Page 95 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

Must See
European Art
Top Collections from the 14th to the 19th century, hang
▶ Paintings by European artists (right), dating
chronologically on the ground floor. Most of
the works in this section were donated
from private collec tions, contributing
to the great diversity of works on
display. Among the most notable
works are Salomé by Lucus Cranach
the Elder (1472–1553) and The
Temptations of St Anthony by
Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516).
Portugese Painting
and Sculpture
Many of the earliest works of art are by
the Portuguese primitive painters, who were influenced by
a Flemish trend of realistic detail. Thought to be by Nuno
Gonçalves, the São Vicente de Fora polyptych, which shows
religious, as well as contemporary figures, is an invaluable
historical and social document. The sculpture collection includes
many Gothic polychrome stone and wood statues.
Portuguese and
Chinese Ceramics
The collection of Chinese porcelain and Portuguese faïence
showcases the reciprocal influence between Far Eastern and
Portuguese potters. From the 16th century, Portuguese ceramics
show a marked influence of Ming, and conversely, Chinese pieces
bear Portuguese motifs such as coats of arms. By the mid-18th
century, an increasingly personalized, European style emerged
among Portuguese potters, using popular, rustic designs.
TOP UNMISSABLE
5 EXHIBITS Asian and African Art
The collection of ivories and furniture, with their European
Ivory Salt Cellar motifs, further illustrates the reciprocal influences of Portugal
Portuguese dignitaries and her colonies. The 16th-century vogue for the exotic gave
are carved in ivory on rise to a huge demand for items such as carved ivory hunting
this 16th-century West horns from Africa. The 16th- and 17th-century Japanese
African salt shaker.
Namban screens show the Portuguese trading in Japan.
Namban-jin (barbarians from the south) is the name the
The Chapel Japanese gave to the Portuguese.
of St Albert
Admire the Baroque Silver, Gold
interior, covered in
blue-and-white azulejos. and Jewellery
◀ Among the ecclesiastical
Faïence Violin treasures are King Sancho I’s 1214
Portraits of Italian gold cross and the 1506 Belém
composers decorate monstrance (left). The collection
this ceramic piece. of jewels came from convents,
originally donated by wealthy novices
Salomé on entering religious orders.
Lucus Cranach the
Elder’s study of virtue Decorative Arts
or seductive perversion.
Furniture, tapestries and textiles, liturgical vestments and
The Temptations bishops’ mitres are among the wide range of objects on display.
of St Anthony The furniture collection includes many pieces from Portuguese
A fantastical oil-on- and other European royal courts. Among the textiles are
oak triptych. 17th-century bedspreads, tapestries (many of Flemish origin,
such as the 16th-century Baptism of Christ), embroidered rugs
and Arraiolos carpets.
95

094-095_EW_Portugal.indd 95 20/09/2018 10:39