The Porciúncula

The Basque painter, Baltasar de Echave Orio, is categorized as an American Mannerist artist whose works were characterized by contained expression, unlike the exaggerated postures typical of European Mannerism. The Porciuncula, known today as the Chapel of Saint Mary of the Angels, was a small hermitage located near the town of Assisi which became the most important church of the Franciscan Order. The name derives from the Italian word meaning "little portion". The work portrays the moment when Saint Francis had a vision in the said chapel in which Jesus and the Virgin Mary appeared to him in order to grant him a favor. Saint Francis selfless request was for plenary indulgence for everyone who visited the chapel and for their sins to be forgiven. A psychological wholeness is conferred on the painting by the expressions of the five people who compose it, their hand gestures and the elliptic composition formed by their heads. The artist placed the Virgin Mary and Jesus in the upper part of the work, within a splendid receptacle of light beneath which the angels and the saint are prostrated. The workmanship of the fabrics and angular folds, and the anachronistic brocade and tapestry in the foreground bear witness to the affectation that characterizes the Mannerist style of Echave Orio, who executed this large-scale work for the main altarpiece of the Franciscan convent of Santiago Tlatelolco. This piece was given to the MUNAL by the San Diego Viceregal Painting Gallery in the year 2000