Dome

View of the bell towers of Santa Prisca y San Sebastían; The church of SS Sebastian y Prisca in Taxco is attributed to Diego Durán Berruecos. Built between 1748 and 1758 at the expense of the silver magnate José de la Borda (1700-1778), it represents an early provincial manifestation of the ‘Ultra Baroque’ (Kubler). The pink stone church dominates the town, which is itself elevated above the Mexico-Acapulco road. This effect is further emphasized by the verticality of the design, which derives from the use of a double square system of proportions, in which the height of the tower is twice the overall width of the façade, and the height of the façade panel is twice its own width. The tower shafts are plain to the height of the nave eaves, save for their circular windows, but above this the belfries are thickly adorned with columns and estípites. Paired columns on the main façade are straight at ground-level but twisted at the upper range. The high dome is decorated with polychrome glazed tiles. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 6/21/2009)