Mission San Jose
by Lianne Schneider
Title
Mission San Jose
Artist
Lianne Schneider
Medium
Photograph - Digital Painting/photographic Art
Description
The legacy and history of San Antonio and this region began with a simple ceremony when...
in 1718 Franciscans and Spanish representatives established the first mission. Within 13 years, five were located along the San Antonio River. The missions' purpose? To acculturate and Christianize the native population and make them Spanish citizens. Today, visitors can retrace the footsteps of the mission Indians and friars. And, possibly, meet descendants of those first inhabitants.
Pictured here is Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo -
Known as the "Queen of the Missions", this is the largest of the missions and was almost fully restored to its original design in the 1930s by the WPA (Works Projects Administration). Spanish missions were not churches, but communities, with the church the focus. Mission San Jose shows the visitor how all the missions might have looked over 250 years ago.
Founded in 1720, the mission was named for Saint Joseph and the Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo, the governor of the Province of Coahuila and Texas at the time. It was built on the banks of the San Antonio river several miles to the south of the earlier mission, San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo). Its founder was the famed Father Antonio Margil de Jesus, a very prominent Franciscan missionary in early Texas.
San Jose, as it became known, was the largest of the missions in the area. At its height, the community contained about 350 Indian neophytes, sustained by extensive fields and herds of livestock. Viewed as the model among the Texas missions, San Jose gained a reputation as a major social and cultural center. It became known as the "Queen of the Missions." Its imposing complex of stone walls, bastions, granary, and magnificent church was completed by 1782.
So rich an enterprise was a natural target for Apache and Comanche depredations. Although they could not prevent raids on their livestock, the mission itself was almost impregnable. In his journal, Fray Juan Agustin Morfu attested to its defensive character: "It is, in truth, the first mission in America . . . in point of beauty, plan, and strength . . . there is not a presidio along the entire frontier line that can compare with it." The danger was when working the fields or during travel to and from the ranch or other missions. With technical help from the two presidial soldiers garrisoned there, San Jose residents learned to defend themselves. Already proficient with bow and arrow, the men also learned the use of guns and cannon.
Mission San Jose has become a lasting symbol throughout the centuries for the Spanish mission frontier in Texas.
Having fallen into disrepair and partial ruin over the years, the San Antonio Conservation Society and the Federal Government among others, undertook to restore portions of the mission community in the 1920s and 1930s. The church, which had lost its dome, bell tower, and a wall, was rededicated in 1937.
In 1941, Mission San Jose was declared a State Historic Site, and later that same year, a National Historic Site. When the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was established in November 1978, the Spanish colonial mission was assured of protection in cooperation with the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the parish.
History courtesy of the San Antonio National Park Service.
Image is a composite of a background image in the public domain by the NPS/E.Dupree and my own superimposed capture of the mission itself.
Copyright Lianne Schneider 2014
This is a rights managed image available for licensing at http://licensing.pixels.com/profiles/lianne-schneider.html
All images and my personal poetry/prose are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced, downloaded, distributed, transmitted, copied, reproduced in derivative works, displayed, published or broadcast by any means or in any form without prior written consent from the artist. My copyright does not imply rights to an underlying public domain image and I make no such claim. Copyright on works derived from or based on images in the public domain applies only to the subsequent manipulation or the digital painting resulting from my own style and interpretation. The original image remains in the public domain and such images are used in accordance with international law.
Uploaded
March 24th, 2012
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Viewed 1,307 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/27/2024 at 9:22 AM
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Comments (38)
Tessa Fairey
Outstanding artwork Lianne! You have created a Masterpiece! I have visited San Antonio many times but am ashamed to admit I have never visited the mission! This is definitely on my bucket list! v/f
Roger Wedegis
Beautiful piece. Nice work with the texture! v/f
Lianne Schneider replied:
Thanks so much Roger - this was a texture effect that was new to me so I'm very glad you liked it.
Cindy Lee Longhini
Lianne, I love this one, too, the lighting is wonderful and your treatment of the photo is magical, it looks like canvas! Very, very nice image. v/f
Lianne Schneider replied:
How lovely of you to say Cindy Lee - that just means the world to me. Thank you.
Ann Horn
Wonderful work of art, Lianne. I especially like the long shadow on the lawn and the birds flying in the sky.
Lianne Schneider replied:
Thank you so much Ann - it pleases me no end that you like this - I can imagine the wonders you could do with this light.
Joyce Dickens
Lianne my friend, your work is so incredible - the great thing about this is that it makes me feel as if I am right there, standing in front of this magnificent structure and being embraced by all the souls that love this place - I can only imagine how many there must be. This is just spectacular work sweetheart! jd
Lianne Schneider replied:
What an amazingly lovely thing to say dear Joyce. I can't imagine a nicer compliment - and I wish you HAD been standing there with me! You would love it as much as I do!
Blair Stuart
Excellent work Lianne, love the processing effects. Well done, v/f
Lianne Schneider replied:
Thank you so much Blair - gosh it just means so much to me that you say such lovely things.
Laurie Search
How fabulous this is, dear Lianne!!! Truly beautiful work!!!
Lianne Schneider replied:
San Antonio is one of my favorite cities and the missions a special place to go. Thank you so much Laurie.
Aimelle ML
beautiful work and love the linen texture too Lianne! the details are fantastic!
Lianne Schneider replied:
Thank you so much Aimelle - I'm so pleased that you like it! One of my favorite places.
Marie Jamieson
Just Lovely! f/v/l and featured in Must Create Art! Thank you for submitting this!!
Lianne Schneider replied:
Thank you so very much Marie - I'm just so very honored by this. And by your lovely comment as well.
Odd Jeppesen
Beautiful work. As always, you're post-processing feels just right.
Lianne Schneider replied:
You're so incredibly kind Odd - that's such a lovely compliment. Thank you.
Bob Orsillo
Lianne - this is such a captivating image. I love the texture and the edges. .. v/f
Lianne Schneider replied:
Thank you so much Bob - I just love San Antonio and the missions are especially lovely to visit. So glad you liked this!
Mary Timman
Oh this is tremendous... what a gorgeous piece of archetecture and your texture technique is awesome. f/v
Lianne Schneider replied:
Oh it's a beautiful place Mary - and I'm so glad you like the treatment. Thank you!