The Arches
by Jeanette French
Title
The Arches
Artist
Jeanette French
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The Arches photo was taken at one of San Antonios Spanish Missions, Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. Established in 1720, it was known as the Queen of the Missions due to the size and organization of the complex mission complex and the village that served as a major social center that surrounded it. Directed by skilled artisans imported from New Spain, the massive stone Spanish Colonial architecture was actually built by the indigenous residents of the mission.
The Spanish began exploring north of the Rio Grande in the 1600s, crossing into areas inhabited by the Tejas Indians, for whom Texas is named. By the 1700s, New Spain began concentrating more on spreading the Catholic faith among the indigenous peoples through the efforts of the Franciscans fathers. The Franciscans established a chain of missions along the San Antonio River in the 1700s. The first mission in this colonization effort is actually the most well-known today, the Alamo, established in 1718. Two years later, a second mission, San Jose, came into being. Three more missions followed suit in 1731; moved from East Texas where they were failing due to disease, drought and difficult relations with France. These five missions, along with a fort and a settlement flourished between 1747 and 1775. Seventy years later, European diseases, acculturation and intermarriage had decimated the indigenous population. By 1824, the missions were secularized and lands redistributed.
The Coahuiltecans were the peaceful hunter gatherers that lived in the area. Due to their peaceful nature and lifestyle, they were continually preyed upon by their nomadic, warlike neighbors to the north. Many of themalso succumbed to the diseases brought in by the Spanish explorers. These hardships made for little resistance to the Spanish conversion efforts.
Mission life for the indigenous peoples, the Coahuiltecans, was highly structured. The missions bells woke them at sunrise, signaled morning Mass, singing, prayers, religious instruction, meals, work in the fields, forges and buildings, kitchens, gardens. There was only a little free time at the end of a long day.
Jeanette French, paintings, photographs, canvas prints framed prints, metallic prints, acrylic prints, greeting cards, gift cards, fine art.
Creating portals of light, love, joy, beauty, compassion, hope and gratitude is my lifelong passion and gift for the earth, hence the name of my art business, For the Earth. My mother painted in oils when I was young and encouraged my own drawing, painting and handcrafting in all forms. My father, the photographer, gave me my first camera at age 8. As a result of these loving influences, I am a lifelong student of both mediums. I am grateful to my wonderful Pacific NW painter teachers, Stan Capon and Edi Olson, for training my eye and technique. I hope you will enjoy this image as much as I enjoyed its creation. More gifts for the earth can be found at these websites: jeanette-french.artistwebsites.com and jeanette-french.pixels.com.
Uploaded
February 7th, 2015
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