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The Most Expensive Chapel In The World Meet Contemporary Sculpture

Miguel A. Rodrigues, joins his artistic creations with the historic locals of Portugal, in a project he called Sapiens Atelier. Within this project, a set of sculptures is a being built around the reign of King D. João V. Within this project’s, sculptures were created for the National Coach Museum, the Joanine Library of the University of Coimbra and now for the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist of the Church of Saint Roque.

The sculpture made for the chapel of St. John the Baptist was called “Nous sommes poussière” (We are dust), a name adopted from an excerpt of Padre António Vieira sj. In aesthetic terms, there was an attempt to incorporate the mosaics that cover the chapel, thinking from a contemporary and hyperbaroque perspective. Its shape reflects the baroque scope and wind movements characteristics of this style.

The Chapel of Saint John the Baptist of the Church of Saint Roque was commissioned by D. João V to the roman architects Luigi Vanvitelli and Nicola Salvi (architect of the Trevi fountain), in 1740 and supervised in Portugal by João Ludovice. Built in Rome, where it was partially assembeled so that Pope Benedict XIV could celebrate Mass there, it was later dismantled and sent to Lisbon where it would be reassembled in the place that was attributed to it in the Mother Church of the Company of Jesus (Church of S. Roque).

The extraordinary richness of this chapel comes not only from its materials: lapis lazuli, agate, ancient green, Carrara marble, amethyst, purple porphyry, black-white from France, diaspora, jade, ivory and others, but also comes from all the liturgical vestments and jewelry that were ordered for her. The number of pieces in gold, in silver gold as well as gold embroidered fabrics is so high that it led to the creation of the current Museum of S. Roque. To give an idea, Dom João V, at the same time that he ordered the chapel, he also bought the Belém palace and two adjoining farms, only one of the banqueta (set of candlesticks and cross on the step of the altar) of this set would have been more expensive than the palace and the two farms. As if all these orders weren’t prodigious enough, the “paintings” on the walls, which are actually mini-mosaics, are only comparable in size to those of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

More info: miguel-rodrigues.com