The mural developed by Ramos Alderete takes as a reference the chromatic range used in the rest of the church, so it covers both chapels with gold leaf, thus creating a more intimate, dark and introspective atmosphere. Each chapel represents a sacrament through a series of lines or strokes painted directly on the gold leaf, differentiated by the blue or purple colour depending on the sacrament.
The colour strokes on the gold leaf are presented as a repetition of vertical movement strokes that together give character to the common golden background, with each line represented by the hand-drawn lines being unique. These strokes reflect the rain of grace in each of its forms, preparing the users for the Eucharistic encounter.
Mural paintings for the Chapels of Baptism and Penance in the University Church of the UFV by Ramos Alderete. Photograph by Amores Pictures.
Project description by Ramos Alderete
Ramos Alderete was commissioned to create the decorative art for the Chapels of Penance and Baptism in the new church of the Francisco de Vitoria University. The chapels, semicircular and open to the nave, are located at the entrance to the church, opposite the altarpiece, and are symmetrical. The proposed artwork had to be consistent with the symbolism of the chapels and the atmosphere suggested by the newly built church.
The starting point is the existing church space and the ideas that have shaped it. This leads to a series of strategic choices that work with the same elements that have shaped the rest of the space: the existing gold leaf on the altarpiece, or the idea of the particular and the collective, the singular and the universal that dominates the architectural choices of the church.
The sacramental places of the existing church are covered in gold leaf with the visible quartering. In addition, the colour palette of the church is well defined. The first decision was therefore to cover the chapels with gold leaf, in keeping with the rest of the space. Unlike the existing altarpiece or the Blessed Sacrament chapel, the new chapels have a more closed circular geometry, so that the gold leaf reflects on itself, giving it a more intimate, darker, introspective tone. The position of the chapels, at the entrance and in front of the altar, establishes a direct relationship with the altarpiece. Each chapel, like the sacrament it represents, has its own particular nuance, created by a series of lines or strokes painted directly on the gold leaf, differentiated by the colour blue or violet, depending on the sacrament.
These lines, the rain of grace in Baptism, the purple tears in Penance, are presented as a repetition of vertical strokes that give character to the common gold background. The gesture or the hand makes each line special and fills the background with subtle action. The scale of the line is the scale of the stroke of the hand. This operation, painting on gold leaf, gives rise to a vibration that works with the same idea of the UFV chapel: the personal and the communal, the universal Church and the particular Churches. Ideally, each stroke could be made by one person.
The idea of rain or tears is consistent with its position in the church, at the entrance to the temple: Sacraments necessary to enter into readiness. Thus the rain of grace, in each of its forms and on each of us, prepares us for the Eucharistic encounter. The line is free in its vertical axis, but everything begins and ends in a strict order. This gives rise to movements and vibrations, like a wind that sweeps the lines, but always in a higher pentagram, which at the same time refers to the general invocation of the Temple, "Seat of Wisdom". The density and transparency of the paintings and the subtle variations in tone create a space that changes according to the light and the position, always allowing us to speak of something that escapes, of transcendent ideas that cannot be captured.
