Sunday, June 14, 2015
Mass in a 16th Century
Monastery, Hitting the Museums and Dinner with Friends
My
new Polish friend Prof. Anna Sobolewska was supposed to accompany me to Sunday
Mass at 10.00 am at the 16th century Monastery of Saint Benedict
(Monaesterio de Sao Bento) and I was delighted at the thought of her company.
But by 8.00 am, she texted me to say that she had to cancel her plans as her
flight was pre-poned and she had not yet packed for departure. This left me to
shower and eat a gargantuan breakfast with the intention of finishing the bits
and bobs in my fridge: cereal with milk, passionfruit yogurt, ham and blue
cheese croissant, papaya, coffee—all while incomprehensible Portuguese TV was
on! Then I took the metro to Urugiana Metro station from where I used my Rio
city map to find my way to the Monastery.
The area was absolutely deserted at
9. 30 am—good job I found out in my guidebook only later that it is ill-advised
to wander the downtown area at the weekends when it is empty as all sorts of
vagrants hang around there and they can be dangerous! Although by this point in
my stay in Rio, I had become accustomed to watching my back (literally), I still
ought not to have gone in search of such a remote church on my own. But search
for it I did! And it was really hard to find—being perched high on a hill with
a winding route I had to climb.
And the reason I chose to hear Sunday
morning Mass at such a remote church was because it was held in an old
Benedictine monastery that is still a working habitat for monks. They monks
sing the Mass at 10.00 am on Sundays using the Gregorian chant. Since I get to
hear this beloved ecclesiastical music only rarely, I wasn’t going to pass up
the opportunity. So there I was! When I finally found the place, I was amazed
at the plain, unadorned exterior of the church that looked like a largeish
house. However, although it was still only 9. 50 and Mass wasn’t going to start
for another 10 minutes, I entered the huge, grand Church doors only to discover
that it was packed to the gills with standing room only!
And what a church it turned out to
be! If there was only one church I would choose to see in Rio, it would be this
one. It was simply Over The Top exuberant. It is the finest example of
Brazilian Baroque in Rio, and you would be well-advised to take along your
sunglasses as there are countless kilos of gold all over the church. Every
single inch of it is strung with carved wooden decoration in the Baroque mode
(faintly reminiscent of my favorite 16th century English wood carver
Sir Grinling Gibbons) that is then completely covered with gold leaf. A few
minutes later, Mass began. I had found a corner in which to stand peacefully
and to observe the Eucharistic celebration and I had a sheet of paper with the
day’s liturgy in Portuguese but which I could easily follow.
A
con-celebrated Mass, it had all the trappings of grandeur—a bevy of impressive-vestmented
priests, a long procession of monks wearing their traditional Benedictine brown
robes, lots of incense floating about the church and rising up to the gilded
altar constructed in the Portuguese tiers with which I was, by then, completely
familiar. I love the drama of the Eucharist in such opulent surroundings with
music (yes, those stirring Gregorian chants were profoundly atmospheric); but
what is heartening when one travels outside the US is how vigorous congregation
response is. The thousands who filled the church were fervent, devout, loud in
their responses, attentive to the proceedings—in every respect, they were
active participants and where the hymns were common ones in Portuguese, they
sang lustily. Just before Mass ended, I crept into the Blessed Sacrament Altar
which is the holiest and most ornate part of this church—ever single inch in
this chapel is covered in pure gold! The church is being lovingly refurbished
and although it dates from 1590 when it was first founded, you would think it
was built yesterday—so fresh and stunning is the interior. I loved every second of it and was gratified
that I took the risk to seek and find this church despite the presumed dangers.
Here is a link to the church website for anyone interested:
http://www.osb.org.br/mosteiro/index.php
It was time to hit the Museum
Mile—Rio has several and had I more time, I would, no doubt, have seen them
all. But I had to make choices and every guidebook had extolled the virtues of
two: the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of National History—so those were
the ones I chose. As luck would have it, entry to both museums is free on
Sundays. Although I expected them to be mobbed, I decided to go on a Sunday
anyway.
It
was about a fifteen minute walk from the Monastery through the heart of Centro
(downtown Rio) to the Museum of Fine Arts—at which point I passed by and
briefly entered the Church of Candelaria—Igrejia de Candelaria. This church
reminds one immediately of the Pantheon in Paris or St. Paul’s Cathedral in
London on the Berliner Dom in Berlin—like all of them, it has a gigantic dome
and twin spires in the front—very different from most of the churches in Rio
that are built in the Portuguese vein, this one is very imposingly
Neo-Classical. Inside, there are paintings, stained glass windows, an ornate
carved pulpit, towering Greek-style Doric pillars, cupolas and interior
domes—all very moving indeed. Lots of tour buses lined the square and the
presence of al lot of folks meant that the church was between Masses. Here is
the website: http://mapadecultura.rj.gov.br/manchete/igreja-da-candelaria
Viewing the Municipal Theater:
I arrived at the lovely
Neo-Classical building of the Museum of Fine Arts at 11. 50 and discovered that
there was one woman waiting at the entrance. Turned out on Sundays, the Museum
does not open until 12 noon. That gave me 10 minutes to survey the lovely area
outside the museum which comprises a beautifully-designed square over which the
Municipal Theater (Theatro Municipal) dominates. This beautiful building was constructed
in 1909 in imitation of Paris’ Opera Garnier as a part of the area to be known
as Cinelandia—a space devoted to the Arts and Culture. Like the Opera Garnier
in Paris, it presents a different scene from each changing perspective. From
the outside itself, I could see how well Baroque influence had been translated
into its design. It has a massive gilded ornament on the towering cupola, Greek
pillars, heavy wrought-iron gates and walls covered with paintings. Guided
tours are offered during the week but alas, none on Sunday. Hence, I missed the
opportunity to peek into one of the most elaborate interiors in Rio. Operas and
other musical compositions continue to be presented here and some of the
world’s best-known performers have graced its stage. After taking many pictures
from varied angles, I returned to the Museum. Here is their website: http://www.theatromunicipal.rj.gov.br/
Finally, at 12 noon, I was given a
free ticket to enter the Museum of Fine Arts and for the next one and a half
hour, by focusing on the main highlights contained within, I acquired a very
comprehensive idea of the collection. It is the pride and joy of Rio and while
it is small by international standards, it contains a very heartening clutch of
works by artists of which I had never heard but who are stars in the Brazilian
cultural firmament. Among the most stirring works I saw were:
1. The
Sculpture Gallery which contains casts of some of the world’s best-known
sculptural works such as the Laocoon
(from the Vatican), the Winged Victory of
Samotrace (from the Louvre) and Michaelangelo’s Prisoner (from the Academia in Venice). Each of these was a joy to
revisit.
2. Victor
Meirelles: The First Mass in Brazil,
painted in 1861 it is an imagined replica of Jesuit priests saying their first
Mass upon landing on Brazilian shores soon after the colonial discovery of the
country.
3. Victor
Meirelles: The Battle of Guararappes.
A huge floor-to-ceiling canvas that has a touching self-portrait of the artist
embedded in it seen wearing a cap with the figure 33 on it.
4. Pedro
America: The Battle of Avai. It is
supposed to be the largest canvas ever painted on an easel. It covers floor to
ceiling of a very large gallery and is deeply impressive.
5. Almeida’s
Arrufos (The Tiff): Not a relative, this 19th century artist depicts
a married couple that is in disagreement. The exaggerated emotion of the
Victorian Age is very amusingly depicted.
There
was a great deal of Modern Art as well, but I very quickly went through it all
as I wished to focus on the work of Brazil’s best-known creators. It was a
wonderful opportunity to discover the richness of the country’s artistic
tradition but also to discover that despite the fact that the museum is free on
Sundays, I was one of no more than 20 people in the entire building. In fact,
the guards outnumbered the patrons! Such
a pity!
Exploring The National History
Museum:
It
was time then to move on to the National History Museum—by this time it was 1.
30 and I was glad for the sandwiches in my bag as not a single restaurant is
open. Brazilians take Sunday rest very seriously, it appears and since the
Museum of Fine Arts has no café, I might have gone hungry had I not carried
food (This is the reason why I always make sure I have snacks like nuts and
protein bars with a bottle of water in my bag when I travel for I never want to
be caught hungry and lacking energy).
Same
story as I attempted to find this museum. Every street was deserted. Although
this is the very center of the city, the fact that it is highly commercial and
surrounded by business high rise buildings means that there is no one around on
Sundays. Following my map, I found it tucked away in a hidden corner and since
it only opened at 2. 00 pm on Sundays, I had a 5-minute wait before I was let
in with about 10 other people.
But
what a brilliant museum it is! From the minute you enter the fort-like
building—a beautifully well-preserved relic of Brazil’s colonial past, you are
swept into a history of the country that is chronologically presented with the
greatest variety of displays. At the end of the day what I discovered about Brazilian
history in under two hours was just astounding. There are basically three
phrases to it: the Pre-Colonial Period with emphasis on Brazil’s indigenous
people (there were a lot of anthropological artifacts here); the Colonial
Period (this was the most extensive as it contained a great amount of detail on
the Portuguese discovery and colonization of Brazil, the moving of the capital
from Lisbon to Rio by Dom Pedro II to escape Napoleon’s takeover of Europe, the
construction of the grand city of Rio in imitation of Baron Hausmann’s Paris.
This portion included the sad history of slavery in Brazil for the Portuguese
brought in slaves from Africa and, as everywhere in the world, treated them in
horrendous fashion. Finally, there were extensive galleries on Post-Colonial
Brazil (the country became independent in 1822 although slavery continued until
1833). Through paintings, dioramas, sculpture,
china, glass, pottery, metal objects, jewelry, costume and clothing, one could
see the entire drama of Brazilian history unfold—and it was terrific. I found
myself fully absorbed and dearly wished to have had more time and energy to
linger.
But,
as can be imagined, by then I was well and truly wilting and had only one goal
in mind—to get back to my apartment for an urgent lie-down. I found the Metro
station after a long uphill trudge and when I was in the darkened cool interior
of my room, I made myself a substantial snack of fruit and yogurt and then fell
upon my bed exhausted and had a long nap. When I awoke, about an hour later, it
was time for me to dress and go out to dinner with my friends—and I looked
forward to the interaction as, being alone, I had not spoken to a soul all day!
When I was ready, I climbed the hill
and in five minutes was in the terrace apartment of my friend Rosana and her
partner Andrew. They had invited me for drinks in their home and before long,
we were joined by Renata, another Professor friend of theirs. Rosana then
elected to make us caprinhas—but this time with a twist. She used fresh passionfruit--pulp
and juice of this extremely flavorful fruit--mixed it with cashaca and voila!
With ice clinking in the glass, it made for a very refreshing drink as we
nibbled on olives, cheese and nuts.
About
an hour later, we left the apartment to go out in search of dinner—they
suggested we take a taxi to the hills of Santa Teresa and within a few minutes,
we hailed one and were in Guimares Square where I had been a couple of nights
previously. In a lovely outdoor patio of a restaurant called Cafecito whose courtyard and
architecture was very reminiscent of Goa or Bungalow
9 in Bombay, we had a delicious Pizza Margarita and one with flash-fried
shrimp that was simply outstanding. What a great group we were—in deference to
me, the conversation was entirely in English and I was struck by the unspoken
agreement to which they came as they considerately wished to include me in it.
It is this sort of sensitivity to the foreigner that I find particularly
heartening when I am traveling and I did appreciate the effort that my friends
made on my behalf.
Soon
it was time to say goodbye and walking down Guimares, we found a taxi before
long. Renata, who lives in Ipanema, jumped into it and dropped me off, three
minutes later, at my building. All that was left then was to check my email
(yes, I finally did have internet connectivity in my apartment!) and get ready
for bed.
Until
tomorrow, ciao!
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