La Catedral de Angelópolis

[bixaorellana]

Well, I hope you're happy, Bjd. Your comment caused me to go look it up -- and on Good Friday, too!

That's what I've always seen also -- the crucifixion scenes with the thieves tied and Jesus nailed. However, I always assumed that was an artistic decision made to sort of feature Christ's suffering, since that was the real focus of such depictions. And true, it's usually only Christ on the cross that is shown.

Wikipedia is rich in detail, which you seriously may not want to read, as it's too horrible to contemplate. This gives historical background on the crucifixion of Jesus, and this one is on crucifixion in general, with yet more excruciating details.

Crucifixion was reserved for serious crimes. As far as I can tell from what I read, Jesus was accused of being a rebel* ("king of the Jews") and the people crucified with him would have been accused of more serious crimes than mere thievery.**

* one account here

** details

I'm pretty sure that the tied "thieves" and the nailed Christ became artistic conventions, in the same way that Christ always looks somewhat the same in art, just as St. Peter is always depicted with a bald head and white beard. How would they know that? If you think about it, we picture most bible stories as taking place in a Tuscan landscape, for instance, rather than in the Holy Land, simply because of the many famous Renaissance paintings of religious subjects upon which other pictures have been patterned through the ages.

[Deleted]

Indeed, those crosses were a terrible waste of wood in an area where it is a precious commodity. That's why stoning is a lot more popular as the raw material is plentiful and free.

Happy Easter!

[bixaorellana]

It's admirable that you support the "green" solution.

[Don Cuevas]

Bixa wrote (much upthread):

"how must it have appeared to rural indigenous people upon first beholding it?"

Were the rural, indigenous people even allowed into the main sanctuary, or were they limited to the capilla abierta?

[bixaorellana]

I don't know how it would have been "back when" in that area. The only off-to-the-side open chapel I've seen was in Chiapas. It was full of unknown saints who were surely just a cover for whoever the local pantheon really was.

Probably the baptized population was let into the cathedral proper. I don't know if this is true, but I was told that the reason the surnames Cruz or de la Cruz are so prevalent in Mexico is because of all the mass baptisms the Spaniards performed. Apparently, that's when people received Euro-names & Cruz must have seemed like a good one.

[nycgirl]

What a spectacular church! There's so much to look at, it's almost overwhelming. The doors and ceilings are magnificent. I love the onyx steps and pulpit, such pretty colors. I also particularly like the exquisite iron gate, with its slender, delicate designs. The Christ figure, though, is pretty graphic and unnerving.

That poor woman. I can't imagine what she was going through, but I hope she was able to find some comfort.

This is a great combination of lovely photos and intriguing story-telling. Thanks for sharing!

[bixaorellana]

Thanks so much, NYCGirl. Even though I understand why flash is prohibited in the churches, it would certainly have helped the quality of my photos.

And yes, it was overwhelming after a while. Besides the astounding height of the building & the richness of the ornamentation, there were details upon details everywhere I looked.

Don't think I mentioned this, but that poor weeping woman was one of the few -- or only -- people in the church who were actually using it as a church. It was full of people walking around admiring it, though -- quite a tourist magnet.

Thanks again.