Museum that offers a fascinating exhibition of sacred art and historical treasures inside a colonial convent.
The convent was founded in the 16th century and is the restored "jewel" of the old churches of Lima. In its interior it has Sevillian tiles and carved wood in its halls, such as the Choir, the Library and also the famous Catacombs.
Plazuela San Francisco, corner of Ancash and Lampa Streets.
The attractions of the place are:
The Sacristy of the main temple is one of the jewels of the Franciscan complex. The works of the sacristy were completed in 1730, highlighting its cover, executed in 1729 by Ensign Lucas de Meléndez.
Crossing the door of the convent, a spacious environment is located, with baseboards adorned by tiles, which presents as main attraction a triptych of the Crucified Lord, whose lateral paintings are works of Angelino Medoro. We also find paintings of the Lima school, of great value.
Here, we will find a wooden sculpture of Jesus Crucified; paintings of saints of the Catholic Church, of the Lima school of the XVII century; as well as paintings of the Cusco school, and two paintings in the form of medallion, representing passages of the life of San Francisco Solano, made on the occasion of celebrating his canonization.
It is a large room with a carved wooden ceiling and Sevillian tile baseboards. Here are four paintings by famous artists, depicting Catholic saints.
It is a beautiful quadrilateral patio, surrounded by galleries in the form of semicircular arches, eleven per side, all of them supported by pilasters. The walls are decorated with Sevillian tiles on the baseboard, dating from 1620, the theme of the decorations being Franciscan saints.
Environment where the Franciscans met to celebrate their conventual chapters and to elect a new superior or to deal with matters of main importance. There are two rows of seats with raised backs that surround the room and have in the center, as a union of the two rows, the main chair or tribune, which is crowned by the coat of arms of the Order; In the center is a wood carving in high relief with the image of Fray Juan Duns Scoto, as well as the image of the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the Franciscans, before whom they prayed before holding their meetings, in which many times there were various problems among them, so it was necessary the presence of the viceroy's guard.
Environment where different platforms are preserved for the processions of the saints of the Catholic Church, where we can distinguish the following: one of embossed silver, which is used on the first Sunday of November every year for the procession of the image of St. Jude Thaddeus, another, carved in wood, and covered in gold leaf of fine fretwork and a third, for St. Francis of Assisi, also worked in wood and coated in gold leaf.
This room is dedicated to the exhibition of a collection of eleven canvases of approximately three meters; each one represents the "Passion of Christ" (belonging to the workshop of the great Flemish master Pedro Pablo Rubens), all of them of great execution, color harmony and great expression in their characters.
This room was formerly used as a dining room. Here you can find the famous collection of fifteen canvases representing the Twelve Apostles, Christ the Redeemer, the Virgin Mary and St. Paul, imposing paintings that belong to the Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán.
Here, we appreciate an immense canvas of five by six meters, that represents the genealogical tree of the Franciscan Order, work that dates from 1734.
The most impressive part of this building are the catacombs, which impress more than one as they were the cemetery in colonial times.
Hours of operation Monday to Sunday: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Admission fee
General public: S/ 7.00 Nuevos soles
Students: S/ 3.50 Nuevos soles
Children: S/ 1.00 Nuevos soles.
