You won’t find any Titians, Rembrandts or Rubens, except for a copy of one Rubens oil painting, but a visit to the new Museo de Arte Sacro [Museum of Sacred Art] in Guadalajara’s city center, is nevertheless enjoyable and a pleasant respite from downtown hubbub.
There is no prominent signage to draw in visitors, but the large museum’s entrance (17 Liceo at the corner of Morelos) is clearly set in the grey cantera stone at the southeast corner of the block that the main cathedral takes up. Inside, the museum’s approximately 12 large and small rooms on 3 1/2 floors house over 200 items and offer a couple of surprisingly charming views of the cathedral’s interior and the adjacent, bustling plazas.
Most items on display now have placards giving specifics, with the notable exception of chalices and other precious-metal items, vestments, and some of the 20th-century portraits. Even I could identify one of these — a portrait of Pope John Paul II, so beloved in Mexico. You might find the style of these portraits more appealing than some of the earlier paintings in the collection.
You also might like, as I did, some of the large crucifixes — wood and marble sculptures of Jesus on the cross in an appealing primitive style. Besides Jesus, you will find the Virgin Mary represented in many pieces, as well as the Holy Family, angels, saints, bishops and God himself in a painting entitled “Padre Eterno.”
Many of the pieces list the artist as “Anonymous,” but a handful of artists are identified, among them the relatively well known Diego de Cuentas, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Miguel Cabrera, as well as Jose Ibarra, Jose Garcia, Jose Castro, Ignacio Derben, Francisco de Leon and Francisco Martinez, among others, many of these from the 17th and 18th centuries.
The museum involves some stair climbing — there is an elevator too — and it is mostly dimly lit, presumably to safeguard the older works of art. In fact, sometimes things get a little spooky, as lights in the dark rooms don’t come on at all until about five seconds after you enter and may go off if you don’t move around. But two or three areas are lit by bright daylight, including the room with precious metal items and those surrounding the building’s central atrium.