English
Church of Saint Francis and Convent of Saint Antony and Chapel of the Third Order
João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
Religious Architecture
The northernmost convent in the Franciscan province of Santo António do Brazil was founded in 1589, though the existing building (now housing a museum) results from various phases of construction. The remains of a stone altar still at the convent may possibly be from before the Dutch occupation. The church, however, must essentially date from the second half of the 17th century. Its profusely sculpted main door is the most interesting feature surviving from that period. Work on the Chapel of the Third Order began in 1704; between 1718 and 1734, further construction built and decorated the upper choir and opened the façade’s two side doors. In the middle of the century, the Tertiaries had a large house of prayer built next to their chapel; the sacristy was built around that time. Lastly, the complex’s most spectacular feature dates from the second half of the 18th century: the vast walled atrium adorned with glazed tiles representing episodes from the Passion of Christ, with its huge cross, leading to the lively façade (which replaced a previous one) completed in 1779. This façade is marked by five stone arches providing access to the galilee, above which are three windows flanked by two groups of large volutes and topped by a voluted pediment bearing the order’s arms at the centre. It condenses all architectural debate in the previous century-and-a-half and is one of the most monumental façades found anywhere in colonial Brazil. The interior decoration fulfils what the façade promises: tiles on the nave’s walls, carving work on the stalls and screen of the choir, and on the altars and pulpit, as well as paintings on the ceiling of the chancel and especially the nave, with its eloquent allegory of the Franciscan presence around the world. The Chapel of the Third Order sought to follow the model of its counterpart in Recife. but fewer resources were available and it was not finished. In the sacristy, the chests of drawers (dated 1761) incorporate oil paintings of the Doctors of the Church and are complemented by yet another ceiling painted in perspective.