The Narrative Decorative Surfaces at the Spanish Colonial Mission Church of Santa María de Cuevas in Nueva Vizcaya: Where Religion, Art & Science Meet

Abstract

[EN] This paper presents the conservation research project that has being carried out in the last 10 years to preserve the building and the artworks of Santa Maria Cuevas, a Spanish colonial mission founded by the Jesuits missionaries in 1678 at Nueva Vizcaya (Mexico). Located at the Mexican state of Chihuahua, this church continues to be the center of the cultural and religious traditions f its community. Of Particular interest is the complex polychrome technique and wooden ceiling structure. The original paintings narrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. In this paper, special attention is given to the studies that are currently being undertaken to interpret the narrative iconography that the Sicilian missionary Luis Mancuso together with the painter Domingo Guerra designed and painted in 1700.