When you are a native of the land, you inevitably end up being a guide. From the fastest route to reach the airport, places to visit in Fort Kochi and Mattanchery, and the lowdown on where to get the best seafood – it is assumed that you know it all. And, rightly so. For every textbook guide on India/ Kerala will tell you that you shouldn’t miss what’s left of the Chinese fishing nets, about taking a walk in Jew Town and catching a cultural performance or two. The Santa Cruz Basilica, too, will be on the must-do list. But only a native can tell you of the Italian Jesuit priest, who studied Michelangelo’s repertoire in Rome, and came to Cochin after he was commissioned to paint in churches. And that he died here, too.
The Santa Cruz Basilica, one of the eight basilicas in India, is a beautiful example of gothic architecture with its towering height, lofty spires, pointed arches set against a wood panel at the altar and vaulted ceilings. It also bears the history of colonial conquests, what with it once being an ammunition depot and later being razed to the ground by the British. Also, for the weary traveler, it is an oasis of calm. Whether you plan to lounge on any of the wooden benches to escape the afternoon sun or are simply looking for a place that you can take in at an unhurried pace, this is it.
And it is on one of these leisurely walks inside the church that you will come across fading murals, a Last Supper painting that may bring to mind Leonardo da Vinci, canvases with scenes from Christ’s life fixed to the ceiling and beautiful stained glass windows. Behind all these is a century-old Italian touch. That of Fra Antonio Moscheni, who is supposed to have lived in Fort Kochi between 1903-1905 when he worked on the church.
Fra Antonio Moscheni was born on January 17, 1854 in Stezzano, Italy. His talent for art was detected early and he studied art in a school in Bergamo. He renounced worldly life and became a Jesuit brother. His talent found him as the one deputed to decorate frescoes in churches in Albania and later in India. One of his best works is the St Aloysius chapel in Mangalore where he has covered the ceiling, walls and pillars of the chapel with his excessive baroque style. His other work in India is at the Holy Name Cathedral in Mumbai.
As the rest of the article in The Hindu states, the priest died of dysentry four days before the present basilica was consecrated. He is said to be buried at a Carmelite monastery some kilometers away from Cochin, but no one knows for sure. So then, this native went back to the basilica to take a closer look at some of the enduring frescoes, after reading about him. Knowing better, it was enlightening to identify a baroque touch here and there and to wonder what completed parts of murals that have become invisible over time.
And did I tell you about the basilica’s Latin choir, one of the handful in India? Think Handel’s Hallelujah or the popular Kyrie Eleison.
Organikos 