Glorious Mystery #4

The Fourth Glorious Mystery on the Calzada de los Misterios depicts The Assumption of Mary. The mystery depicted here concerns the events surrounding the ascension of the Mother of God, body and soul, into the sky and heaven.

The Theme in Christian art traces back to the fourth century but became especially prominent after the 12th as Marion devotion grew in its following and influence. With the Counter-Reformation and Baroque art, the Assumption became an especially important argument for the role of the Virgin Mary in personal salvation. The theme of Mary being assumed into heaven was depicted famously by Caravaggio, El Greco, Rubens, and many others.

This monument is the penultimate in the series of 15 Mysteries of the Rosary, and the last of the seven reproductions. Eight of the monuments were completed in the late 17th century based on designs by architect Cristóbal de Medina Vargas. But seven were lost in the 19th century. The missing seven were only replaced in 1999 and today they help to make the route into one of the most important pilgrimage routes in Mexico. For secular strollers, it’s a wonderful walk too.

The monument to the fourth Glorious Mystery is just one block west of Metro La Villa – Basilica which opens onto the Calzada de Guadalupe. That later thoroughfare was opened only after the 15 monuments had stood along the Calzada de Misterios for some 100 years. In fact, the route itself  dates from a 15th-century waterworks completed by the Emperor Nezahualcoyotl.

Just north of the Avenida Ricarte, the artwork on the monument is among the clearest and most compelling of those displayed in the long journey northward from the Pilgrims Monument. If you’ve come this far, there’s only one more to go.