Time to Hope: Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York Museo de San Francisco, Santiago de Chile

Anglican Theological Review, Winter 2004 by Winter, Jacqueline B

A second series in the museum, though much more limited in scope, portrays the life of San Pedro de Alcantara (1499-1562), the ascetic monk, founder of a reformed branch of the Franciscan order, and patron saint of Portugal. A small room of the museum devoted to the saint includes a display of both the series and several sculptures. One especially dramatic portrayal of San Pedro is a sculpture (Figure 4), measuring close to two meters, posed on a high pedestal in one comer of the room. Carved in wood and painted, the skeleton-like figure is dressed in a brocade robe. In one hand he holds out a cross, in the other his gnarly Bngers clasp a skull. Towards the end of his life, Pedro de Alcantara met with Teresa of Avila and encouraged her in the reform of the Carmelites. In Time of Hope in the Cathedra) of St. John the Divine, the two saints are represented together in a double sculpture, Spiritual Dialogue between San Pedro de Alcantara and Santa Teresa. Saint Teresa described Saint Pedro's physical appearance as resembling the roots and dried bark of a tree more than human flesh. The anonymous eighteenthcentury Peruvian artist who carved this sculpture has interpreted Saint Teresas description beautifully.

What makes this museum so special? The spiritual and ecclesiastical integration of the place. An eclectic treasure trove of art is displayed amidst the ordinary affairs of a Sunday afternoon: church letting out, young people sitting in the cloister, monks ducking into the sacristy or walking in the garden, greeting each visitor with a smile and a few words. Evangelism? What Dr. Melendez and The Ages of Mankind Foundation succeeded in achieving in New York, is also here in this little museum: time is bridged, faith comes alive, and Christianity is of the world.

1 These works can be seen on the Foundation's wehsite: .

2 The New York Times, October 8, 2002, B4.

3 The Morgan Library patrons and curators established an important relationship with Melendez and the Foundation. At the time of the exhibition, plans had been made to send a Morgan Library manuscript to the Foundation headquarters for restoration.

4 Twenty-two of the panels were recently sent to Vatican City for an exhibition in the embassy of Chile. According to the Chilean ambassador and Cardinal Mejia, Vatican librarian, it is unusual for the Europeans to see such an extensive collection of Baroque Latin American works, and the prestige of the works has been noted in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

JACQUELINE B. WINTER*

* Jacqueline B. Winter is the managing editor and art review editor of the Anglican Theological Review. The author thanks the Fundacion Las Edades del Hombre and the Museo de San Francisco for so generously allowing the artwork to be reproduced.