IGLESIA DE SAN LORENZO DE CARANGAS
This church, built between 1723 and 1744, is dominated by an archangel, armed with a sword and a shield
Built between 1723 and 1744, this church deserves your attention for its portal, a masterpiece of Métis Baroque sculpture, both aesthetically and for the subject of its sculptures. The ensemble is dominated by an archangel, armed with a sword and a shield. The tympanum presents an astonishing mixture of Greco-Roman tradition and religious syncretism. The carvings on the tympanum are said to illustrate a text by Plato that depicts mermaids playing music to make the vault of heaven, where the sun, stars and moon are floating, dance.
But if you look again at the top left, you will find the first Andean deity, the Sun. On the side symmetrically opposite the center is Quilla, the Moon. Pachamama, the goddess of the earth and fertility, is represented both by the two topless women and by the pair of mermaids playing the charango at the top of the portal. The vines that run down the columns are a symbol of abundance and of the festive spirit in Bolivia, which took on particularly fierce aspects in Potosí. But enough of interpretations, rather admire this absolute jewel of universal art thinking of the genius of the anonymous Indian hands that carved it for the glory of His Majesty the King of Spain, of God and above all of the Andean deities.
If you are in Potosi around September 14, we point out that the Santa Vera Cruz festival is held here, at the church of San Lorenzo de Carangas.
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