Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria
Baroque colonial church whose altarpiece once held a ruined master painter's last redemptive work.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria in Bogotá follows Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos, once the most celebrated painter in the viceroyalty of New Granada, into disgrace after he helped a woman slip out of the Santa Clara convent to run off with her lover in 1701. You'll hear how he fled disguised as a friar, hid in a mountain monastery, and returned years later, poor and said to have lost his mind, to attempt one last painting for this altar. The plaque marking his house still stands just steps from where you're standing.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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