Bernard L. “Bunny” Fontana has done it again. Just in time to coincide with the funding campaign I recently wrote about, he has come out with a new book on the history of our mission, the latest in a series he has been writing and revising since 1961. It’s called San Xavier del Bac – Portrait of a Desert Church, and it was published by the Southwest Mission Research Center of Tucson, Arizona. It is so hot off the press that it has hardly hit the bookstores yet.
This book is completely up to date, and includes details on the most recent work on the church, as well as a wealth of exciting historical information. We learn the names, dates, and accomplishments of every priest who was in charge of the mission, and we are given a detailed history of the building itself, including the various attempts to conserve and restore it. That narrative ends with text and photographs documenting the need for restoration on the east tower, a project that is just beginning.
Well-written and informative, the text is augmented by a host of illustrations. The very first images of the mission (sketches from 1848 on and photographs beginning in 1867) are reproduced, along with a series showing the changing appearance of the church. One of the real treats is the inclusion of forty superb color photographs by Edward McCain, who did the illustrations for Fontana’s book A Gift of Angels: The Art of Mission San Xavier del Bac. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2010.)
Readers of my recent blogs may remember that I mentioned the accidental discovery in 2013 of faint paintings inside the cockleshell over the central window on the façade. These are illustrated in color on page 66. A word about pagination: although the book has seventy-two numbered pages, additional text appears on the inside of the front cover and both sides of the back cover. Thus, the book is literally crammed with information.
This is indeed a wonderful book about one of our most famous landmarks. It’s highly readable and visually exciting. If you’re at all interested in the mission, I recommend getting a copy. And if it’s a while since you’ve visited San Xavier, go again armed with the information in the book. You’ll look at the old church with new eyes.
San Xavier del Bac: Portrait of a Desert Church is published by the Southwest Mission Research Center of Tucson. It is available at the San Xavier Store and will be distributed by through Rio Nuevo Publications.
