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MORA CHAPEL MUSEUM
This room of the Convento of Carmel Mission Museum
was rebuilt as a memorial chapel in the years 1921-1924 in order to house the
massive memorial tomb or sarcophagus dedicated to the mission’s founder, Blessed
Junipero Serra..
The original conception for this monument in the mind of the sculptor Jo Mora
and the monument’s promoter, Rev. Msgr. Ramón Mestres was for the sculpture to
follow the custom in many European churches of constructing a freestanding
sculptural catafalque (symbolic tomb) to rest above the grave of the deceased.
In other words, even though the monument would be construct in the form of a
sculptural stone or bronze casket, the actual grave was located below the
ensemble.
 The first plan put forward
by Jo Mora was for a smaller monument portraying Serra as he appeared in death,
resting above the lid of symbolic casket carved with the figures of St. Anthony
of Padua, St. Charles Borromeo and St. Francis of Assisi. This memorial would
have actually been located above the grave of Serra in the sanctuary of the
Mission church. Jo Mora made plaster mock-ups (maquettes), actual size as they
would appear and a sort of model was put together to get a sense of how it
would appear in the sanctuary. Both the artist and Msgr. Mestres felt that it
used up a great deal of the very limited altar area and that perhaps a separate
chapel connected to the church could be constructed to hold the monument along
with space where memorial Masses on Serra’s anniversary of death (August 28th),
could be held yearly. The smaller “tomb” idea was shelved along with the
bas-reliefs that Mora made for the original version. These sculptures were not
lost however as the bas-relief figures of the three saints later were
incorporated into the large crucifix that had already been carved for the altar
of the room, and the recumbent figure of the “dead” Serra became the centerpiece
of the Serra Monument at the entrance to the City of Carmel, just off Highway 1
and Serra Street.
 Mestres then decided that
the new memorial chapel would be the best way of launching his ambitious plan
for restoration of the entire Mission compound and the site of the Grand Sala (Reception Room) outside the front of the church was chosen at the site. Mestres
believed the Serra Chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano
would provide an ideal model as it was the only building left in California
where it could be proven that Serra had celebrated Mass in.
A temporary workshop was erected in the center of the ruins of the great
quadrangle for Mora to work and while he labored on the life-sized clay models
which would be sent to the East Coast for casting, workmen were brought in to
make adobes for not only this new chapel but for a small rectory where a priest
could stay on weekends when he came over the hill from Monterey to celebrate Mass in
Carmel.
 Mora finally unveiled his
new version of the memorial for the critical approval of his patron, Msgr.
Mestres, and the new format included larger than life figures of the three padres
who also were interred below the sanctuary of the church. These sculptures
surrounded a renaissance-style tomb (to be carved of stone) showing scenes from
the ‘conquest’ in California as well as plaques with images of the reigning Pope
and monarch at the time of Serra. As in the original version, the top of the
casket would show Serra in death, but the new conception at the infant bear cub
at his feet symbolizing the young state of California.
Work on the permanent components then proceeded with Mestres' enthusiastic
blessing. The stone portions of the monument were to be carved directly from
Mora’s clay maquettes for them by the Italian sculptor, Thomas Corsini. The
statues of the four padres were then carefully packed and taken over the hill to
the railway station in Monterey
where they departed for a bronze foundry in New York State. Meanwhile the walls of the chapel rose and were roofed in time for the assembly
of the monument to begin to take place.
While Monsignor Mestres had intended to actually move the earthly remains of
Serra to be place inside the casket chamber of the stone base, this never took
place due to the sentiment of parishioners and devotees of Serra who felt he
should remain below the floor of the main altar area.
Early in 1924, the massive bronze figures returned to Mora’s workshop in the
mission courtyard and the painstaking process of adding the antique patina was
undertaken to give the sculptures the feeling of antique bronzes.
On September 24th,
1924, throngs of
spectators and the faithful gathered for an impressive dedication ceremony
attended by the Spanish Ambassador from Washington, D.C.
This room kept its chapel-like appearance until the late 1930’s when it took the
form of a museum display (and small gift-shop area under the choir loft). As
artifacts began to be gathered as a nucleus of a museum, more display cases
continued to be added along the walls until finally when the Diocesan Bishop,
Most Rev. Phillip Scher agreed to the return of the original altar-silver
service, the small sanctuary area was glassed-in by Curator Harry Downie to
safeguard the precious artifacts.
Although Monsignor
Mestres did not live to see his dream of restoring the Carmel Mission according
to the plans drawn by Jo Mora, this initial construction began a near
half-century of rebuilding that was continued by Harry Downie who continued the
work of restoration under the Carmel Mission again assumed its original lines
and appearance.
by Sir Richard Joseph Menn, G.C. St.G.G.
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