen one showing Jesus as a child with his parents.

Altar dedicated to the Trinity, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Artwork:

Many paintings by local artists are seen throughout the church. All of these artists were indigenous Ecuadorians trained by Spanish missionaries and there are important stylistic differences between these paintings and their European prototypes. 

From La Compania, Quito Ecuador

From La Compania, Quito Ecuador

From La Compania, Quito Ecuador

From La Compania, Quito Ecuador

From La Compania, Quito Ecuador

Password Protection 17th Century Style: the Missing Image
Sadly, there is no photo for what may be the most unique object in the church.  For background on the missing photo, while photographing anything in La Compania, it was mandatory to wear the photographer's vest used to identify officially-approved photographers.  Otherwise, photography is strictly forbidden. 

Photographer's Vest, La Compania, Quito Ecuador

When I was done photographing La Compania's glittering beauty, I returned my vest and paid  one of the guides for one of the short tours they offer.  My guide took me to some back rooms and in one I encountered something truly unique.

On a table was a very large square wooden box, several feet in width and length,  with many tiny drawers on each of its sides.  My guide told me that this was used both for safe-keeping items and in passing secret messages. There were special combinations for each drawer and the writer of the message would give the code to the intended recipient. Here, before my eyes was the "cloud", centuries before its time and it was a cloud that did not crash or get hacked.

The Trinity in Colonial Latin American Art

The doctrine of the Trinity sets Christianity apart from the two other Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Islam.  Both of these are adamant in their insistence that God is One and reject Christianity's trinitarian formulation that God is three persons- Father, Son and Holy Spirit- in one person.  The idea of Trinity is not directly found in the Bible, but was a doctrine arrived at in the councils of the early Church and formalized at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.  

Throughout the history of art, there have been different ways of depicting the idea of the Trinity, of visually spelling-out the complex theological notion of three persons in one. The importance of teaching images surged with the Spanish Conquest because there was, suddenly, a large indigenous population that needed to be indoctrinated in Christianity. How could the clergy charged with the conversion explain the Trinity to someone who had never heard of the concept? Images were central in this, as they were with all facets of the conversion.  Here are some of those images.

Jesus Seated at the Right Hand of the Father:
 One type derives directly from the New Testament where the Gospel of Mark describes Jesus ascending into Jesus heaven and then sitting at the right hand of the Father.  Scripture also describes the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove upon Jesus at his baptism (present in all four gospels), hence the depiction of a bird in representations of the Trinity.
All of these elements are a part of the following representations.

Basilica of Guadelupe, Mexico City

Itizimna Church, Merida, MX

Mexico

Throne of Mercy:

A variant of Trinity iconography, known as the "Throne of Mercy",  developed in medieval Europe.  In this, God is portrayed as sitting on a throne, wearing a Papal tiara and holding the crucified figure of Jesus; the dove is also seen. Father presents his dying Son on the cross to the viewer. On the cross sits a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit because when he was baptized Jesus "saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove" (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, John 1:32).  Frequently, as in the first two photos there is an orb representing the world that God created with the implication of his rulership over all.

San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca

Merida Cathedral, Merida, MX

Three Identical Men:

Another version of  Trinity iconography portrayed  three identical men. This form had precedents in medieval European art, but more or less disappeared when it regained popularity in the Spanish colonies. However, it was condemned in the 18th century by

Pope Benedict XIV but remained a popular form in New Mexico which was so far from the cultural centers of the Mexico that it developed its own unique art forms. (for more about New Mexican religious art visit the Sept. 6, 2014 post of this blog "Understanding New Mexico's Santos  http://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2014/09/understanding-new-mexicos-santos.html).  

Templo de San Matias Jalatlaco, Oaxaca MX

Oaxaca MX

by Pedro Antonio Fresquis, 19th century New Mexico

by José Manuel Benavides, New Mexico, 19th century New Mexico

Three-faced Trinity:

A related iconographic type had a single human figure with three faces. There were examples of this in Europe, but these were attacked by the Church and in the 17th century were forbidden by Pope Urban VIII. In the New World, further from Papal surveillance, these images became most popular in South America.

Colonial Peru

Colonial Colombia- painter Gregorio Vasquez de Arce y Ceballos

The painter Ceballos is said to have been the innovator of the Trinity with four eyes and three faces in one.  This iconography of the Trinity was condemned by the Church as heretical because it resembled three-faced depictions of Hindu deities.  Despite this censuring, such images of the Trinity remained popular in the Latin American world throughout the colonial period.  The painting from Colonial Peru differs from that of Ceballos, although all such images were rejected by the Church.

Trinity Iconography as a teaching tool:

The Christian church is resolute in its insistence that God is one but yet three and the resulting  theological construct of Trinity is a very complex idea, one that is often difficult to communicate, even to Christians.  Painted and sculpted images of the Trinity were not unique to the Spanish Colonial world, but were copied or developed from European prototypes with the exception of a few unique images such as that of Ceballos above.  The Trinity has never been an easy idea to get across to people, particularly people who are brand-new to Christianity. 

The Spanish clerics charged with the massive task of converting the newly-conquered indigenous peoples faced major communication problems due to the language barrier, and also because the new ideas they were teaching were different from established religious beliefs.  As in all facets of this massive conversion process, sculpted and painted images were the central teaching tools. The images in this post were some of the "books"
used in this process.