This article was made by our partner MUPAPY: Voices of Museums and Cultural Heritage. This week, the text is about the Diocesan Museum. Click here for the last one about the Alberto Del Valle Museum.
In the historic center of San Ignacio Guazú, Misiones, sits the Diocesan Museum of Jesuit-Guaraní Art. It was officially inaugurated in 1978. This cultural space has sculptures carved in wood and polychrome with religious motifs. It dates all the way back to the XVII and XVIII centuries. They were elaborated by Guaraní natives and Jesuit missionaries of the time. This is one of the four Jesuitico-Guaraní museums that can be visited in Misiones. The others are in Santa Maria de Fe, Santa Rosa de Lima and Santiago de Compostela.
Estela Cardozo, current secretary in charge of the Diocesan Museum, and Father David Hernández, the curator, told us that the building used to house the school. The indigenous people there learned carpentry, blacksmithing, metallurgy, masonry, painting, sculpture, and music. It was all in the context of evangelisation through the Jesuit reductions.
Years after the Jesuits’ expulsion from Paraguay in 1767, some of the sculpted works were kept by the settlers. It was kept in their private homes. They were later returned to the Jesuits in 1933, once they returned to the country. It was then placed in the Diocesan Museum.
Museum’s Collection
The Diocesan Museum’s collection is distributed throughout five thematic rooms. In total, it contains more than thirty sculptures. In Room I, “The Creation”, there is a pulpit that was part of the furniture of the temple of a Jesuit reduction. It was where the texts were read, and the priest preached to the faithful. It is one of the many objects included, along with other non-religious objects. In Room II, “Of the Paschal Mystery,” you can find several representations of Christ, and in Room III, “Of the Church”, there are some saints such as Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Dominic of Guzman, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Anne, and Saint Rose of Lima.
The Diocesan Museum next exhibition, in Room IV, “Of the Society of Jesus,” is fascinating as well. It contains a poster showing the origin and expansion of the Jesuits throughout the world. In this room you can see the figures of St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Borgia, St. Francis Xavier, St. Stanislaus of Kotska and the Virgin Mary of the Miracle. And finally, Room V, “Chapel of the Child Jesus Alcalde”, has an altarpiece. It is the figure of the Child Jesus Alcalde, Santa Lucia, and the Virgin of Loreto.
The Diocesan Museum of San Ignacio is known to draw in students from the local community and foreign tourists on important dates such as Easter Week and or the Day of Saint Ignacio himself. It is a proper into the cultural aspect of the Misiones Department. It can help people understand the identity of the city and the people that live there.
Diocesan Museum Opening Hours
The Diocesan Museum is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday. It starts from 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, It closes for lunch and re-open from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM. It also has a library with books for sale on studies related to the museum and the history of the Jesuit reductions in Paraguay.
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 8 AM to 11:30 AM – 2 PM to 5:30 PM
Wednesday: 8 AM to 11:30 AM – 2 PM to 5:30 PM
Thursday: 8 AM to 11:30 AM – 2 PM to 5:30 PM
Friday: 8 AM to 11:30 AM – 2 PM to 5:30 PM
Saturday: 8 AM to 11:30 AM – 2 PM to 5:30 PM
Sunday: 8 AM to 11:30 AM – 2 PM to 5:30 PM
