BYWAYS PLUS: DATES! - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Convento in foreground was added in the last century so nuns might run a school for Indian children. Mission Bac is the scene of many fiestas, this one with its fireworks being held in April. Photo by Manley Studios. The Desert Magazine/March 1980
Only the clouds vie with the Mission in whiteness, both contrasting sharply with the muted browns of the surrounding desert. year of its completion, Friar Francisco Iturralde visited the mission and wrote: "The walls of the church, the eight-sided drum supporting the main dome, the inside of the dome itself, and also the choir loft are embellished with fine paintings of figures and mysteries of the faith. Although these paintings are done on the wall itself, they convey an illusion of being framed canvases. There are four windows in the main body of the church, all complete with their glass window panes, and four more up in the octagonal drum supporting the main dome." Friar Iturralde failed to mention the pair of life-sized angels that hang on either side of the sanctuary. Their skirts of heavy canvas were dipped in paint, then draped gracefully about the angelic forms. Tradition holds that the artist's twin daughters were models for the angels. Under the steady eyes of the heavenly creatures crouch two lions. In a whimsical combination of nature and imagination, one lion traded paws for a pair of human hands. The wood of the altar rails and the doors reminds us that this is truly the desert. Mesquite, sturdy enough to withstand drought and desert sandstorms, is an appropriate choice in a church built for the ages. After 200 years of touching, of opening and closing, the wood has weathered to a silvery gray, lined as befits great age. Friar Iturralde's report also commented upon the unfinished tower, one of the mysteries of Mission Bac. All that was needed to finish off the tower to match its otherwise identical twin was a small dome and a lantern on the top. This tower was never completed. Tradition suggests several reasons. Did the wisdom of the Fathers keep the church unfinished so that the building would not be taxed? Perhaps a workman fell to The Desert Magazine/March 1980 his death while constructing the tower and the superstitious laborers refused to continue. Or did they simply run out of money? Tradition again has the only answers to who actually designed and embellished the interior of the church. It is generally agreed that fine paintings and sculpture are not the work of the untrained. But who was imported to direct the work and complete the finest decorations? History provides no proof, but legend suggests that an entire crafts guild was brought in from Mexico or Spain. Whoever they were, that their lives were constantly endangered by the raids of the enemy Apaches is proved by a notation made by Captain Jose Zuniga in 1804: "Because of the hazard involved, the salaries of the artisans had to be doubled.'' The skill of the artisans is nowhere more evident than in the elaborately worked facade of the church. Only here may the reddish hue of the original color be seen. The rest of the church has been painted white. It is not unfitting, however, for it glows in stark contrast to the desert colors that surround it. And the white enhances rather than detracts from the unrestored facade. The exterior of Mission Bac supports an amazing collection of statuary, Spanish lions, a coat-of-arms, and an occasional whimsey. Every corner is filled with decoration; even the plain weathered entry has a serpent formed into a door-handle. The Garden of Eden and the Arizona rattlesnake meet at the door of this mission. A final touch of humor is offered by the designer. On one side of the facade is perched a lively mouse, watched intently down through the centuries by a cat perched on the other side. May they remain there forever for the Indians of Bac say: "When the cat catches the mouse, the end of the world will come.'' 39
Page 1 and 2: goni BYWAYS MARCH, 1980 $1.50 PLUS:
Page 3 and 4: Volume 43, Number 2 The voice of th
Page 5: Photo by David Muench
Page 8 and 9: It was the wiIdf lower season of 19
Page 10 and 11: hurried to Slim's trailer. Nothing
Page 12 and 13: RIGHT, SELPOAA SEEN SLIM ANP I'M GO
Page 14 and 15: One way to confirm the strange cont
Page 16 and 17: 16 Ann Stradling sold her Stage Sto
Page 18 and 19: DANGER! HIGH EXPLOSIVES You're off
Page 20 and 21: dRCOSANTI: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO C
Page 22 and 23: Soleri is the Director of Cosanti,
Page 24 and 25: Soleri and the people around him wa
Page 26 and 27: 26 by Katherine Ainswofth "If you w
Page 28 and 29: BELCH BEGINS BRAWL It all started w
Page 30 and 31: FAIR- VIEW A Known Nevada Ghost Tow
Page 32 and 33: WEST WIDE MAPS 32 "IT COSTS TO GET
Page 34 and 35: The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd. P.O. Box
Page 36 and 37: 36 MISSION SAN The Desert Magazine/
Page 40 and 41: Naturalist Ernest T. Seton called t
Page 42 and 43: All owls, even this young one still
Page 44 and 45: DATELINE . . . (Continued from page
Page 46 and 47: Send orders to Box 1318 Palm Desert
Page 48 and 49: Whafs Cooki on th Desert! by STELLA
Page 50 and 51: The Desert Magazine/March 1980
Page 52 and 53: Treasure found by professional TH'e
Page 54 and 55: the road was abandoned and in 1918,
Page 56 and 57: Above: Lonely ore car monument on C
Page 58 and 59: THE TRADING BOOKS/MAGAZINES DESERT
Page 60: CONGRATULATIONS TO WHITES ELECTRONI

BYWAYS PLUS: DATES! - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?