St Francis de Asis with Flowers

by Bob and Nancy Kendrick

Title

St Francis de Asis with Flowers

Artist

Bob and Nancy Kendrick

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

Flowers enhance the side view of the St Francis of Asis church just south of Taos, New Mexico. We visited this area as part of our High Road to Taos drive in September 2013. A very interesting drive, filled with many old Spanish churches.
Additional info: A tiny village four miles south of Taos on State Highway 68 (between mile markers 41 & 42), Ranchos de Taos is home to the San Francisco de Asis Church (or the Ranchos Church) a National Historic Landmark, c. 1772. The church has been an inspiration for many great artists who￿ve left us with a palpable sense of the people places and events of the past and present. Its heavy buttresses have been portrayed in all media since the early 20th Century, most famously by Georgia O￿Keeffe, Ansel Adams, and Paul Strand. Georgia O'Keeffe described it as, "one of the most beautiful buildings left in the United States by the early Spaniards."
The Spanish Colonial adobe building has twin bell towers and an arched portal entrance that overlooks an enclosed courtyard. The interior has a large carved reredos (altar screen) divided into painted panels, a ceiling of vigas (beams) that rest on elaborately carved double brackets and a traditional choir loft. San Francisco de As￿Mission is an active parish.
The San Francisco de Asis Church is still an integral part of its community. Surrounding the church are shops, galleries, trading posts, and restaurants - all housed in old adobe buildings as well.
Every spring, the people of the community gather to mud a new layer of adobe on the walls, preserving their church in the time-worn ways of northern New Mexico, with a mixture of mud and straw. The work is called ￿enjarre￿, or re-mud.
The church is usually open to visitors during the day. Since many of New Mexico￿s old churches are kept locked, this is a wonderful opportunity to experience the architectural features and santero-style art that New Mexico￿s historic churches are known for. Because this is a community church that continues to offer mass, no photography is allowed inside the church.

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May 29th, 2014

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