Atotonilco From the Sybaritic to the solemn went a place called, like so many others in the central part of the country, Atotonilco, which simply means "mineral hot springs."
This Atotonilco, however, located on a good road just outside San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato, is on the World Monuments Watch list, among 100 "most endangered" sites because of the amazing frescoes that fill the walls, doorways and vaults of its astonishing interior. Justifiably or not, these images are referred to as the "Sistine Chapel of the Americas." Yet they were produced, not by a single artist, but virtually the whole town, with passion, exuberance, rich coloring, narrative skill and theological rationale. In a paroxysm of penitence, they were inspired after a long history of revelry. Atotonilco began as a hacienda with a nearby spring, from which curative waters still bubble forth. The pious priest, Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro, native of San Miguel, acquired the land from the hacienda's owner, Don Ignacio Garofa, and initiated his project on May 3, Day of the Holy Cross, 1740. The central nave was dedicated eight years later, and then work began on the sculptures and paintings in the Cavalry Chapel, with its life-sized figures on three altars, devoted to the Crucifixion, the Agony and the Descent. Afterwards came the old Sacristy, now the Chapel to the Furisima, then the richly decorated Chamber of Glory, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The "new" sacristy contains a painting of The Last Supper, by local artist Jose Aleibar. The legendary Rosary Chapel, now considered a baroque masterpiece, followed, and after the the Belem Chapel, no less lavish. Then came the paintings on the doors to the main temple, the lovely cross installed by Father Alfaro, and the good friar's lodgings, where he died in 1776. Alfaro was a member of the Oratorian Order founded in Rome by San Felipe Neri, for whom he was named. The labor begun in the stark little hacienda continues today, since people still flock to the exercises of spiritual cleansing, the singing, fasting and flagellation, that normally last a week. A local historian assures us that since 1880 to date, close to 100,000 people have congregated of as many as 3,000 at a time for whom facilities are improvised in the generous garden. Visitors, anxious to carry away a souvenir, have contributed to the deterioration of the paintings by scraping the walls, which were allegedly moistened by the blood of the artists - in lieu of the saints their brushes depict - as well as by the rites of the overzealous faithful. Time and humidity have done the rest. Their survival threatened, the paintings, in fact the entire church, have been "adopted" for restoration, a project that will continue well into the twenty-first century. The church was originally consecrated to Jesus the Nazarene, yet represents a miracle of artistic innovation. Sincerity therefore combines with aesthetics to produce a singular and euphoric labor of eighteenth century love, projected into the Age of the Computer, which in effect has served restorers, by detecting the layers of paint and the nearly vanished subject matter. And if the original romping in the hot springs has been replaced by subdued processions, the faithful lifting their prayers in song in the best oratorical tradition, such practices never lessen, only redirect, the essential fervor. Turning west off the Dolores Hidalgo highway about 15 kilometers north of San Miguel de Allende and going about one kilometer will lead you to the hamlet of Atotonilco. Traditional dances are held there on the third Sunday of July. By Carol Miller Return to top
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