The Old Franciscan Missions Of California Part 20

[Ill.u.s.tration: WALL DECORATIONS ON OLD MISSION CHAPEL OF SAN ANTONIO DE PALA.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARCHES AT GLENWOOD MISSION INN, RIVERSIDE, CALIF.]

Of greater importance, however, than the development of what I regard as a distinct style of architecture, is the development of the Mission _spirit_ in architecture. Copying of past styles is never a proof of originality or power. The same spirit that led to the creation of the Mission Style,--the creative impulse, the originality, the vision, the free, imaginative power, the virility that desires expression and demands objective manifestation,--_this_ was fostered by the Franciscan architects. This spirit is in the California atmosphere. A considerable number of architects have caught it. Without slavish adherence to any style, without copying anything, they are creating, expressing, even as did the Franciscan padres, beautiful thoughts in stone, brick, wood and reinforced concrete. In my _magnum opus_ on _Mission Architecture_, which has long been in preparation, I hope clearly to present not only the full details of what the padres accomplished, but what these later creative artists, impelled by the same spirit, have given to the world.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV

THE GLENWOOD MISSION INN

It is an incontrovertible fact that no great idea ever rests in its own accomplishment. There are offshoots from it, ideas generated in other minds entirely different from the original, yet dependent upon it for life. For instance, which of the Mission fathers had the faintest conception that in erecting their structures under the adverse conditions then existing in California, they were practically originating a new style of architecture; or that in making their crude and simple chairs, benches and tables they were starting a revolution in furniture making; or that in caring for and entertaining the few travelers who happened to pa.s.s over _El Camino Real_ they were to suggest a name, an architectural style, a method of management for the most unique, and in many respects the most attractive hotel in the world. For such indeed is the Glenwood Mission Inn, at Riverside, California, at this present time.

This inn is an honest and just tribute to the influence of the Old Mission Fathers of California, as necessary to a complete understanding of the far-reaching power of their work as is _El Camino Real_, the Mission Play, or the Mission Style of architecture. After listening to lectures on the work of the Franciscan padres and visiting the Missions themselves, its owners, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Miller, humanely interested in the welfare of the Mission Indians, collectors of the handicrafts of these artistic aborigines, and students of what history tells us of them, began, some twenty-five years ago, to realize that in the Mission idea was an ideal for a modern hotel. Slowly the suggestion grew, and as they discussed it with those whose knowledge enabled them to appreciate it, the clearer was it formulated, until some ten or a dozen years ago time seemed ripe for its realization. Arthur B. Benton, one of the leading architects of Southern California, formulated plans, and the hotel was erected. Its architecture conforms remarkably to that of the Missions. On Seventh Street are the arched corridors of San Fernando, San Juan Capistrano, San Miguel and San Antonio de Padua; inside is an extensive patio and the automobiles stop close to the Campanile reproducing the curved pediments of San Gabriel. On the Sixth Street side is the _fachada_ of Santa Barbara Mission, and over the corner of Sixth and Orange Streets is the imposing dome of San Carlos Borromeo in the Carmelo Valley, flanked by b.u.t.tresses of solid concrete, copies of those of San Gabriel.

The walls throughout are ma.s.sive and unbroken by any other lines than those of doors, windows and eaves, and the roofs are covered with red tiles. In the Bell Tower a fine chime of bells is placed the playing of which at noon and sunset recalls the matins and vespers of the Mission days.

Within the building, the old Mission atmosphere is wonderfully preserved. In the Cloister Music Room the windows are of rare and exquisite stained gla.s.s, showing St. Cecilia, the seats are cathedral stalls of carved oak; the rafters are replicas of the wooden beams of San Miguel, and the balcony is copied from the chancel rail of the same Mission. Mission sconces, candelabra, paintings, banners, etc., add to the effect, while the floor is made in squares of oak with mahogany parquetry to remind the visitor of the square tile pavements found in several of the old Missions.

Daily--three times--music is called forth from the cathedral organ and harp, and one may hear music of every type, from the solemn, stately harmonies of the German choral, the crashing thunders of Bach's fugues and Pa.s.sion music, to the light oratorios, and duets and solos of Pergolesi.

By the side of the Music Room is the Cloistered Walk, divided into sections, in each of which some distinctive epoch or feature of Mission history is represented by mural paintings by modern artists of skill and power. The floor is paved with tiles from one of the abandoned Missions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOWER, FLYING b.u.t.tRESSES, ETC., GLENWOOD MISSION INN, RIVERSIDE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARCHES OVER THE SIDEWALK, GLENWOOD MISSION INN, RIVERSIDE, CALIF.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RESIDENCE OF FRED MAIER, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WASHINGTON SCHOOL, VISALIA, CALIF.]

Beyond is the Refectorio, or dining-room of an ancient Mission, containing a collection of kitchen and dining utensils, some of them from Moorish times. It has a stone ceiling, groined arches, and harvest festival windows, which also represent varied characters, scenes, industries and recreations connected with old Mission life.

Three other special features of the Mission Inn are its wonderful collection of crosses, of bells, and the Ford paintings. Any one of these would grace the halls of a national collection of rare and valuable antiques. Of the crosses it can truthfully be said that they form the largest and most varied collection in the world, and the bells have been the subject of several articles in leading magazines.

The Ford paintings are a complete representation of all the Missions and were made by Henry Chapman Ford, of Santa Barbara, mainly during the years 1880-1881, though some of them are dated as early as 1875.

The Glenwood Mission Inn proved so popular that in the summer and fall of 1913 two new wings were added, surrounding a Spanish Court. This Court has cloisters on two sides and cloistered galleries above, and is covered with Spanish tile, as it is used for an open air dining-room.

One of the new wings, a room 100 feet long by 30 feet wide, and three stories high, with coffered ceiling, is a Spanish Art Gallery. Here are displayed old Spanish pictures and tapestries, many of which were collected by Mr. Miller personally on his European and Mexican trips.

At the same time the dining-room was enlarged by more than half its former capacity, one side of it looking out through large French windows on the cloisters and the court itself. This necessitated the enlargement of the kitchen which is now thrown open to the observation of the guests whenever desired.

Taking it all in all, the Glenwood Mission Inn is not only a unique and delightful hostelry, but a wonderful manifestation of the power of the Franciscan friars to impress their spirit and life upon the commercial age of a later and more material civilization.

CHAPTER x.x.xV

THE INTERIOR DECORATIONS OF THE MISSIONS

We cannot to-day determine how the Franciscans of the Southwest decorated the interiors of all their churches. Some of these buildings have disappeared entirely, while others have been restored or renovated beyond all semblance of their original condition. But enough are left to give us a satisfactory idea of the labors of the fathers and of their subject Indians. At the outset, it must be confessed that while the fathers understood well the principles of architecture and created a natural, spontaneous style, meeting all obstacles of time and place which presented themselves, they showed little skill in matters of interior decoration, possessing neither originality in design, the taste which would have enabled them to become good copyists, nor yet the slightest appreciation of color-harmony. In making this criticism, I do not overlook the difficulties in the way of the missionaries, or the insufficiency of materials at command. The priests were as much hampered in this work as they were in that of building. But, in the one case, they met with brilliant success; in the other they failed. The decorations have, therefore, a distinctly pathetic quality. They show a most earnest endeavor to beautify what to those who wrought them was the very house of G.o.d. Here mystically dwelt the very body, blood, and reality of the Object of Worship. Hence the desire to glorify the dwelling-place of their G.o.d, and their own temple. The great distance in this case between desire and performance is what makes the result pathetic. Instead of trusting to themselves, or reverting to first principles, as they did in architecture, the missionaries endeavored to reproduce from memory the ornaments with which they had been familiar in their early days in Spain. They remembered decorations in Catalonia, Cantabria, Mallorca, Burgos, Valencia, and sought to imitate them; having neither exact.i.tude nor artistic qualities to fit them for their task. No amount of kindliness can soften this decision. The results are to be regretted; for I am satisfied that, had the fathers trusted to themselves, or sought for simple nature-inspirations, they would have given us decorations as admirable as their architecture. What I am anxious to emphasize in this criticism is the principle involved.

Instead of originating or relying upon nature, they copied without intelligence. The rude brick, adobe, or rubble work, left in the rough, or plastered and whitewashed, would have been preferable to their unmeaning patches of color. In the one, there would have been rugged strength to admire; in the other there exists only pretense to condemn.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OLD ALTAR AT THE CHAPEL OF SAN ANTONIO DE PALA.

Showing original wall decorations prized by the Indians.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALTAR AND INTERIOR OF CHAPEL OF SAN ANTONIO DE PALA, AFTER REMOVAL OF WALL DECORATIONS PRIZED BY INDIANS.]

After this criticism was written I asked for the opinion of the learned and courteous Father Zephyrin, the Franciscan historian. In reply the following letter was received, which so clearly gives another side to the matter that I am glad to quote it entire:

"I do not think your criticism from an artistic view is too severe; but it would have been more just to judge the decorations as you would the efforts of amateurs, and then to have made sure as to their authors.

"You a.s.sume that they were produced by the padres themselves.

This is hardly demonstrable. They probably gave directions, and some of them, in their efforts to make things plain to the crude mind of the Indians, may have tried their hands at work to which they were not trained any more than clerical candidates or university students are at the present time; but it is too much to a.s.sume that those decorations give evidence even of the taste of the fathers. In that matter, as in everything else that was not contrary to faith or morals, they adapted themselves to the taste of their wards, or very likely, too, to the humor of such stray 'artists' as might happen upon the coast, or whom they might be able to import.

You must bear in mind that in all California down to 1854 there were no lay-brothers accompanying the fathers to perform such work as is done by our lay-brothers now, who can very well compete with the best of secular artisans. The church of St. Boniface, San Francisco, and the church of St.

Joseph, Los Angeles, are proof of this. Hence the fathers were left to their own wits in giving general directions, and to the taste of white 'artists,' and allowed even Indians to suit themselves. You will find this all through ancient Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The Indians loved the gaudy, loud, grotesque, and as it was the main thing for the fathers to gain the Indians in any lawful way possible, the taste of the latter was paramount.

"As your criticism stands, it cannot but throw a slur upon the poor missionaries, who after all did not put up these buildings and have them decorated as they did for the benefit of future critics, but for the instruction and pleasure of the natives. Having been an Indian missionary myself, I acted just so. I have found that the natives would not appreciate a work of art, whereas they prized the grotesque. Well, as long as it drew them to prize the supernatural more, what difference did it make to the missionary? You yourself refer to the unwise action of the Pala priest in not considering the taste and the affection of the Indians."

Another critic of my criticism insists that, "while the Indians, if left to themselves, possess harmony of color which seems never to fail, they always demand startling effects from us." This, I am inclined to question. The Indians' color-sense in their basketry is perfect, as also in their blankets, and I see no reason for the a.s.sumption that they should demand of us what is manifestly so contrary to their own natural and normal tastes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALTAR AND CEILING DECORATIONS, MISSION SANTA INeS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF MISSION SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS, SHOWING MURAL AND CEILING DECORATIONS.]

It must, in justice to the padres, be confessed that, holding the common notions on decoration, it is often harder to decorate a house than it is to build it; but why decorate at all? The dull color of the natural adobe, or plaster, would have at least been true art in its simple dignity of architecture, whereas when covered with unmeaning designs in foolish colors even the architectural dignity is detracted from.

One writer says that the colors used in these interior decorations were mostly of vegetable origin and were sized with glue. The yellows were extracted from poppies, blues from nightshade, though the reds were gained from stones picked up from the beach. The glue was manufactured on the spot from the bones, etc., of the animals slaughtered for food.

As examples of interior decoration, the Missions of San Miguel Arcangel and Santa Ines are the only ones that afford opportunity for extended study. At Santa Clara, the decorations of the ceiling were restored as nearly like the original as possible, but with modern colors and workmanship. At Pala Chapel the priest whitewashed the mural distemper paintings out of existence. A small patch remains at San Juan Bautista merely as an example; while a splashed and almost obliterated fragment is the only survival at San Carlos Carmelo.

At San Miguel, little has been done to disturb the interior, so that it is in practically the same condition as it was left by the padres themselves. Fr. Zephyrin informs me that these decorations were done by one Murros, a Spaniard, whose daughter, Mrs. McKee, at the age of over eighty, is still alive at Monterey. She told him that the work was done in 1820 or 1821. He copied the designs out of books, she says, and none but Indians a.s.sisted him in the actual work, though the padres were fully consulted as it progressed.

At Santa Barbara all that remains of the old decorations are found in the reredos, the marbleizing of the engaged columns on each wall and the entrance and side arches. This marble effect is exceedingly rude, and does not represent the color of any known marble.

In the old building of San Francisco the rafters of the ceiling have been allowed to retain their ancient decorations. These consist of rhomboidal figures placed conventionally from end to end of the building.

At Santa Clara, when the church was restored in 1861-1862, and again in 1885, the original decorations on walls and ceiling were necessarily destroyed or injured. But where possible they were kept intact; where injured, retouched; and where destroyed, replaced as near the original as the artist could accomplish. In some cases the original work was on canvas, and some on wood. Where this could be removed and replaced it was done. The retouching was done by an Italian artist who came down from San Francisco.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF MISSION SAN MIGUEL FROM THE CHOIR GALLERY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARCHES, SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY DEPOT, SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FACHADA OF MISSION CHAPEL AT LOS ANGELES.]

On the walls, the wainscot line is set off with the sinuous body of the serpent, which not only lends itself well to such a purpose of ornamentation, but was a symbolic reminder to the Indians of that old serpent, the devil, the father of lies and evil, who beguiled our first parents in the Garden of Eden.

In the ruins of the San Fernando church faint traces of the decorations o the altar can still be seen in two simple rounded columns, with cornices above.