An angelic Renaissance carving
Despite its notoriety as the site of Friar Diego de Landa’s auto-da-fe in 1562, the ex-monastery church at Maní is home to one of Yucatan’s most precious sacred jewels.
The prinicipal altarpiece in the Magical Town, located 96 km (60 miles) south-southeast of Merida, is one of the few examples of Renaissance-style altars in the state, according to specialist Fernando Garcés Fierros.
The reredos is presided over by the Archangel Michael triumphing against the insidious wiles of the devil in the form of a dragon. The original style and manufacture are Renaissance, created in the 16th century, but with some neo-Classical additions characteristic of the 19th.
The altarpiece, which covers the whole wall at the end of the chancel, has upper and lower sections, divided vertically into three, with a single niche topping the central division. The predella is of plain masonry while the wide central frieze contains relief sculptures of four Doctors of the Church: Sts Gregory, Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome. In the center are the the four evangelists and the tabernacle.
In the center of the lower level is a figure representing the Assumption, while to the sides are sculptures of St. Jospeh and St. Anthony of Padua.
On the second level, the patron saint of the church is flanked by niches housing carvings of Sts Peter and Paul.
In the central gable at the top, there is a relief sculpture representing God the Father surrounded by clouds. Above this is a triangular pediment with a trefoil cross at the apex.
Restoration on the altarpieces at Maní was first carried out in the 1980s, by specialists from the “Manuel Castillo Negrete” National School for Conservation and Restoration, which is part of the INAH.
However, the largest restoration project was headed by Fernando Garcés between 2001 and 2003, under the auspices of the “Adopt and Artwork, Yucatan” program.
The refurbishment plan included renovations to all nine altarpieces in the church: two from the 16th century, three from the 17th, another three from the 18th, and the principal reredos from the 19th century.
Work was also done on the 1680 mural altarpiece in the sacristy. The wooden sculptures. Garcés points out, correspond to a variety of design aesthetics: Solomonic, estipite and Plateresque.
The high altar, classed as one of the most beautiful pieces of sacred art still existing in Yucatan, can be viewed during church opening times..
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