If a specific analysis of its architectural environment is made, it will be noted that in San Francisco the classic typology of Medieval monasteries survived. In this, the spatial distribution started from the church, its guiding axis, and from there the cloister galleries opened where the cells, the
refectory, the
chapter house, the
cellar and the
parlour were normally distributed. The definitive form was the quadrangular courtyard, with its respective four galleries; contributing, the main ones, to denominate their respective gallery: gallery of the chapter house, gallery of the refectory, gallery of converts, gallery of the mandatum. The church, in the case of San Francisco, is also the center of that order. Starting from it, the four cloister galleries are projected, all of the same size, in which at least two elements of the
monasteries of the
Middle Ages have been preserved: the
refectory and the
bedroom. However, no gallery has been assigned to the chapter house, which never existed in San Francisco. In reality, it is not possible to know exactly what other rooms were distributed around the four cloistered bays and where they were located, however, and according to Friar Fernando de Cozar, at a later time (1647) in the Cloister there was the
Room of Profundis, the
Refectory, the
Library next to the art and theology classrooms, the
Gatehouse and a small church with a sacristy. The adjoining gallery of the church, the mandatum, must have had benches for reading in accordance with the ancient norms of spatial organization. But equally, the complex network of dependencies that was organized in its interior it recreated its own self-sufficient microcosm, similar to that of Medieval monasteries. As in these, in San Francisco, in addition to the basic dependencies we have those dedicated to health, education, trades, orchard and even a
jail (to maintain the strict conventual discipline). The
kitchen, the nursing and the
apothecary functioned in the
Services Cloister. convave-convex stair design for his
Belvedere Court project. In a 1611 English translation of
Sebastiano Serlio's treatise on architecture. The architectural complex of San Francisco de Quito was necessarily linked to its urban environment. There are three spaces that defined relations with the outside world: •
The plaza, which was a purely urban space, perfectly demarcated, which connected religious and civilians through various activities (
tianguez,
doctrine,
market,
water supply). •
The Atrium, which was the one that, without ceasing to fulfill urban functions, had much more sacred characteristics than the plaza. This, at least during the 16th and 17th centuries, was the burial place for the common people. This space is preceded by a half concave and half convex staircase, inspired by a design by
Bramante as found in Spanish translations of
Sebastiano Serlio’s
Tercero y cuarto libro de arquitectura. The entire atrium is made of
andesite stone extracted from the quarry of the
Pichincha volcano. •
The church and chapels, which were properly sacred places. •
The main cloister/courtyard was built between 1573 and 1581. It has two galleries: the lower one with canted arches in the
Mudéjar style on
Doric columns, and the upper one with segmental or basket-handle arches. File:Museo de la iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 177.JPG|The main courtyard. File:Museo de la iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 182.JPG|The colonial fountain
Style The original plans of the basilica were subjected to various changes throughout the almost 150 years that its construction took. Many times these changes were "violent and misguided" due to earthquake damage and the evolution of art and culture to finally reach the almost
Eclectic form we know it today; That is why San Francisco is one of the most important buildings in Colonial Hispanic American architecture. The facade of the basilica reflects the early presence, and for the first time in South America, of
Mannerist elements, which made it a point of reference for this style on the continent. The
Renaissance severity and exterior Mannerism contrast with the internal decoration of the church, in which
Mudéjar and
Baroque styles are mixed with gold leaf to give an unusual splendour. In its three naves, San Francisco unveils Mudéjar
artesonado ceilings, lavishly decorated
altarpieces and columns of various styles. In the
choir, the Mudéjar decoration, original from the end of the 16th century, remains intact because the central nave collapsed in an earthquake and was replaced by a Baroque coffered ceiling in 1770. Mudéjar ceilings at the ends, Baroque in the central nave, altarpieces full of images,
mascarons and cherubs looking at the center of the High Altar. The complex is completed with the Convent, in which the architectural beauty of the main cloister stands out, arranged around the immense
courtyard, in two superimposed galleries. File:Iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 171-173 HDR.JPG|Interior File:Iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 162-164 HDR.JPG|Main altarpiece of the church. File:Iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 168-170 HDR.JPG|Detail of the ceiling. File:Iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 165-167 HDR.JPG|Inside view of the church domes. File:Iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 177.JPG|Rear view of the pipe organ.
Chapel of Villacís The most outstanding case in the second half of the 17th century was that of Don Francisco de Villacís who, on 6 November 1659, founded a
chaplaincy of ten thousand
pesos, census taxes on his assets and especially on the
Hacienda Guachalá, located in the
Cayambe valley, becoming its patron saint. After his death, the chapel was to pass to his legitimate children, failing which, to the natural he had, and as there were no direct heirs, he appointed his brother Juan de Villacís as his successor. Being established that the costs of ornamentation of the chapel would be borne by its patron, these had been entrusted to Quitoan Friar Antonio Rodríguez. In 1939 the friars had difficulties with some heirs of Francisco de Villacís, who claimed rights over the chapel. In a special way about the crypt that belonged to them and that the Convent had given, about six years ago, to Mr.
Pacífico Chiriboga y Borja, believing that there were no heirs with the right to this space. The patrons of the chapel lost their rights by not accepting a contract, by which they were offered the old crypt behind the
sacristy, where the religious were buried, in exchange for paying ten thousand
sucres in cash. In this way, in the year 1947, within a general process of the Order, to value its artistic treasures, the community undertook the repair and arrangements of this space. On 26 October of this year, it was blessed, devoting it to the
Sacred Heart.
Chapel of the Pillar of Zaragoza The
Chapel of Santa Marta,
del Comulgatorio or
del Santísimo, at the left end of the
main altar, was dedicated from the second half of the 18th century to the cult of the image of the Blessed
Our Lady of the Pillar of
Zaragoza, brought from Spain by Friar José de Villamar Maldonado, exact copy of the work of the sculptor
Pedro de Mena. In the year 1671 the brotherhood was established and three years later the old vault of the Tertiary Order was granted to its brothers. Apparently, this was in force until the middle of the 19th century, registering its last brothers in 1848.
Chapel of Cantuña Originally called the
Chapel of la Cofradía de la Veracruz de Naturales,15 it is one of the side chapels of the convent, located at the southern end of the atrium, and which is dedicated to the veneration of the
Our Lady of Sorrows and
Saint Luke the Evangelist. It was handed over by the
Franciscans to the
Brotherhood of the Veracruz de Naturales, made up of the most skilled indigenous sculptors and painters of the city of Quito, who immediately began its construction in 1581. At the end of the 17th century, it was handed over to the
Franciscan Third Order and the
Brotherhood of la Virgen de los Dolores. The brotherhoods of Veracruz became infatuated with turning the chapel into an authentic reliquary of unique jewels, so the art collection that it housed since its inception, including
oil paintings, frescoes and sculptures, they have given it fame as one of the most exquisite on the Americas and the name of the "
Sistine Chapel of America" by the Ecuadorians of the time. The Brotherhood of Veracruz de Naturales enthroned on the main altarpiece the beautiful sculpture of
Saint Luke the Evangelist that
Father Carlos had carved, considered one of the most beautiful in polychrome wood that the imagery of the
Colonial Quito School of Art has given, and that can still be seen on its altar. However, by 1763 the indigenous had already lost all rights, and by successive decrees the space for the cult of the Our Lady of Sorrows, patron saint of a brotherhood also of painters and sculptures, had been authorized, but this
whites and
mestizos, which had gained greater prestige over time. According to the legend collected by the proto-historian of the
Kingdom of Quito, Father
Juan de Velasco, Cantuña was the son of Hualca, who would have helped
Rumiñahui to hide the treasures of Quito to free them from Spanish greed. Once urged to reveal the secret of the goods he spent lavishly despite being only an indigenous person, Cantuña said he had made a pact with the
devil. Perhaps to redeem himself from such a pact, Cantuña collaborated with a lot of money out of his pocket to see the chapel finished and which has borne his name ever since. From an aesthetic point of view, the
Chapel of Cantuña is a small church with a single vaulted nave, with projecting ribs and lunettes. On the presbytery, which forms a single body with the nave, rests a dome with a
lantern through which the light that fills the entire space is filtered. In its rear part is the sacristy and, upon entering the nave, a small choir which is reached through a staircase placed to the right of the entrance to the chapel. Faced with its structural simplicity, in Cantuña the ambivalence between spatial organization and decoration is evident, which, as in the main church, has undergone profound transformations during the 18th century. The altarpiece of the main altar together with the pulpit constitute the most interesting decorative element of the space. Attributed to
Bernardo de Legarda, its factory would be related to the enormous prestige achieved by the
Brotherhood of la Virgen de los Dolores in the second half of the 18th century. In this characteristically Baroque altarpiece, there is a clear predominance of decorative elements over images; It is complemented by the magnificent Calvary group (of which the Our Lady of Sorrows is a part) placed in its central niche, also attributed to the master. Legarda carved the columns, panels, frieze, cornice, arch, finial and dozens of exquisite elements ornamental. The niches and shelves are full of beautiful sculptures that are also his own; he finally completed the ensemble by giving the central niche a frame of mirrors and silver. The Chapel of Cantuña also houses works by
Caspicara, including one of his masterpieces: the
Impression of the Wounds of Saint Francis, a harmonious group full of devout sentiment, whose culmination is the admirable expression of the Saint, lost in pain and illumination. No less impressive is the effigy of
Saint Peter of Alcántara, which for a long time was wrongly attributed to Father Carlos. File:Capilla de Cantuña, Quito (Interior) pic 35.jpg|Colonial hand carved interior doors File:Museo de la iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 181.JPG|Tomb of Francisco Cantuña and his heirs, at the basilica's Museum. ==Works of art==