The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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Tommaso Gismondi and the Doors of the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia

The French architect André-Jacques Dunoyer de Segonzac (1915–2018), designer of the Basilica of Nuestra

Señora de la Altagracia in Higüey—an architectural work inaugurated on January 21, 1971, and characterized

by striking modern lines and exposed reinforced concrete—originally conceived a very simple and linear en-

trance portico to the sacred wooden enclosure, in harmony with the general concept of the work, as evidenced

in the project drawings in the book on the basilica published by Banco Popular (

Dunoyer de Segonzac

, 2000, 194

–195, 268). After fifty years, the bishop of the diocese of Higüey, Msgr. Hugo Eduardo Polanco Brito, succeed-

ed in having the Italian sculptor Tommaso Gismondi (Anagni, Italy 1906–2003) design bronze doors that were

installed on the portico in 1988. For this project, Polanco Brito had the full support of President Balaguer and

Pope John Paul II. Gismondi was considered the official sculptor for the popes, due to his work with both Paul

VI and John Paul II, for whom he designed two medals, as well as for his work on the doors of the Vatican

Library and the Vatican Apostolic Archive.

In his work, Gismondi drew inspiration from the doors created by Lorenzo Ghiberti at the Baptistery

of San Giovanni in Florence (1452). He divided his version into eight panels, on which he recreated fun-

damental milestones in the devotional history of Our Lady of Altagracia. Apparitions and miracles of the

Virgin—from the beginning of the devotion in 1504 to the gift of a crown for the effigy of the Virgin by Pope

John Paul II during his visit to the Dominican Republic on January 25, 1979—are reflected in Gismondi’s

work. Each event is identified with the corresponding dates. The following themes appear using the spaces

Basilica Cathedral

Nuestra Señora de la

Altagracia, Higüey.