Mission San Juan Capistrano - Dating the Artifacts #1
This portrait of St. John of Capistrano was painted by José de Páez in Mexico City, sometime between late-1775 and 1776. It was ordered by St. Junípero Serra to adorn the church at Mission San Juan Capistrano, which was permanently founded in 1776. It is also likely the earliest non-indigenous artwork to permanently reside in today’s Orange County. (Courtesy of Mission San Juan Capistrano)
Author's Note: This article only exists because of Dr. Marie Duggan (Professor of Global Economic History at Keene State University) with the assistance of Jennifer Ring (Mission San Juan Capistrano Archivist) and Chris Jepsen (President of the Orange County Historical Society). A big thanks to you three!!
Mission San Juan Capistrano - Dating the Artifacts #1
Images of St. John of Capistrano at Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano is full of artifacts. From the carefully inked vellum spine of one of the missionaries’ books to the carpenters’ beautifully carved leaf-and-floral patterns on the church candlesticks, each artifact tells a story. Each also transports us to the mission period, evoking a sense of both mystery in their form but familiarity in their function. Together they provide an aesthetic experience that directly ties us to the thoughts and feelings of people living long ago. The objects themselves represent the story of their maker, their workshop, teachers, and the trends of their society. Many of the pieces made the long journey from Mexico City on muleback over the mountains to the port of San Blas where they were loaded on the annual supply ship and then sailed up the Pacific coast of California where they were unloaded and transported by mule again to the mission. They’ve traveled a long way to be here.
Many of the stories of each artifact, however, have been lost to time. Their origins can only be assumed from what is more generally known about similar objects at other missions. The detailed stories of when, why, and how each artifact made its way to the mission have remained elusive.
All of this changed when a fellow researcher and friend, Dr. Marie Duggan, recently found the account books for Mission San Juan Capistrano in Mexico City. These books were maintained by the syndic or habilitado general, or paymaster, of all goods sent to California during the colonial era at the mission (roughly 1776-1821). Dr. Duggan graciously sent me scans of the account books and I’ve teamed with the mission’s archivist, Jennifer Ring, to use the mission’s records to round out the research. I plan on doing a series of articles dating extant objects at the mission and telling their stories.
This first installment examines the stories of all of the so-called “images” of St. John of Capistrano. These include any devotional paintings and statues of the saint that were sent to the mission. The account books record that three images of the saint were requested by the missionaries in their annual memorias, or requisitions for goods, in the years 1776, 1794, and 1802. While these items may have been sent and/or arrived the next calendar year, they will be from here on referred to as the basilica portrait of 1776, and the images of 1794, and 1802. After more than two hundred years, their stories can now be told.
The José de Páez Basilica Portrait
Perhaps the most famous image of St. John of Capistrano at the mission today is the portrait hanging in the Basilica Church. This work is traditionally considered to have arrived at the mission just after its founding and is signed by its artist, José de Páez, but not dated. It measures 45.5 Inches high and 36.5 inches wide. It was done in oil on a piece of linen with repairs/repainting along all edges and in some of the foreground and sky area.
Historians have tied this portrait to a request from St. Junípero Serra. In August of 1775, soon after deciding to found Mission San Juan Capistrano, Serra wrote to the president of the College of San Fernando in Mexico City requesting that the painting of St. John of Capistrano “should not be painted by any kind of painter, of the alcaysería [common marketplace] – I think that is the way it is called,” but that “they should find a good engraving and have Páez paint it, or some other good artist.” The artist he had in mind was José de Páez, who was very well-known in Mexico for his religious paintings. Serra also had in mind how the painting should appear, requesting that the saint’s “habit should not be blue,” but that he “should have a handsome, resolute and devout appearance,” and that the “whole picture should not be more than a vara [a little less than a yard] and a quarter in height.” A vara measures approximately 33 inches, making a “vara and a quarter” approximately 41 inches. Since the basilica portrait is 45.5 inches high, either Serra’s request was not precisely followed or, if it was, the basilica portrait may not be the same as the original mission portrait.
A year and a half after Serra made his request the painting had yet to arrive in Alta California. In the interim, Serra founded Mission San Juan Capistrano and returned to Monterey where he made a second request for the painting. He again wrote to the president of the College of San Fernando that he “would like that the painting of San Juan Capistrano be put in the hands of a good artist, and that it be inspiring,” specifying that “an especially good engraving should be used.” Serra’s acute attention to historical detail prompted him to repeat the request that “above all things, its color scheme should not be a blue [habit],” but this time included the detail that it should be “of an ash gray.” Serra was evidently eager to see the painting himself, because he asked the president of the College of San Fernando if “they could send [the painting of Saint John of Capistrano] by way of Monterey, it would give me much pleasure to see it,” adding the humorous line that “although I have a bad name in such matters, I will not keep it for myself.”
Ironically, Serra’s second request for the painting ended up being unnecessary. The portrait was completed following his first request and sent to Alta California soon after he wrote his second request. It apparently arrived in San Diego aboard the San Antonio, one of the ships from the Portolá Expedition, on May 4, 1777. Serra’s wishes may have been granted, as the basilica portrait was painted by the artist José de Páez, seemingly just after Serra’s first request arrived in Mexico. While Serra did not specify that the saint’s habit should be “ash gray” in his first request, it was painted brown, not blue, meeting the requirements of the original request. The saint’s appearance also reflects Serra’s wishes that he have “a handsome, resolute and devout appearance.”
This historical analysis can now be checked against the account book. On November 25, 1776, a “canvas” of St. John of Capistrano is recorded as being sent from Mexico to the mission, which is shown below:
The entry reads “1 lienso de Sn Juan Capistrano de media caña…20 pesos 0 reales,” or in English, “1 canvas of Saint John of Capistrano measuring half a caña..20 pesos 0 reales.” A caña in the 1770s was six square codos and one codo is half a vara (1 vara ≈ 33 in.). This suggests that the height of the painting was about three codos (≈49.5 inches) and the width was approximately two codos (≈33 inches). These measurements are generally consistent with Páez’s basilica portrait’s height of 45.5 inches and width of 36.5 inches, suggesting that the basilica portrait is indeed the original portrait of St. John of Capistrano at the mission. The same portrait from the account book also appears in the mission’s annual report of 1783 as a “lienzo” of the “santo patron [patron saint],” proving that it had arrived by that year. For the first time, it seems, the portrait’s price is now known, costing just twenty pesos (for comparison, the same year the missionaries ordered a small barrel of aguardiente, an alcoholic beverage, for thirty-two pesos).
The Statues
This original portrait was not, however, the only image of the saint recorded in the account books. Another “image” of Saint John of Capistrano was recorded in the missionaries’ requisition of 1794 and subsequently sent from Mexico, which is shown below in the account book:
The entry reads “1 imagen de San Juan Capistrano…58 [pesos] 2 [reales],” or in English, “1 image of Saint John Capistrano…58 [pesos] 2 [reales].” This item’s cost was almost three times as much as the original “canvas” of the saint. This higher relative price is also shared by the last recorded “image” of St. John of Capistrano in the account books. This final image was requested in the missionaries’ requisition of 1802 and, at a cost of 90 pesos, was the most expensive of all. The record of it in the account book is shown below:
The entry reads “1 imagen de San Juan Capistrano de siete y media qtas con espada desenvainada en la derecha y vandera en la yzquierda…90 pesos,” or in English, “1 image of Saint John of Capistrano of 7.5 cuartas with an unsheathed sword in his right hand and a flag in his left…90 pesos.” While this item’s description seemingly matches the basilica portrait, in which St. John of Capistrano holds a sword in his right hand and a flag in his left, its high cost prompts further investigation. Fortunately, contemporary account books from the Presidio of Santa Barbara have been published and analyzed. These records indicate that statues were more expensive than paintings, especially if they contained accessories with precious metals. For example, while similarly sized paintings to the basilica portrait of St. John of Capistrano cost about six pesos at the Santa Barbara Presidio, a statue of Our lady of Carmel with Child with accessories cost 155 pesos.
If the 1794 and 1802 images of St. John of Capistrano are indeed statues, one of them seems to be missing. The mission’s only extant statue of St. John of Capistrano traditionally dated to the mission period is currently housed in its archive (the smaller statue in the reredos of today’s Serra Chapel was carved in the early twentieth century). The extant statue’s dimensions are about 61 inches high, 23 inches wide, and 18 inches deep. The account book records the size of the 1802 image as 7.5 cuartas. A “cuarta” is a little less than 8 inches, making 7.5 cuartas approximately 59 inches, which is close to the extant statue's height of 61 inches. If the image from 1802 was indeed this statue, the timing of its arrival might suggest that it was intended as the centerpiece in the reredos above the altar of the Great Stone Church, which, while still under construction at the time, already had a completed altar dome. Since the existing niches in back of the altar in the church ruins are approximately seven feet tall, they are well accommodated for a statue that is about 60 inches (five feet) tall, providing sufficient headspace for a flag and/or sword.
This statue of St. John of Capistrano may have arrived at Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1803 and cost 90 pesos. It was requested by the missionaries to adorn the Great Stone Church, which was under construction at the time. (Photo by author, courtesy of Mission San Juan Capistrano)
A definitive attribution of the image that arrived in 1803 to the mission’s extant statue is, however, uncertain given that the account book describes an “unsheathed sword in his right hand and a flag in his left.” While the statue’s current flag pole is not original, it appears that the orientation of the left hand was intended to hold one, probably with a red flag, which is a typical iconographic element in depictions of St. John of Capistrano. The statue’s right hand, however, does not seem to be formed around a sword in the same way the saint’s right hand grips a sword in Páez's basilica portrait. Also, the interior of the hand does not contain any visible attach points, suggesting that a sword would have been separate from the statue itself and freely rested in place. In any case, the hand seems to be oriented to hold an object. Since it was common for a sword or cross to appear in the hand of images of the saint, it's certainly possible that the statue's right hand originally held a sword. The evidence, however, is inconclusive.
The right hand of the extant statue of St. John of Capistrano may have originally carried a sword, which was a common iconographic element of the saint. The hand does not contain evidence of holding a sword, although one may have rested on it during the mission era. (Photo courtesy of Mission San Juan Capistrano)
This prompts further investigation into the third image. If the canvas sent in 1776 is the basilica portrait and assuming that the image sent in 1803 is the extant statue, the image dating to 1794 is apparently missing. Indeed over a century ago there was another statue of St. John of Capistrano in the mission’s possession. This statue appears in photographs around 1900 but mysteriously disappeared thereafter. This statue was smaller than the extant statue of the saint. Its iconography, however, matches the description of the image from 1803 in the account book because it had a sword in its right hand and a banner in its left. While this may suggest that it was the same statue that arrived in 1803, its small size suggests otherwise. Bearing in mind that the Great Stone Church was under construction in 1803, the larger statue is both a more appropriate size for its niches and a similar size to the other eight extant statues that were likely placed in the reredos above the church altar. It seems, then, that the now missing smaller statue of St. John of Capistrano may be the one requested by the missionaries in 1794 at a cost of 58 pesos and 2 reales. Given its smaller size, the missionaries possibly requested a larger statue for the Great Stone Church in 1802 after completing construction on the altar dome and niches. This statue could very well be the extant statue that cost 90 pesos. Several decades ago, the mission art historian Norman Neuerburg hypothesized that this larger statue was indeed procured for the Great Stone Church; now decades later the account book provides compelling evidence that he was correct. In any case, both statues were very likely placed into the Great Stone Church, with the smaller statue possibly occupying one of the extant niches at the west or east end of the transept in a side chapel, or in a niche along the nave.
All of this said, it’s possible that the smaller statue was actually the image of 1803 and its higher relative cost than the image of 1794 may be attributed to its accessories of a sword and flag. Furthermore, in some churches the patron saint was of a smaller size than the other statues in the reredos. While the smaller statue may have been too small for the niche in the Great Stone Church, an image of it being restored in about 1907 (see the bottom of this article) shows that it stood on what appears to be a rock to make it taller. While this evidence is not as persuasive as the taller extant statue occupying the highest niche of the reredos of the Great Stone Church, it should be considered a possibility. In any case, one of the statues may have been placed into the chapel at the hospital north of the mission quadrangle that was built in about 1817.
This statue of St. John of Capistrano was at the mission up until the early 1900s and may have arrived to the mission in 1794 for a cost of 58 pesos and 2 reales. It was smaller than the other statues that likely adorned the reredos above the altar of the Great Stone Church (as can be seen in its smaller size relative to the statue of St. Dominic at right). (Photo courtesy Fr. Bill Krekelberg)
The Story of the Basilica Portrait and Statue of St. John of Capistrano
The new details from the account book add important details to the stories of both the basilica portrait and the extant statue of St. John of Capistrano. In the early mission period, the mission church was little more than adobe walls with a tule roof. Hanging above the simple altar was the portrait of St. John of Capistrano. The portrait had been ordered by St. Junípero Serra in the summer of 1775 in anticipation of founding Mission San Juan Capistrano. His request was sent to his College of San Fernando in Mexico City, the source of all missionaries in California during the period, where the college’s procurator passed it along to the artist José de Páez, who worked near the plaza of Santo Domingo in the Centro Histórico. Perhaps because Serra requested a high profile artist and a customized portrait with a specific color for the saint’s habit, the painting cost 20 pesos, which was possibly more expensive than a typical religious painting produced by the workshops of Mexico City at the time. In any case, it must have been painted sometime between late-1775 and November of 1776, when it was recorded in the account book as being ready to ship to San Blas. It now seems certain that the portrait arrived in San Diego aboard the San Antonio, one of the ships from the Portolá Expedition, on May 4, 1777, and shortly thereafter traveled overland to Mission San Juan Capistrano. The portrait has been at the mission ever since.
The Plaza of Santo Domingo in Mexico City. Many of the city’s artists had workshops around this plaza during the eighteenth century, including José de Páez. The basilica portrait of St. John of Capistrano at Mission San Juan Capistrano was painted in this area sometime in late-1775 or 1776.
The basilica portrait was likely the centerpiece above the altar at the mission when a new church, apparently today’s Serra Chapel, was completed in about 1782. This church was remodeled in 1790 with higher walls, wood ceiling/roof beams, and roofed with tile instead of tule. As the mission grew in prosperity in the 1790s, the missionaries requested a statue of St. John of Capistrano in 1794, possibly because the church had space for a larger altar.
By 1796, however, Fathers Fuster and Santiago had in mind a much larger church for the growing congregation. Father Fuster asked Governor Borica for permission to procure a stonemason in Mexico to construct a stone church. After receiving permission and hiring stonemason Isidro Aguilar from Culiacán, they laid the church’s cornerstone in early 1797. The missionaries waited to request decorations for the new church until it was closer to completion. By 1802 the dome above the altar had been constructed and the missionaries requested various adornments, including a statue of St. John of Capistrano to be the centerpiece in the reredos above the altar. When this requisition was made, Aguilar was still alive, and it’s possible that the missionaries anticipated that the church might be ready to dedicate in the next year or two. Aguilar, however, died late in 1802 or early in 1803, possibly delaying the church’s completion by more than three years. The statue arrived at the mission in 1803 and was witness to the church’s three-day dedication in September of 1806. It continued to preside over numerous church functions over the next six years before witnessing the tragic earthquake during the early morning mass on December 8, 1812. The statue may have been moved into the Serra Chapel thereafter.
The altar in the ruins of the Great Stone Church contain nine niches for statues of saints. The extant statue of St. John of Capistrano likely stood in the highest middle niche.
The Meaning Behind Artifacts
It’s difficult to overstate the richness in history witnessed by the basilica portrait and extant statue of St. John of Capistrano. The portrait was in the same room with some of the most well-known historical figures in the county, including St. Junípero Serra and José Antonio Yorba. It stood above the altar during countless baptisms, marriages, and funerals of some of the most important Acjachemen individuals of the early mission period. These include Tàclec, the village leader of Sagivit, and his daughter, Tepi, who was married to Raunet, the village leader of Putiidem. We can only imagine their and their people's understanding of the portrait as the image soon became part of their daily lives. It presided over the quiet flicker of candles while a strong gust of wind outside signaled the winter season’s first storm. It inspired questions among the villagers from Sagivit, Axacheme, Putiidem, Uchme, Alauna, and others about its power and meaning. On many a day during mass below the gloomy marine layer, or in the heavy air of a hot summer morning, or perhaps in the trough between strong Santa Ana Wind gusts, an Acjachemen individual studied it in daydreaming meditation. What did it mean to them? How did they fit it into their worldview? While we will never know their exact thoughts, we can now study the same portrait ourselves and wonder.
The statue, too, may have been thanked in prayer by the retired Lieutenant Jan Pablo Grijalva, stopping at the mission on his long journey home to San Diego after working to establish Orange County’s first rancho on Santiago Creek. It bore witness to the great festivities surrounding the dedication of the Great Stone Church, serving for years thereafter as the mission’s center of spiritual activities. It witnessed the Acjachemen orchestra playing to a cadre of important individuals in early California, including Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga, Fathers Peyrí, Sanchez, and Zalvidea, and famed rancho family members including the Sepúlvedas, Serranos, Peraltas, and Yorbas. Most tragically, the statue shook in its place above the altar during the morning mass when the two earthquakes struck and brought down some of the domes in the nave of the Great Stone Church, killing forty Acjachemen. It was then likely moved to the Serra Chapel where it continued to serve its spiritual purpose to a new generation of people in the community, including members of the Forster, Pico, Rios, Aguilar, Cañedo, and Pryor families. During the restoration of the mission in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century, it was carefully restored by Luis Meza, known as “Santero.” We are now left to wonder about the various ways it impacted the people and their community. And in the wonder inspired by its continued presence, we can directly connect with the people of our shared past.
Luis Meza (“Santero”) restores some of the mission’s statues in about 1907. Visible in the middle is the likely 1794 statue of St. John of Capistrano, which was purchased at a cost of 58 pesos, 2 reales, and arrived at the mission in 1795. This statue is now missing. (USC Digital Library)
Part 6: The Great Stone Church (A future post)
Part 10: Richard Henry Dana at Dana Point
My Story with Phil Brigandi (1959-2019)