My two favorite things on the facade are the ginormous volute scrolls between the two bell towers. So awesome! I also love all of the broken (Baroque-en!) pediments that decorate the tops of the windows. The three statues that cover the portals are the saints Ignacio, Francisco de Borja and Francisco Xavier.
The nave ceiling with the Jesuit emblem. I love the gilded, elaborate carvings.
Nave facing the shallow capela-mor and side altars. It is possible that the statue of Christ (above the main altar) is the largest wooden statue in Brazil.
Detail of the ceiling in the capela-mor
You can see a virtual tour of the Salvador cathedral here.
I'm still doing research on this cathedral, particularly to verify a few things. I read online that the interior carvings were performed by slaves, and some of the altarpieces are decorated with Candomblé symbols.1 As of yet, I haven't found any printed or scholarly material that supports this idea. But it's interesting and entirely possible; I'll add something in the comment section of this post if I ever find more information. Maybe I'll just have to fly down to Brazil and examine the altars myself...
I'm still doing research on this cathedral, particularly to verify a few things. I read online that the interior carvings were performed by slaves, and some of the altarpieces are decorated with Candomblé symbols.1 As of yet, I haven't found any printed or scholarly material that supports this idea. But it's interesting and entirely possible; I'll add something in the comment section of this post if I ever find more information. Maybe I'll just have to fly down to Brazil and examine the altars myself...
P.S. If you want to research Brazilian architecture, I wouldn't recommend History of South American Colonial Art and Architecture (Damián Bayón and Murillo Marx, 1989). It is the most confusing, boring, and poorly edited textbook that I've come across. Then again, there aren't too many books available on this subject. Sigh. I'm just going to have to write a new survey textbook one day...
1 Candomblé is a religion-philosophy that is concentrated in Salvador. It has roots in African mysticism but also has been influenced by Catholicism (largely because African slaves were adopted/forced into the Catholic church by their owners). There are many similarities between the African deities and Catholic saints.
