Yes, "hideous" is a good adjective to describe it.
Hi Crissy,
The word hideous is like a magnet drawing one to investigate more thoroughly. Quasimodo outwardly hideous but inwardly noble. Why is that?
So the comments have led me to find the basilica’s website which details history, art and administration. There are some highly evocative works of art that are unique to the way. Here is the link.
virgendelcamino.dominicos.es
The footprint of the basilica is not pleasing to the eye like the soaring gothic structures, but the website explains it is box-like to represent the tomb of our Lord. Mother church with us from womb to tomb.
The centerpiece of the fantastic retablo is a Pieta, which I admire as the most sublime evocative motif that captures the love of all mothers for their children, and especially for those children killed in warfare for justice, as Jesus died fighting for his truth. Some think we worship statues like this, but it is the deep feelings which they evoke that we treasure, feelings too foreign to our mundane life to access without the prompting from the art.
The hideous sculptures on the facade are reminiscent of those (non-hideous) on the facade of Igelsia del Sancto Sepulcro at the entrance to Estella. The different attitudes of people in the 12th Century from those of 1961 are displayed by comparing the two facades.
Thanks for calling our attention to these sculptures, some pose-worthy and others thought-worthy. I am reminded of a comment a woman I know shared years ago: “God doesn’t see ugly.”
Warm regards,
Joe