Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Exploring Colonial Mexico©
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The church of San Agustín Teopisca stands conspicuously beside the Panamerican Highway south of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the colonial capital of Chiapas. Built on the site of an ancient Maya pilgrimage shrine and necropolis, the spacious nave was also used for Christian burials in colonial times. The colorful festival of San Sebastián, held here in January, draws crowds of worshippers and celebrants from the surrounding area.
The Retablo
The main altarpiece is one of the largest, most refined and most lavishly ornamented colonial works of art in Chiapas. It also has an interesting history. Originally created for the former Jesuit church of San Agustín in the city of San Cristóbal, it was moved here in the 1880s apparently to replace retablos destroyed during an earthquake.
This opulent retablo is a triumph of the Central American "Solomonic" style, similar examples of which can be seen thoughout Guatemala and Oaxaca. Its four main tiers are framed by encrusted spiral columns, intricately carved with twisting grapevines, and sharply projecting cornices hung with turned spindles - a distinctive feature of this southern style. Numerous carved angels and atlantes as well as a dizzying overlay of filigree ornament further enriches its gilded surfaces.
Handsomely modeled statues of saints with sumptuous estofado draperies occupy the ornamental shell niches in the center sections, while large, rectangular paintings of saints and biblical events fill the outer compartments. In addition to traditional icons like the Virgin Mary, St. Peter and St. Paul, there are portraits of the founders of the mendicant Orders: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic and naturally, St. Augustine - the patron saint of the church. Jesuit notables such as Ignatius Loyola, Francis de Borgia and Francis Xavier are also represented, reflecting the original sponsorship of the altarpiece.
During the 1993 re-roofing of the church, the retablo was disassembled and removed for cleaning and restoration. Today it has returned, resplendent, to its place of honor in the sanctuary of the church.
In our view, this magnificent altarpiece is the finest in Chiapas and ranks among the outstanding examples of its kind in Mexico.
