The Mexican artist who has worked for the taste of 3 Popes

Zapopan. The cabinetmaker Agustín Parra Echauri worked for two pontiffs and his third client will soon arrive from the Vatican. In his workshop, artisans carve simple religious designs in wood, preparing chairs, shields and a lectern for the visit of the Pope Francisco to Mexico.

The 55-year-old artist has his workshop in Zapopan, a municipality on the outskirts of the city of Guadalajara (west), where he met Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, who recommended him to the Vatican in 1999. Parra made furniture and pieces of art for the fourth visit of Pope John Paul II in 1999 and for the trip of Benedict XVI in 2012. Now his workshop works hard for the visit of Pope Francisco, which will travel to Mexico City and the states of Mexico (center), Michoacán (west) and Chiapas (south), ending in Ciudad Juárez (north) between February 12 and 17. For Agustín Parra, each of the three popes has a different taste in art and furniture that he likes to use. The eight pieces he makes are inspired by the simple style of the Pope Francisco. Very simple and elegant. Artisans patiently carve the wood of three chairs that will be used in the National Palace during the Pope’s meeting with President Enrique Peña Nieto and his wife, former soap opera actress Angélica Rivera. They will have “an extremely simple finish. Something baroque, with a semi-matte lacquer finish and with a very simple cotton fabric, very simple but very simple and at the same time elegant,” says Parra Echaurri in the workshop full of sculptures of angels, paintings of religious and wooden scenes. “The only difference with the contrasts is that the Vatican coat of arms comes with gold and silver, and inversely with the case of the national coat of arms, which comes with silver and gold,” he adds in an environment that gives off a fresh smell of varnishes and oils. In that workshop, “Baroque pieces were made for John Paul II, mixed with Renaissance and finished in gold leaf. Some mixed with gold and lacquer,” Parra explained. But 13 years later, when Benedict XVI came to Mexico, it was another moment that deserved more contemporary and modern designs, “in a color like bone white and everything completely smooth”. Very proud The visit of Pope Francisco “It’s a pleasant surprise, because this means working for three popes. It’s a great pride for us,” said Parra. “I am very happy to be an official supplier of the Vatican, but knowing that we will create something that will be used by the Holy Father, is a happiness and a commitment that I cannot describe in words,” she added. Priests or members of the Catholic Church are not his only clients; Individuals also invest in the sacred art that he offers. But now the carpenters and cabinetmakers are focused on the pope’s visit. On one side of the workshop, a craftswoman engraves designs on the Vatican coat of arms. In another, a man chisels out a large chair. “Each piece takes time and your complete dedication. The patience and care that we dedicate to it will be reflected in the result,” he pointed out. The façade of the workshop is a gallery in which there are finished pieces including paintings, sculptures, and furniture with “novohispano” art finishes, characteristic of the artist. As an official supplier to the Vatican he has created pieces of sacred art, furniture and paintings. Parra is not the only one, other artisans make pieces for the papal visit in February. Parra made the altar table that was used for the canonization of Juan Diego and a nativity scene that was installed in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The gallery owner boasts of two portraits hanging in his office next to the workshop. In one he is bowing to John Paul II and in the other he is holding Benedict XVI’s hand. “I hope to be able to greet the Pope Francisco. (…) I hope you like the work so I can greet him, see him closely for a moment and take a picture of us, which if possible, will be on this wall, “she commented.

Source: AFP

Source: Elcomercio

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