Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel

Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel
Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo
Facade of the Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel
Religion
Affiliation	Catholic
Rite	Roman
Location
Municipality	Salvador
State	Bahia
Country	Brazil
Location of the Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel in Brazil
Geographic coordinates	12°58′09″S 38°30′27″W / 12.969201°S 38.507507°W / -12.969201; -38.507507
Architecture
Style	Baroque
Date established	ca. 1644
Completed	1855
National Historic Heritage of Brazil
Designated	1938
Reference no.	82

The Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel (Portuguese: Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo, also known as the Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Monte do Carmo) is an 18th-century Roman Catholic church in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. It is located adjacent to the Church and Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Igreja e Convento de Nossa Senhora do Carmo). Work on the church began in 1644. It was destroyed by fire in 1788 and subsequently rebuilt. The church is a large complex consisting of a nave, chancel, choir, corridors, tribunes, meeting rooms, and a sacristy. The interior was richly decorated in the 18th century; the painting of the ceiling of the nave is the first major work by José Teófilo de Jesus. The Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel was listed as a historic structure by National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) in 1938 and is part of the Historic Center of Salvador UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[1][2][3]

History[]

The Third Order of Mount Carmel was founded in Portugal in 1629, following the establishment of the Carmelites in Portugal in 1251. The Third Order of Mount Carmel in Salvador was established in 1636 in Bahia by Pedro Alves Botelho, a wholesale trader; Pedro da Silva, the governor of Bahia and Count of São Lourenço, was its first prior. Construction of the first church structure began in 1644 with permission from the Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; the land was donated by residents of Salvador. The brotherhood was recognized by a papal bull on December 12, 1695 under the name of "Venerável Ordem Terceira da Mãe Santíssima e Soberana Senhora do Monte do Carmo", or the Venerable Third Order of the Holy Mother and Sovereign Lady of Monte do Carmo. The master woodcarver completed extensive work on the church between 1733 and 1734; he later carved the ornate side altars of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Salvador.^[4][5][2]

The church was destroyed by fire on the night of March 21, 1788. The building was completely destroyed, but numerous images and other artwork were saved or salvaged from the building. The Order began reconstruction of the church in 1788, the same year of the fire, but was delayed by a lack of funds through the 19th century. Work began on the current structure in 1803. Due to lack of funds, its façade in lioz from Portugal was only completed in 1855. A second bell tower was added at the same time; the work continued five years to completion. The interior of the church was richly decorated, and completed at the end of the 19th century. sculpted six scenes of the Passion of Jesus, and José Teófilo de Jesus completed the monumental painting of the nave ceiling. A severe collapse of the cornice of the nave to the chancel arch on September 7, 1882. The church was closed until 1984 for the repair of the choir and side altars.^[1][5][2][3]

Structure[]

View of nave and chancel

Catacombs of the Third Order of Mount Carmel

The Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel sits at the top of Ladeira do Carmo, a street leading north from the main squares of the Pelourinho. It is in close proximity to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament at Rua do Passo. The structure, of brick and stone masonry, is slightly set back from street level and is approached via a large staircase in stone. The structure is built around two courtyards. Its plan is vast in scale and consists of the church and sacristy, an ossuary, a consistory room (casa da mesa), and a house of saints (casa dos santos). The galleries are glazed.^[3]

Exterior[]

The exterior of the church features a staircase, two towers with a frontispiece and pilasters, doorways of lioz stone. The style of the facade is eclectic; it has both Neoclassical elements of the period and Roccoco elements common to other churches in the Pelourinho. The facade is crowned by a cross and a relief of the coat of arms of the Carmelites. The decorative elements of the towers were considered old-fashioned at the time.^[1]

Interior[]

The floor plan of Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel is typical of eighteenth-century Bahian religious architecture. It has a single nave, side altars, side aisles with tribunes, a chancel, and a sacristy. The sacristy provides access to the ossuary in the lower level. The interior of the church is in the Neoclassical style, common to both church architecture in Salvador and across Brazil in the 18th century. The chancel arch is high, with straight columns with capitals. It is white with talha dourado, or gilded woodwork, and surmounted by a small cartouche with the emblem of the Carmelite order. The nave has an organ imported from France. The principal work of the church is cedar carving of Christ inlaid with rubies; the rubies represent 2,000 drops of blood. It is the work of and dates to 1730. The statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the altar is said to be a likeness of Isabel II, daughter of Garcia d'Ávila. Gilding in the nave and chancel was completed by (1831-1902) in the late 19th century; (1848-1904) restored the altar and central images in the same period.^[5][3][6]

Nave ceiling[]

The painting of the ceiling of the nave and gilded woodwork was executed by José Teófilo de Jesus and between 1815 and 1817. The figurative painting consists of a central image, Virgem entregando o escapulário a Santa Teresa e a Santo Elias, da Ordem Carmelitana, cercada de um Coro de arcanjos ("English: Virgin delivering the scapular to St. Teresa and St. Elias, of the Carmelite Order, surrounded by a Choir of Archangels"). The central image is surrounded by medallions featuring Carmelite saints. Teófilo de Jesus hired assistants to complete the gilded woodwork and focused primarily on the painting. The nave ceiling painting of the Church of the Third Order was the artist's first major commission, and led to similar work at the Convent of Bom Jesus dos Perdões and Chapel of Mercy in 1819. The painting was restored in the late 19th century by (1832-1894).^[5][7]

Notable artwork[]

• Apresentação do Menino Jesus no Templo (panel painting in the sacristy), ca. 1730, .
• Nossa Senhora do Carmo entregando o escapulário a Santa Teresa D'Ávila e a São João da Cruz (nave ceiling), ca. 1815-1817, José Teófilo de Jesus
• Senhor Assentado na Pedra, attributed to
• Senhor com a Cruz às Costas, attributed to
• Senhor Crucificado, attributed to ^[6]
• Santo Elias,
• Santa Teresa, José Antônio da Cunha Couto
• A Virgem, José Antônio da Cunha Couto, a reproduction of a painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo^[5]

Protected status[]

The Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel was listed as a historic structure by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage in 1938. It is listed in the Book of Historical Works process no. 82.^[1][3]

Access[]

The church is open to the public and may be visited.

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo, Salvador, Bahia.