Portuguese art, the close connection between the art of Portugal and the art of Spain meant that Portuguese art was wrongly treated as a Spanish subsidiary development in scientific literature for a long time; However, it shows genuine features, especially in the art of building, gold and silversmithing as well as in the large-scale tile decorations (azulejos).

These emerged during the time of the discoveries, especially in the first half of the 16th century and at the time of King John V in the first half of the 18th century, helped by the gold and diamond discoveries in Brazil.

Architecture

According to localbusinessexplorer, the dominance of the Emanuel style prevented the acceptance of artistic suggestions from the early Italian Renaissance. Italian influence did not establish itself until after 1525 with the work of the architect D. de Torralva in Belém (choir of the Hieronymites Church, around 1550), in Azeitão (Palácio da Bacalhoa, 1540) and in Tomar (Christ Knights Monastery, »Claustro dos Filipes«; 1557– 80, completed by F. Terzi ). Hall-like churches with stepped portals are characteristic of the new style. The court architect F. Terzi, a supporter of Palladianism, is characterized by clear, cubic forms, who planned the construction of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon from 1582. The sacred building with a rectangular floor plan without transept and choir head remained trend-setting until the late 18th century; it was particularly preferred by the Jesuits (Jesuit architecture) and was also used in colonial Portuguese buildings (e.g. Goa, Cathedral, 1562-1619, and Bom Jesus Church, 1594 following). Important buildings of Mannerism are: Igreja da Graça (1530–50) in Évora, Cathedral in Leiria (around 1550–71), Church of São Roque (1566–96) in Lisbon, Church of Nossa Senhora da Serra do Pilar (1598–1602) in Vila Nova de Gaia. In 1622 the construction of the aqueduct from Amoreira to Elvas, begun in 1498, was completed.

Portuguese art has stagnated since around 1600; Even the liberation from Spanish rule initially did not bring an artistic boom. The royal house of Bragança assigned orders mainly to foreigners, who in turn assimilated forms and elements of the French and Italian baroque. Next to the royal monastery palace of Mafra, built 1717–30 by the Italian-trained German builder João Frederico Ludovice (* 1670, † 1752), in particular church buildings were built on the plan of an isosceles Greek cross (e.g. Santa Engrácia in Lisbon, today Pantheon; 1682 following), smaller central buildings (including the church Bom Jesús da Cruz, Barcelos; 1705-29) and pilgrimage churches (Nossa Senhora dos Remédios in Lamego, 1750–61; Bom Jesús do Monte near Braga, with Calvary, 1784–1811).

However, the founder of the actual Portuguese Baroque is the Italian master builder Nicoló Nazoni (* 1691, † 1773) with the church of São Pedro dos Clérigos in Porto (1732–50). In the years that followed, he created sacred and secular buildings in northern Portugal with his powerful and expressive designs, which in no other epoch style differed so fundamentally from buildings in the center and south of the country. The Old University Library of Coimbra was started under Johann V in 1716. The most important urban development achievement is the planned reconstruction of Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755 under the direction of S. J. Pombal in the modified classical style (“Pombaline style”). Based on the French rococo model, the small Queluz Castle was built from 1747 onwards. Characteristic of the splendor in Portuguese architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries is the cladding of entire church rooms with Talha Dourada works; One of the highlights is the former São Francisco monastery church in Porto.

The gilded wood carvings were made in varying quality throughout the mainland up to the province of Algarve (Church of São António in Lagos, 1769), the Achipelago of the Azores and Madeira. In addition, large-scale narrative tile panels were added. At that time the tile production centers were in Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon. the schools around Gabriel del Barco (* 1649, † after 1708) as well as António († 1732) and Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes (* 1695, † 1781) the azulejos, which are in great demand in monastic and aristocratic circles all over Europe, in some cases as far as Brazil, delivered.

Plastic

In addition to the Mannerist sculptural jewelry of French-Italian characteristics with the center in Coimbra, it came in the 15th and 16th centuries. Century on the Iberian Peninsula for the formation of a retable type specifically Portuguese. Consisting of panels, sculptures and carvings arranged one above the other in several registers, these large-format reredos were integrated room-high into the choir wall (examples that have survived: Funchal, cathedral, around 1517; Lisbon, cathedral, 1538; São João de Tarouca, around 1530). A highlight in the 18th century was the sculptural decoration of the monastery church of Mafra by Alessandro Giusti (* 1715, † 1799) and his student Joaquim Machado de Castro (* around 1731, † 1822). The sculptors from Braga, Coimbra and Porto joined the official French art of the late 18th century, initiating a development that would last well into the 20th century.

Painting

The collective workshop work carried out under the direction of de Figueiredo testify to the confrontation with the Italian Renaissance and Mannerism. B. the altar of the monastery church in Feirreirim near Lamego (1534 following), as well as the works of Frei Carlos and Francisco de Holanda (* 1517, † 1584), who also worked as an art theorist. The generation of baroque painters, taking up Spanish suggestions, created not only religious depictions v. a. Portraits (José de Avelar Rebelo, * 1657; Domingos Francisco Vieira, * around 1600, † 1678) and still lifes (Baltazar Gomes Figueira, * 1604, † 1674, and his daughter Josefa de Ayala, * 1630, † 1684, called Josefa de Óbidos). In the 18th century, until the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil (1807), French influence increased again (Pierre Antoine Quillard, * 1701, † 1733; Francisco Vieira de Matos, known as Vieira Lusitano, * 1699, † 1783).

Portuguese Arts in Renaissance

Portuguese Arts in Renaissance, Mannerism and Baroque
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