[Note of transcriber: $ is used to indicate the cifrão, symbol forescudos. Where [= ] surrounds a letter it indicates that the letter waswritten with a line above it. ]

[Illustration: FROM THE MARVILLA, SANTAREM. ]

[Illustration: FROM THE MARVILLA, SANTAREM; ALSO IN THE MATRIZ, ALVITO, AND ELSEWHERE. ]

PORTUGUESE ARCHITECTURE

BY

WALTER CRUM WATSON

_ILLUSTRATED_

LONDON

ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY

LIMITED

1908

Edinburgh: T. And A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty

AOS MEUS QUERIDOS PARENTES E AMIGOSA ILL^{MA} E EX^{MA} SN^{RA}M. L. DOS PRADOS LARGOSE OSILL^{MOS} E EX^{MOS} SNR^{ES}BARONEZA E BARÃO DE SOUTELLINHOCOMO RECONHECIMENTO PELAS AMABILIDADES E ATTENÇÕESQUE ME DISPENSARAM NOS BELLOS DIAS QUE PASSEINA SUA COMPANHIACOMO HOMENAGEM RESPEITOSAO. D. C. O AUCTOR

PREFACE

The buildings of Portugal, with one or two exceptions, cannot be said toexcel or even to come up to those of other countries. To a large extentthe churches are without the splendid furniture which makes those ofSpain the most romantic in the world, nor are they in themselves solarge or so beautiful. Some apology, then, may seem wanted for imposingon the public a book whose subject-matter is not of first-classimportance. 

The present book is the outcome of visits to Portugal in April or May ofthree successive years; and during these visits the writer became sofond of the country and of its people, so deeply interested in thehistory of its glorious achievements in the past, and in the buildingswhich commemorate these great deeds, that it seemed worth while to tryand interest others in them. Another reason for writing about Portugalinstead of about Spain is that the country is so much smaller that it isno very difficult task to visit every part and see the various buildingswith one's own eyes: besides, in no language does there exist any bookdealing with the architecture of the country as a whole. There are someinteresting monographs in Portuguese about such buildings as the palaceat Cintra, or Batalha, while the Renaissance has been fully treated byAlbrecht Haupt, but no one deals at all adequately with what came beforethe time of Dom Manoel. 

Most of the plans in the book were drawn from rough measurements takenon the spot and do not pretend to minute accuracy. 

For the use of that of the Palace at Cintra the thanks of the writer aredue to Conde de Sabugosa, who allowed it to be copied from his book, while the plan of Mafra was found in an old magazine. 

Thanks are also due to Senhor Joaquim de Vasconcellos for much valuableinformation, to his wife, Senhora Michaelis de Vasconcellos, for herpaper about the puzzling inscriptions at Batalha, and above all theBaron and the Baroneza de Soutellinho, for their repeated welcome toOporto and for the trouble they have taken in getting books andphotographs. 

That the book may be more complete there has been added a short accountof some of the church plate and paintings which still survive, as wellas of the tile work which is so universal and so characteristic. 

As for the buildings, hardly any of any consequence have escaped notice. 

EDINBURGH, 1907. 

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

 PAGE

Portugal separated from Spain by no natural division geographical orlinguistic; does not correspond with Roman Lusitania, nor with thelater Suevic kingdom--Traces of early Celtic inhabitants; Citania, Sabrosa--Roman Occupation; Temple at Evora--Barbarian Invasions--ArabConquest--Beginnings of Christian re-conquest--Sesnando, first Count of Oporto--Christians defeated at Zalaca--CountHenry of Burgundy and Dona Theresa--Beginnings of PortugueseIndependence--Affonso Henriques, King of Portugal--Growth ofPortugal--Victory of Aljubarrota--Prince Henry the Navigator--TheSpanish Usurpation--The Great Earthquake--The PeninsularWar--The Miguelite War--The suppression of the Monasteries--Differencesbetween Portugal and Spain, etc. 1-10

PAINTING IN PORTUGAL

Not very many examples of Portuguese paintings left--Early connectionwith Burgundy; and with Antwerp--Great influence ofFlemish school--The myth of Grão Vasco--Pictures at Evora, atThomar, at Setubal, in Santa Cruz, Coimbra--'The Fountain ofMercy' at Oporto--The pictures at Vizeu: 'St. Peter'--Antoniode Hollanda 10-17

CHURCH PLATE

Much plate lost during the Peninsular War--Treasuries of Braga, Coimbra, and Evora, and of Guimarães--Early chalices, etc. , atBraga, Coimbra, and Guimarães--Crosses at Guimarães and atCoimbra--Relics of St. Isabel--Flemish influence seen in laterwork--Tomb of St. Isabel, and coffins of sainted abbesses ofLorvão 17-20

TILES

Due to Arab influence--The word _azulejo_ and its origin--The differentstages in the development of tile making--Early tiles at CintraMoorish in pattern and in technique--Tiles at Bacalhôa Moorish intechnique but Renaissance in pattern--Later tiles without Moorishtechnique, _e. G. _ at Santarem and elsewhere--Della Robbia ware atBacalhôa--Pictures in blue and white tiles very common 20-28

CHAPTER I

THE EARLY BUILDINGS IN THE NORTH

The oldest buildings are in the North--Very rude and simple--Threetypes--Villarinho--São Miguel, Guimarães--Cedo Feita, Oporto--Gandara, Boelhe, etc. , are examples of the simplest--Aguas Santas, Rio Mau, etc. , of the second; and of the third Villar de Frades, etc. --Legend of Villar--Sé, Braga--Sé, Oporto--Paço de Souza--Methodof roofing--Tomb of Egas Moniz--Pombeiro--Castleand Church, Guimarães 29-43

CHAPTER II

THE EARLY BUILDINGS IN THE SOUTH

Growth of Christian kingdom under Affonso Henriques--His vow--Captureof Santarem, of Lisbon--Cathedral, Lisbon, related to Churchof S. Sernin, Toulouse--Ruined by Great Earthquake, and badlyrestored--Sé Velha, Coimbra, general scheme copied from Santiagoand so from S. Sernin, Toulouse--Other churches at Coimbra--Evora, its capture--Cathedral founded--Similar in scheme toLisbon, but with pointed arches; central lantern; cloister--Thomarfounded by Gualdim Paes; besieged by Moors--Templar Church--Santarem, Church of São João de Alporão--Alcobaça; great wealthof Abbey--Designed by French monks--Same plan as Clairvaux--Hasbut little influence on later buildings 44-63

CHAPTER III

THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES DOWN TOTHE BATTLE OF ALJUBARROTA

The thirteenth century poor in buildings--The Franciscans--SãoFrancisco Guimarães--Santarem--Santa Maria dos Olivaes atThomar--_Cf. _ aisle windows at Leça do Balio--Inactivity anddeposition of Dom Sancho II. By Dom Affonso III. --Conquest ofAlgarve--Sé, Silves--Dom Diniz and the castles at Beja and atLeiria--Cloisters, Cellas, Coimbra, Alcobaça, Lisbon, and Oporto--St. Isabel and Sta. Clara at Coimbra--Leça do Balio--The choirof the cathedral, Lisbon, with tombs--Alcobaça, royal tombs--DomPedro I. And Inez de Castro; her murder, his sorrow--Their tombs 64-78

CHAPTER IV

BATALHA AND THE DELIVERANCE OF PORTUGAL

Dom Fernando and Dona Leonor Telles--Her wickedness and unpopularity--Theirdaughter, Dona Brites, wife of Don Juan of Castile, rejected--DomJoão I. Elected king--Battle of Aljubarrota--Dom João'svow--Marriage of Dom João and Philippa of Lancaster--Batalhafounded; its plan national, not foreign; some details seem English, some French, some even German--Huguet the builder did not copyYork or Canterbury--Tracery very curious--Inside very plain--Capellado Fundador, with the royal tombs--Capellas Imperfeitas 79-92

CHAPTER V

THE EARLIER FIFTEENTH CENTURY

Nossa Senhora da Oliveira Guimarães rebuilt as a thankoffering--Silverreredos captured at Aljubarrota--The cathedral, Guarda--Its likenessto Batalha--Nave later--Nuno Alvarez Pereira, the GrandConstable, and the Carmo, Lisbon--João Vicente and Villar deFrades--Alvito, Matriz--Capture of Ceuta--Tombs in the Graça, Santarem--Dom Pedro de Menezes and his 'Aleo'--Tomb ofDom Duarte de Menezes in São João de Alporão--Tombs atAbrantes cloister--Thomar 93-103

CHAPTER VI

LATER GOTHIC

Graça, Santarem--Parish churches, Thomar, Villa do Conde, Azuraraand Caminha, all similar in plan--Cathedrals: Funchal, Lamego, and Vizeu--Porch and chancel of cathedral, Braga--Conceição, Braga 104-115

CHAPTER VII

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MOORS

Few buildings older than the re-conquest--But many built for Christiansby Moors--The Palace, Cintra--Originally country house of theWalis--Rebuilt by Dom João I. --Plan and details Moorish--Entrancecourt--Sala dos Cysnes, why so called, its windows;Sala do Conselho; Sala das Pegas, its name, chimney-piece; Saladas Sereias; dining-room; Pateo, baths; Sala dos Arabes;Pateo de Diana; chapel; kitchen--Castles at Guimarães and atBarcellos--Villa de Feira 116-128

CHAPTER VIII

OTHER MOORISH BUILDINGS

Commoner in Alemtejo--Castle, Alvito--Not Sansovino's Palace--Evora, Paços Reaes, Cordovis, Sempre Nova, São João Evangelista, São Francisco, São Braz 129-135

CHAPTER IX

MOORISH CARPENTRY

Examples found all over the country--At Aguas Santas, Azurara, Caminha and Funchal--Cintra, Sala dos Cysnes, Sala dos Escudos--Coimbra, Misericordia, hall of University--Ville do Conde SantaClara, Aveiro convent 136-142

CHAPTER X

EARLY MANOELINO

João II. Continues the policy of Prince Henry the Navigator--BartholomeuDiaz, Vasco da Gama--Accession of Dom Manoel--Discoveryof route to India, and of Brazil--Great wealth of King--Failsto unite all the kingdoms of the Peninsula--Characteristicfeatures of Manoelino--House of Garcia de Resende, Evora--Caldasda Rainha--Setubal, Jesus--Beja, Conceição, Castle, etc. --Cintra, Palace--Gollegã, Church--Elvas, Cathedral--Santarem, Marvilla--Lisbon, Madre de Deus--Coimbra, University Chapel--Setubal, São Julião 143-156

CHAPTER XI

THOMAR AND THE CONQUEST OF INDIA

Vasco da Gama's successful voyage to Calicut, 1497--Other expeditionslead to discovery of Brazil--Titles conferred on Dom Manoelby Pope Alexander VI. --Ormuz taken--Strange forms at Thomarnot Indian--Templars suppressed and Order of Christ foundedinstead--Prince Henry Grand Master--Spiritual supremacy ofThomar over all conquests, made or to be made--Templar churchadded to by Prince Henry, and more extensively by Dom Manoel--Joãode Castilho builds Coro--Stalls burnt by French--Southdoor, chapter-house and its windows--Much of the detail emblematicof the discoveries, etc. , made in the East and in the West 157-170

CHAPTER XII

THE ADDITIONS TO BATALHA

Dom Duarte's tomb-house unfinished--Work resumed by DomManoel--The two Matheus Fernandes, architects--The Pateo--Thegreat entrance--Meaning of 'Tanyas Erey'--Piers in Octagon--Howwas the Octagon to be roofed?--The great Cloister, withits tracery--Whence derived 171-180

CHAPTER XIII

BELEM

Torre de São Viente built to defend Lisbon--Turrets and balconiesnot Indian--Vasco da Gama sails from Belem--The great monasterybuilt as a thankoffering for the success of his voyage--Begun byBoutaca, succeeded by Lourenço Fernandes, and then by João deCastilho--Plan due to Boutaca--Master Nicolas, the Frenchman, the first renaissance artist in Portugal--Plan: exterior; interiorsuperior to exterior; stalls; cloister, lower and upper--Lisbon, Conceição Velha, also by João de Castilho 181-195

CHAPTER XIV

THE COMING OF THE FOREIGN ARTISTS

Coimbra, Sta. Cruz, founded by Dom Affonso Henriques, rebuilt byDom Manoel, first architect Marcos Pires--Gregorio Lourençoclerk of the works--Diogo de Castilho succeeds Marcos Pires--Westfront, Master Nicolas--Cloister, inferior to that of Belem--Royaltombs--Other French carvers--Pulpit, reredoses in cloister, stalls--Sé Velha reredos, doors--Chapel of São Pedro 196-210

CHAPTER XV

THE INFLUENCE OF THE FOREIGNERS

Tomb at Thomar of the Bishop of Funchal--Tomb in Graça, Santarem--SãoMarcos, founded by Dona Brites de Menezes--Tomb ofFernão Telles--Rebuilt by Ayres da Silva, her grandson--Tombsin chancel--Reredos, by Master Nicolas--Reredos at Cintra--PenaChapel by same--São Marcos, Chapel of the Reyes Magos--Sansovino'sdoor, Cintra--Evora, São Domingos--Portalegre, Tavira, Lagos, Goes, Trofa, Caminha, Moncorvo 211-221

CHAPTER XVI

LATER WORK OF JOÃO DE CASTILHO AND EARLIER CLASSIC

João III. Cared more for the Church than for anything else--Decaybegins--Later additions to Alcobaça--Batalha, Sta. Cruz--Thomar, Order of Christ reformed--Knights become regulars--Greatadditions, cloisters, dormitory, etc. , by João de Castilho--Hisdifficulties, letters to the King--His addition to Batalha--BuildsConceição at Thomar like Milagre, Santarem--Marvilla, _ibid. _;Elvas, São Domingos--Cintra, Penha Longa and Penha Verde--Vizeu, Cloister--Lamego, Cloister--Coimbra, SãoThomaz--Carmo--Faro--Lorvão--Amarante--Santarem, Santa Clara, andGuarda, reredos 222-239

CHAPTER XVII

THE LATER RENAISSANCE AND THE SPANISH USURPATION

Diogo de Torralva and Claustro dos Filippes, Thomar--Miranda deDouro--Reigns of Dom Sebastião and of the Cardinal KingHenry not noted for much building--Evora, Graça and University--Fatalexpedition by Dom Sebastião to Morocco--His death anddefeat--Feeble reign of his grand-uncle--Election of Philip--Unionwith Spain and consequent loss of trade--Lisbon, SãoRoque; coming of Terzi--Lisbon, São Vicente de Fora; first useof very long Doric pilasters--Santo Antão, Santa Maria doDesterro, and Torreão do Paço--Sé Nova, Coimbra, like SantoAntão--Oporto, Collegio Novo--Coimbra, Misericordia, Bishop'spalace; Sacristy of Sé Velha, São Domingos, Carmo, Graça, SãoBento by Alvares--Lisbon, São Bento--Oporto, São Bento 240-253

CHAPTER XVIII

OTHER BUILDINGS OF THE LATER RENAISSANCE, TILL THEEXPULSION OF THE SPANIARDS

Vianna do Castello, Misericordia--Beja, São Thiago--Azeitão, SãoSimão--Evora, Cartuxa--Beja, Misericordia--Oporto, NossaSenhora da Serra do Pilar--Sheltered Wellington before he crossedthe Douro--Besieged by Dom Miguel--Very original plan--Coimbra, Sacristy of Santa Cruz--Lisbon, Santa Engracia neverfinished--Doric pilasters too tall--Coimbra, Santa Clara, greatabuse of Doric pilasters 254-260

CHAPTER XIX

THE RESTORATION AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

The expulsion of the Spaniards--Long war: final success of Portugaland recovered prosperity--Mafra founded by Dom João V. --Comparedwith the Escorial--Designed by a German--Palace, church, library, etc. --Evora, Capella Mor--Great Earthquake--TheMarques de Pombal--Lisbon, Estrella--Oporto, Torre dosClerigos--Oporto, Quinta do Freixo--Queluz--Quinta atGuimarães--Oporto, hospital and factory--Defeat of DomMiguel and suppression of monasteries 261-271

BOOKS CONSULTED 272

INDEX 273

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 _To face page_1. Guimarães, House from Sabrosa } 42. Evora, Temple of 'Diana' }3. Oporto, Fountain of Mercy 144. Vizeu, St. Peter, in Sacristy of Cathedral 165. Coimbra, Cross in Cathedral Treasury }6. " Chalice " " } 207. " Monstrance " " }8. Cintra, Palace, Sala dos Arabes } 249. " " Dining-room }10. Santarem, Marvilla, coloured wall tiles } _frontispiece_. 11. " " }12. Vallarinho, Parish Church } 3213. Villar de Frades, West Door }14. Paço de Souza, Interior of Church } 4015. " " Tomb of Egas Moniz }16. Guimarães, N. S. Da Oliveira, Chapter-house Entrance } 4217. Leça do Balio, Cloister }18. Coimbra, Sé Velha, Interior } 5019. " " West Front }20. Evora, Cathedral, Interior } 5421. " " Central Lantern }22. Evora, Cloister } 5623. Thomar, Templar Church }24. Santarem, São João de Alporão } 5825. Alcobaça, South Transept }26. Santarem, São Francisco, West Door } 6627. Silves, Cathedral, Interior }28. Alcobaça Cloister } 7229. Lisbon, Cathedral Cloister }30. Coimbra, Sta. Clara 7431. Alcobaça, Chapel with Royal Tombs } 7832. " Tomb of Dom Pedro I. }33. Batalha, West Front 8634. Batalha, Interior } 8835. " Capella do Fundador }36. Batalha, Capellas Imperfeitas 9237. Guimarães, Capella of D. Juan I. Of Castile } 9438. Guarda, North Side of Cathedral }39. Santarem, Tomb of Dom Pedro de Menezes } 10240. " Tomb of Dom Duarte de Menezes }41. Villa do Conde, West Front of Parish Church 10842. Vizeu, Interior of Cathedral } 11243. Braga, Cathedral Porch }44. Cintra, Palace, Main Front } 12045. " " Window in 'Sala das Sereias' }46. Cintra, Palace, Ceiling of Chapel 12647. Alvito, Castle } 13248. Evora, São João Evangelista, Door to Chapter-house }49. Caminha, Roof of Matriz } 13850. Cintra, Palace, Ceiling of Sala dos Cysnes }51. Coimbra, University, Ceiling of Sala dos Capellos 14252. Cintra, Palace, additions by D. Manoel 15253. Santarem, Marvilla, West Door } 15454. Coimbra, University Chapel Door }55. Thomar, Convent of Christ, South Door } 16656. " " " Chapter-house Window }57. Batalha, Entrance to Capellas Imperfeitas 17458. Batalha, Window of Pateo } 17859. " Upper part of Capellas Imperfeitas }60. Batalha, Claustro Real } 18061. Batalha, Lavatory in Claustro Real }62. Belem, Torre de São Vicente } 18463. Belem, Sacristy }64. Belem, South side of Nave } 19065. " Interior, looking west }66. Belem, Cloister } 19467. " Interior of Lower Cloister }68. Lisbon, Conceição Velha 19669. Coimbra, Sta. Cruz, West Front } 20070. " " Cloister }71. Coimbra, Sta. Cruz, Tomb of D. Sancho I. } 20272. " " Pulpit }73. Coimbra, Sta. Cruz, Reredos in Cloister } 20674. " " Choir Stalls }75. Coimbra, Sé Velha, Reredos } 20976. " " Reredos in Chapel of São Pedro}77. Thomar, Sta. Maria dos Olivaes, Tomb of the Bishop of Funchal } 21278. São Marcos, Tomb of D. João da Silva }79. São Marcos, Chancel } 21880. " Chapel of the 'Reyes Magos' }81. Cintra, Palace, Door by Sansovino } 22082. Caminha, West Door of Church }83. Alcobaça, Sacristy Door } 22484. Batalha, Door of Sta. Cruz }85. Thomar, Claustro da Hospedaria } 22886. " Chapel in Dormitory Passage }87. Thomar, Stair in Claustro dos Filippes } 23088. " Chapel of the Conceição }89. Santarem, Marvilla, Interior } 23690. Vizeu, Cathedral Cloister }91. Guarda, Cathedral Reredos } 24092. Thomar, Claustro dos Filippes }93. Lisbon, São Vicente de Fora } 24694. " " " Interior }95. Coimbra, Sé Nova } 25096. " Misericordia }97. Vianna do Castello, Misericordia 25498. Oporto, N. S. Da Serra do Pilar, Cloister} 25899. Coimbra, Sta. Cruz, Sacristy }100. Mafra, West Front } 266101. " Interior of Church }

[Illustration: map of Portugal]

INTRODUCTION

No one can look at a map of the Iberian Peninsula without being struckby the curious way in which it is unequally divided between twoindependent countries. Spain occupies by far the larger part of thePeninsula, leaving to Portugal only a narrow strip on the westernseaboard some one hundred miles wide and three hundred and forty long. Besides, the two countries are separated the one from the other bymerely artificial boundaries. The two largest rivers of the Peninsula, the Douro and the Tagus, rise in Spain, but finish their course inPortugal, and the Guadiana runs for some eighty miles through Portugueseterritory before acting for a second time as a boundary between the twocountries. The same, to a lesser degree, is true of the mountains. TheGerez and the Marão are only offshoots of the Cantabrian mountains, andthe Serra da Estrella in Beira is but a continuation of the Sierra deGata which separates Leon from Spanish Estremadura. Indeed the onlynatural frontiers are formed by the last thirty miles of the Minho inthe north, by about eighty miles of the Douro, which in its deep andnarrow gorge really separates Traz os Montes from Leon; by a few milesof the Tagus, and by the Guadiana both before and after it runs througha part of Alemtejo. 

If the languages of the two countries were radically unlike this curiousdivision would be more easy to understand, but in reality Castiliandiffers from Portuguese rather in pronunciation than in anything else;indeed differs less from Portuguese than it does from Cataluñan. [1]

During the Roman dominion none of the divisions of the Peninsulacorresponded exactly with Portugal. Lusitania, which the poets of theRenaissance took to be the Roman name of their country, only reached upto the Douro, and took in a large part of Leon and the whole of SpanishEstremadura. 

In the time of the Visigoths, a Suevic kingdom occupied most of Portugalto the north of the Tagus, but included also all Galicia and part ofLeon; and during the Moorish occupation there was nothing which at allcorresponded with the modern divisions. 

It was, indeed, only by the gradual Christian re-conquest of the countryfrom the Moors that Portugal came into existence, and only owing to therepeated failure of the attempt to unite the two crowns of Portugal andCastile by marriage that they have remained separated to the presentday. 

Of the original inhabitants of what is now Portugal little is known, butthat they were more Celtic than Iberian seems probable from a few Celticwords which have survived, such as _Mor_ meaning _great_ as applied tothe _Capella Mor_ of a church or to the title of a court official. Thename too of the Douro has probably nothing to do with gold but isconnected with a Celtic word for water. The Tua may mean the 'gushing'river, and the Ave recalls the many Avons. _Ebora_, now Evora, is verylike the Roman name of York, Eboracum. _Briga_, too, the commontermination of town names in Roman times as in Conimbriga--Condeixa aVelha--or Cetobriga, near Setubal--in Celtic means _height_ or_fortification_. All over the country great rude stone monuments are tobe found, like those erected by primitive peoples in almost every partof Europe, and the most interesting, the curious buildings found atvarious places near Guimarães, seem to belong to a purely Celticcivilisation. 

The best-known of these places, now called Citania--from a name of anative town mentioned by ancient writers--occupies the summit of a hillabout nine hundred feet above the road and nearly half-way betweenGuimarães and Braga. The top of this hill is covered with a number ofstructures, some round from fifteen to twenty feet across, and somesquare, carefully built of well-cut blocks of granite. The only openingis a door which is often surrounded by an architrave adorned with roughcarving; the roofs seem to have been of wood and tiles. 

Some, not noticing the three encircling walls and the well-cutwater-channels, and thinking that the round buildings far exceeded therectangular in number, have thought that they might have been intendedfor granaries where corn might be stored against a time of war. But itseems far more likely that Citania was a town placed on this high hillfor safety. Though the remains show no other trace of Romancivilisation, one or two of the houses are inscribed with their owner'snames in Roman character, and from coins found there they seem to havebeen inhabited long after the surrounding valleys had been subdued bythe Roman arms, perhaps even after the great baths had been built notfar off at the hot springs of Taipas. Uninfluenced by Rome, Citania wasalso untouched by Christianity, though it may have been inhabited afterSt. James--if indeed he ever preached in Bracara Augusta, now Braga--andhis disciple São Pedro de Rates had begun their mission. 

But if Citania knew nothing of Christianity there still remains oneremarkable monument of the native religion. Among the ruins there longlay a huge thin slab of granite, now in the museum of Guimarães, whichcertainly has the appearance of having been a sacrificial stone. It is arough pentagon with each side measuring about five feet. On one side, inthe middle, a semicircular hollow has been cut out as if to leave roomfor the sacrificing priest, while on the surface of the stone a seriesof grooves has been cut, all draining to a hole near this hollow andarranged as if for a human body with outstretched legs and arms. Therest of the surface is covered with an intricate pattern like what mayoften be found on Celtic stones in Scotland. Besides this so-calledCitania similar buildings have been found elsewhere, as at Sabrosa, alsonear Guimarães, but there the Roman influence seems usually to have beengreater. (Fig. 1. )

The Romans began to occupy the Peninsula after the second Punic war, butthe conquest of the west and north was not completed till the reign ofAugustus more than two hundred years later. The Roman dominion over whatis now Portugal lasted for over four hundred years, and the chiefmonument of their occupation is found in the language. More materialmemorials are the milestones which still stand in the Gerez, sometombstones, and some pavements and other remains at Condeixa a Velha, once Conimbriga, near Coimbra and at the place now called Troya, perhapsthe original Cetobriga, on a sandbank opposite Setubal, a town whosefounders were probably Phoenicians. 

But more important than any of these is the temple at Evora, now withoutany reason called the temple of Diana. During the middle ages, crownedwith battlements, with the spaces between the columns built up, it waslater degraded by being turned into a slaughter-house, and was onlycleared of such additions a few years since. Situated near thecathedral, almost on the highest part of the town, it stands on aterrace whose great retaining wall still shows the massiveness of Romanwork. 

Of the temple itself there remains about half of the podium, some elevenfeet high, fourteen granite columns, twelve of which still retain theirbeautiful Corinthian capitals, and the architrave and part of the friezeresting on these twelve capitals. Everything is of granite except thecapitals and bases which are of white marble; but instead of theorthodox twenty-four flutes each column has only twelve, with adistinctly unpleasing result. The temple seems to have been hexastyleperipteral, but all trace of the cella has disappeared. Nothing is knownof the temple or who it was that built it, but in Roman times Evora wasone of the chief cities of Lusitania; nothing else is left but thetemple, for the aqueduct has been rebuilt and the so-called Tower ofSertorius was mediæval. Yet, although it may have less to show thanMerida, once Augusta Emerita and the capital of the province, thistemple is the best-preserved in the whole peninsula. (Fig. 2. )

Before the Roman dominion came to an end, in the first quarter of thefifth century, Christianity had been for some time firmly established. Religious intolerance also, which nearly a thousand years later madeSpain the first home of the Inquisition, had already made itselfmanifest in the burning of the heretical Priscillianists by Idacius, whose see was at or near Lamego. 

Soon, however, the orthodox were themselves to suffer, for the Vandals, the Goths, and the Suevi, who swept across the country from 417 A. D. , were Arians, and it was only after many years had passed that the rulingGoths and Suevi were converted to the Catholic faith. 

The Vandals soon passed on to Africa, leaving their name in Andaluciaand the whole land to the Goths and Suevi, the

[Illustration: FIG. 1. 

HOUSE FROM SABROSA. NOW IN MUSEUM, GUIMARÃES. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 2. 

EVORA. TEMPLE OF "DIANA. "]

Suevi at first occupying the whole of Portugal north of the Tagus aswell as Galicia and part of Leon. Later they were expelled from thesouthern part of their dominion, but they as well as the Goths have leftpractically no mark on the country, for the church built at Oporto bythe Suevic king, Theodomir, on his conversion to orthodoxy in 559, hasbeen rebuilt in the eleventh or twelfth century. 

These Germanic rulers seem never to have been popular with those theygoverned, so that when the great Moslem invasion crossed from Morocco in711 and, defeating King Roderick at Guadalete near Cadiz, swept in anincredibly short time right up to the northern mountains, the wholecountry submitted with scarcely a struggle. 

A few only of the Gothic nobles took refuge on the seaward slopes of theCantabrian mountains in the Asturias and there made a successful stand, electing Don Pelayo as their king. 

As time went on, Pelayo's descendants crossed the mountains, and takingLeon gradually extended their small kingdom southwards. 

Meanwhile other independent counties or principalities further east weregradually spreading downwards. The nearest was Castile, so called fromits border castles, then Navarre, then Aragon, and lastly the county ofBarcelona or Cataluña. 

Galicia, in the north-west corner, never having been thoroughlyconquered by the invaders, was soon united with the Asturias and thenwith Leon. So all these Christian realms, Leon--including Galicia andAsturias--Castile, and Aragon, which was soon united to Cataluña, spreadsouthwards, faster when the Moslems were weakened by division, slowerwhen they had been united and strengthened by a fresh wave of fanaticismfrom Africa. Navarre alone was unable to grow, for the lower Ebro valleywas won by the kings of Aragon, while Castile as she grew barred the wayto the south-west. 

At last in 1037 Fernando I. United Castile and Leon into one kingdom, extending from the sea in the north to the lower course of the Douro andto the mountains dividing the upper Douro from the Tagus valley in thesouth. Before Fernando died in 1065 he had extended his frontier on thewest as far south as the Mondego, making Sesnando, a converted Moslem, count of this important marchland. Then followed a new division, forCastile went to King Sancho, Leon to Alfonso VI. , and Galicia, includingthe two counties of Porto and of Coimbra, to Garcia. 

Before long, however, Alfonso turned out his brothers and also extendedhis borders even to the Tagus by taking Toledo in 1085. But hissuccesses roused the Moslem powers to fresh fanaticism. A new andstricter dynasty, the Almoravides, [2] arose in Africa and crossing thestraits inflicted a crushing defeat on the Christians at Zalaca. Indespair at this disaster and at the loss of Santarem and of Lisbon, Alfonso appealed to Christendom for help. Among those who came wereCount Raymond of Toulouse, who was rewarded with the kingdom of Galiciaand the hand of his daughter and heiress Urraca, and Count Henry ofBurgundy, who was granted the counties of Porto and of Coimbra and whomarried another daughter of Alfonso's, Theresa. 

This was really the first beginning of Portugal as an independent state;for Portugal, derived from two towns Portus and Cales, which lieopposite each other near the mouth of the Douro, was the name given toHenry's county. Henry did but little to make himself independent as hewas usually away fighting elsewhere, but his widow Theresa refused toacknowledge her sister Urraca, now queen of Castile, Leon and Galicia, as her superior, called herself Infanta and behaved as if she was noone's vassal. Fortunately for her and her aims, Urraca was far too busyfighting with her second husband, the king of Aragon, to pay muchattention to what was happening in the west, so that she had time toconsolidate her power and to accustom her people to think of themselvesas being not Galicians but Portuguese. 

The breach with Galicia was increased by the favour which Theresa, aftera time, began to show to her lover, Don Fernando Peres de Trava, aGalician noble, and by the grants of lands and of honours she made tohim. This made her so unpopular that when Alfonso Raimundes, Urraca'sson, attacked Theresa in 1127, made her acknowledge him as suzerain, andgive up Tuy and Orense, Galician towns she had taken, the people roseagainst her and declared her son Affonso Henriques old enough to reign. 

Then took place the famous submission of Egas Moniz, Affonso's governor, who induced the king to retire from the siege of Guimarães by promisingthat his pupil would agree to the terms forced on his mother. This, though but seventeen, Affonso refused to do, and next year raising anarmy he expelled his mother and Don Fernando, and after four wars withhis cousin of Castile finally succeeded in maintaining his independence, and even in assuming the title of King. 

These wars with Castile taught him at last that the true way to increasehis realm was to leave Christian territory alone and to direct hisenergies southwards, gaining land only at the expense of the Moors. 

So did the kingdom of Portugal come into existence, almost accidentallyand without there being any division of race or of language between itsinhabitants and those of Galicia. 

The youngest of all the Peninsular kingdoms, it is the only one whichstill remains separate from the rest of the Spains, for when in 1580union was forced on her by Philip II. , Portugal had had too glorious apast, and had become too different in language and in custom easily tosubmit to so undesired a union, while Spain, already suffering fromcoming weakness and decay, was not able long to hold her in such hatedbondage. 

It is not necessary here to tell the story of each of Affonso Henriques'descendants. He himself permanently extended the borders of his kingdomas far as the Tagus, and even raided the Moslem lands of the south asfar as Ourique, beyond Beja. His son, Sancho I. , finding the Moors toostrong to make any permanent conquests beyond the Tagus, devoted himselfchiefly--when not fighting with the king of Castile and Leon--torebuilding and restoring the towns in Beira, and it was not till thereign of his grandson, Affonso III. , that the southern sea was reachedby the taking of the Algarve in the middle of the thirteenth century. 

Dom Diniz, Affonso III. 's son, carried on the work of settling thecountry, building castles and planting pine-trees to stay the blowingsands along the west coast. 

From that time on Portugal was able to hold her own, and was strongenough in 1387 to defeat the king of Castile at Aljubarrota when hetried to seize the throne in right of his wife, only child of the latePortuguese king, Fernando. 

Under the House of Aviz, whose first king, João I. , had been elected torepel this invasion, Portugal rose to the greatest heights of power andof wealth to which the country was ever to attain. The ceaseless effortsof Dom Henrique, the Navigator, the third son of Dom João, were crownedwith success when Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut in May 1498, and whenPedro Alvares Cabral first saw the coasts of Brazil in 1500. 

To-day one is too ready to forget that Portugal was the pioneer ingeographical discovery, that the Portuguese were the first Westerns toreach Japan, and that, had João II. Listened to Columbus, it would havebeen to Portugal and not to Spain that he would have given a new world. 

It was, too, under the House of Aviz that the greatest development inarchitecture took place, and that the only original and distinctivestyle of architecture was formed. That was also the time when the fewgood pictures which the country possesses were painted, and when much ofthe splendid church plate which still exists was wrought. 

The sixty years of the Spanish captivity, as it was called, from 1580 to1640, were naturally comparatively barren of all good work. After therestoration of peace and a revival of the Brazilian trade had broughtback some of the wealth which the country had lost, the art of buildinghad fallen so low that of the many churches rebuilt or altered duringthe eighteenth century there is scarcely one possessed of the slightestmerit. 

The most important events of the eighteenth century were the greatearthquakes of 1755 and the ministry of the Marques de Pombal. 

Soon after the beginning of the nineteenth century came the invasion ledby Junot, 1807, the flight of the royal family to Brazil, and thePeninsular War. Terrible damage was done by the invaders, cart-loads ofchurch plate were carried off, and many a monastery was sacked andburned. Peace had not long been restored when the struggle broke outbetween the constitutional party under Pedro of Brazil, who had resignedthe throne of Portugal in favour of his daughter, Maria da Gloria, andthe absolutists under Dom Miguel, his brother. 

The civil war lasted for several years, from May 1828, when Dom Miguel, then regent for his niece, summoned the Cortes and caused himself to beelected king, till May 1834, when he was finally defeated at EvoraMonte and forced to leave the country. The chief events of hisusurpation were the siege of Oporto and the defeat of his fleet off CapeSt. Vincent in 1833 by Captain Charles Napier, who fought for Dona Mariaunder the name of Carlos de Ponza. 

One of the first acts of the constitutional Cortes was to suppress allthe monasteries in the kingdom in 1834. At the same time the nunnerieswere forbidden to receive any new nuns, with the result that in manyplaces the buildings have gradually fallen into decay, till the lastsurviving sister has died, solitary and old, and so at length set freeher home to be turned to some public use. [3]

Since then the history of Portugal has been quiet and uneventful. Goodroads have been made--but not always well kept up--railways have beenbuilt, and Lisbon, once known as the dirtiest of towns, has become oneof the cleanest, with fine streets, electric lighting, a splendidlymanaged system of electric tramways, and with funiculars and lifts toconnect the higher parts of the town with its busy centre. 

It is not uninteresting to notice in how many small matters Portugal nowdiffers from Spain. Portugal drinks tea, Spain chocolate or coffee; itlunches and dines early, Spain very late; its beds and pillows are veryhard, in Spain they are much softer. Travelling too in Portugal is muchpleasanter; as the country is so much smaller, trains leave at much morereasonable hours, run more frequently, and go more quickly. The innsalso, even in small places, are, if not luxurious, usually quite cleanwith good food, and the landlord treats his guests with something morepleasing than that lofty condescension which is so noticeable in Spain. 

Of the more distant countries of Europe, Portugal is now one of theeasiest to reach. Forty-eight hours from Southampton in a boat bound forSouth America lands the traveller at Vigo, or three days at Lisbon, where the brilliant sun and blue sky, the judas-trees in the Avenida, the roses, the palms, and the sheets of bougainvillia, are such anunimaginable change from the cold March winds and pinched buds ofEngland. 

There is perhaps no country in Europe which has so interesting a flora, especially in spring. In March in the granite north the ground under thepine-trees is covered with the exquisite flowers of the narcissustriandrus, [4] while the wet water meadows are yellow with petticoatdaffodils. Other daffodils too abound, but these are the commonest. 

Later the granite rocks are hidden by great trees of white broom, whilefrom north to south every wild piece of land is starred with thebrilliant blue flowers of the lithospermum. There are also endlessvarieties of cistus, from the small yellow annual with rich brown heartto the large gum cistus that covers so much of the poor soil in theAlemtejo. These plains of the Alemtejo are supposed to be the leastbeautiful part of the country, but no one can cross them in Aprilwithout being almost overcome with the beauty of the flowers, cistus, white, yellow, or red, tall white heaths, red heaths, blue lithospermum, yellow whin, and most brilliant of all the large pimpernel, whose blueflowers almost surpass the gentian. A little further on where there isless heath and cistus, tall yellow and blue Spanish irises stand up outof the grass, or there may be great heads of blue scilla peruviana orsheets of small iris of the brightest blue. 

Indeed, sheets of brilliant colour are everywhere most wonderful. Theremay be acres of rich purple where the bugloss hides the grass, or ofbrilliant yellow where the large golden daisies grow thickly together, or of sky-blue where the convolvulus has smothered a field of oats. 

PAINTING IN PORTUGAL. [5]

From various causes Portugal is far less rich in buildings of interestthan is Spain. The earthquake has destroyed many, but more have perishedthrough tasteless rebuilding during the eighteenth century when thecountry again regained a small part of the trade and wealth lost duringthe Spanish usurpation. 

But if this is true of architecture, it is far more true of painting. During the most flourishing period of Spanish painting, the age ofVelasquez and of Murillo, Portugal was, before 1640, a despised part ofthe kingdom, treated as a conquered province, while after the rebellionthe long struggle, which lasted for twenty-eight years, was enough toprevent any of the arts from flourishing. Besides, many good pictureswhich once adorned the royal palaces of Portugal were carried off toMadrid by Philip or his successors. 

And yet there are scattered about the country not a few paintings ofconsiderable merit. Most of them have been terribly neglected, are verydirty, or hang where they can scarcely be seen, while little is reallyknown about their painters. 

From the time of Dom João I. , whose daughter, Isabel, married DukePhilip early in the fifteenth century, the two courts of Portugal and ofBurgundy had been closely united. Isabel sent an alabaster monument forthe tomb of her father's great friend and companion, the Holy Constable, and one of bronze for that of her eldest brother; while as a member ofthe embassy which came to demand her hand, was J. Van Eyck himself. However, if he painted anything in Portugal, it has now vanished. 

There was also a great deal of trade with Antwerp where the Portuguesemerchants had a _lonja_ or exchange as early as 1386, and where afactory was established in 1503. With the heads of this factory, Francisco Brandão and Rodrigo Ruy de Almada, Albert Dürer was onfriendly terms, sending them etchings and paintings in return for wineand southern rarities. He also drew the portrait of Damião de Goes, DomManoel's friend and chronicler. 

It is natural enough, therefore, that Flanders should have had a greatinfluence on Portuguese painting, and indeed practically all thepictures in the country are either by Netherland masters, painted athome and imported, or painted in Portugal by artists who had beenattracted there by the fame of Dom Manoel's wealth and generosity, orelse by Portuguese pupils sent to study in Flanders. 

During the seventeenth century all memory of these painters hadvanished. Looking at their work, the writers of that date were struck bywhat seemed to them, in their natural ignorance of Flemish art, astrange and peculiar style, and so attributed them all to a certainhalf-mythical painter of Vizeu called Vasco, or Grão Vasco, who is firstmentioned in 1630. 

Raczynski, [6] in his letters to the Berlin Academy, says that he hadfound Grão Vasco's birth in a register of Vizeu; but Vasco is not anuncommon name, and besides this child, Vasco Fernandes, was born in1552--far too late to have painted any of the so-called Grão Vasco'spictures. 

It is of course possible that some of the pictures now at Vizeu were thework of a man called Vasco, and one of those at Coimbra, in the sacristyof Santa Cruz, is signed Velascus--which is only the Spanish form ofVasco--so that the legendary personage may have been evolved from eitheror both of these, for it is scarcely possible that they can have beenthe same. 

Turning now to some of the pictures themselves, there are thirteenrepresenting scenes from the life of the Virgin in the archbishop'spalace at Evora, which are said by Justi, a German critic, to be byGerhard David. Twelve of these are in a very bad state of preservation, but one is still worthy of some admiration. In the centre sits theVirgin with the Child on her knee: four angels are in the air above herholding a wreath. On her right three angels are singing, and on her leftone plays an organ while another behind blows the bellows. Below thereare six other angels, three on each side with a lily between them, playing, those on the right on a violin, a flute, and a zither, those onthe left on a harp, a triangle, and a guitar. Once part of the cathedralreredos, it was taken down when the new Capella Mor was built in theeighteenth century. 

Another Netherlander who painted at Evora was Frey Carlos, who came toEspinheiro close by in 1507. Several of his works are in the Museum atLisbon. [7]

When Dom Manoel was enriching the old Templar church at Thomar withgilding and with statues of saints, he also caused large paintings to beplaced round the outer wall. Several still remain, but most haveperished, either during the French invasion or during the eleven yearsafter the expulsion of the monks in 1834 when the church stood open forany one to go in and do what harm he liked. Some also, including the'Raising of Lazarus, ' the 'Entry into Jerusalem, ' the 'Resurrection, 'and the 'Centurion, ' are now in Lisbon. Four--the 'Nativity, ' the 'Visitof the Magi, ' the 'Annunciation, ' and a 'Virgin and Child'--are known tohave been given by Dom Manoel; twenty others, including the four now atLisbon, are spoken of by Raczynski in 1843, [8] and some at least ofthese, as well as the angels holding the emblems of the Passion, whostand above the small arches of the inner octagon, may have been paintedby Johannes Dralia of Bruges, who died and was buried at Thomar in1504. [9]

Also at Thomar, but in the parish church of São João Baptista, are somepictures ascribed by Justi to a pupil of Quentin Matsys. Now it is knownthat a Portuguese called _Eduard_ became a pupil of Matsys in 1504, andfour years later a Vrejmeester of the guild. So perhaps they may be bythis Eduard or by some fellow-pupil. 

The Jesus Church at Setubal, built by Justa Rodrigues, Dom Manoel'snurse, has fifteen paintings in incongruous gilt frames and hung high upon the north wall of the church, which also have something of the samestyle. [10]

More interesting than these are two pictures in the sacristy of SantaCruz at Coimbra, an 'Ecce Homo' and the 'Day of Pentecost. ' It is the'Pentecost' which is signed Velascus, and in it the Apostles in an innerroom are seen through an arcade of three arches like a chapter-houseentrance. Perhaps once part of the great reredos, this picture hassuffered terribly from neglect; but it must once have been a fine work, and the way in which the Apostles in the inner room are separated by thearcade from the two spectators is particularly successful. 

In Oporto there exists at least one good picture, 'The Fountain ofMercy, ' now in the board-room of the Misericordia, [11] but painted to bethe reredos of the chapel of São Thiago in the Sé where the brotherhoodwas founded by Dom Manoel in 1499. (Fig. 3. )

In the centre above, between St. John and the Virgin, stands a crucifixfrom which blood flows down to fill a white marble well. 

Below, on one side there kneels Dom Manoel with his six sons--João, afterwards king; Luis, duke of Beja; Fernando, duke of Guarda; Affonso, afterwards archbishop of Lisbon, with his cardinal's hat; Henrique, later cardinal archbishop of Evora, and then king; and Duarte, duke ofGuimarães and ancestor of the present ruling house of Braganza. 

On the other side are Queen Dona Leonor, [12] granddaughter of Ferdinandand Isabella, Dom Manoel's third wife[13] and her two stepdaughters, Dona Isabel, the wife of Charles V. And mother of Philip II. , whothrough her claimed and won the throne of Portugal when his uncle, thecardinal king, died in 1580, and Dona Beatriz, who married Charles III.. Of Savoy. 

The date of the picture is fixed as between 1518 when Dom Affonso, thenaged nine, received his cardinal's hat, and 1521 when Dom Manoeldied. [14]

Unfortunately the picture has been somewhat spoiled by restoration, butit is undoubtedly a very fine piece of work--especially the portraitsbelow--and would be worthy of admiration anywhere, even in a countrymuch richer in works of art. 

It has of course been attributed to Grão Vasco, but it is quitedifferent from either the Velascus pictures at Coimbra or the paintingsat Vizeu; besides, some of the beautifully painted flowers, such as thecolumbines, which enrich the grass on which the royal persons kneel, arenot Portuguese flowers, so that it is much more likely to have been thework of some one from Flanders. 

Equally Flemish are the pictures at Vizeu, whether any of them be by theGrão Vasco or not. Tradition has it that he was born at a mill not faroff, still called _Moinho do Pintor_, the _Painter's Mill_, and that DomManoel sent him to study in Italy. Now, wherever the painter of theVizeu pictures had

[Illustration: FIG. 3. 

THE FOUNTAIN OF MERCY. MISERICORDIA, OPORTO. 

_From a photograph by E. Biel & Co. , Oporto. _]

studied it can scarcely have been in Italy, as they are all surely muchnearer to the Flemish than to any Italian school. 

There are still in the precincts of the cathedral some thirty-onepictures of very varied merit, and not all by the same hand. Of thesethere are fourteen in the chapter-house, a room opening off the uppercloister. They are all scenes from the life of Our Lord from theAnnunciation to the day of Pentecost. Larger than any of these is adamaged 'Crucifixion' in the Jesus Chapel under the chapter-house. Thepainting is full, perhaps too full, of movement and of figures. Besidesthe scenes usually portrayed in a picture of the Crucifixion, others areshown in the background, Judas hanging himself on one side, and Josephof Arimathea and Nicodemus on the other, coming out from Jerusalem withtheir spices. Lastly, in the sacristy there are twelve small paintingsof the Apostles and other saints of no great merit, and four largepictures, 'St. Sebastian, ' the 'Day of Pentecost, ' where the room isdivided by three arches, with the Virgin and another saint in thecentre, and six of the Apostles on each side; the 'Baptism of Our Lord, 'and lastly 'St. Peter. ' The first three are not very remarkable, but the'St. Peter' is certainly one of the finest pictures in the country, andis indeed worthy of ranking among the great pictures of the world. [15](Fig. 4. )

As in the 'Day of Pentecost' there is a triple division; St. Peter'sthrone being in the middle with an arch on each side open to showdistant scenes. The throne seems to be of stone, with small boys andgriffins holding shields charged with the Cross Keys on the arms. On thecanopy two other shields supporting triple crowns flank an arch whoseclassic ornaments and large shell are more Italian than is any otherpart of the painting. On the throne sits St. Peter pontifically robed, and with the triple crown on his head. His right hand is raised inblessing, and in his left he holds one very long key while he keeps abook open upon his knee. 

The cope is of splendid gold brocade of a fine Gothic pattern, withorfreys or borders richly embroidered with figures of saints, and isfastened in front by a great square gold and jewelled morse. All thedraperies are very finely modelled and richly coloured, but finest ofall is St. Peter's face, solemn and stern and yet kindly, without anyof that pride and arrogance which would seem but natural to the wearerof such vestments; it is, with its grey hair and short grey beard, rather the face of the fisherman of Galilee than that of a Pope. 

Through the arches to the right and left above a low wall are seen thebeginning and the end of his ministry. On the one side he is leaving hisboat and his nets to become a fisher of men, and on the other he kneelsbefore the vision of Our Lord, when fleeing from Rome he met Him at theplace now called 'Quo Vadis' on the Appian way, and so was turned backto meet his martyrdom. 

Fortunately this painting has suffered from no restoration, and is stillwonderfully clean, but the wood on which it is painted has split ratherbadly in places, one large crack running from top to bottom just beyondthe throne on St. Peter's right. 

This 'St. Peter, ' then, is entirely Flemish in the painting of thedrapery and of the scenes behind; especially of the turreted Gothicwalls of Rome. The details of the throne may be classic, but Frenchrenaissance forms were first introduced into the country at Belem in1517, just the time when the cathedral here was being built by BishopDom Diogo Ortiz de Vilhegas. This, and the other pictures in thesacristy, were doubtless once parts of the great reredos, which wouldnot be put up till the church was quite finished, and so may not havebeen painted till some time after 1520, or even later. Already in 1522much renaissance work was being done at Coimbra, not far off, so it ispossible that the painter of these pictures may have adopted his classicdetail from what he may have seen there. 

It is worth noting, too, that preserved in the sacristy at Vizeu thereis, or was, [16] a cope so like that worn by St. Peter, that the paintingmust almost certainly have been copied from it. 

We may therefore conclude that these pictures are the work of some onewho had indeed studied abroad, probably at Antwerp, but who worked athome. 

Not only to paint religious pictures and portraits did Flemish artistscome to Portugal. One at least, Antonio de

[Illustration: FIG. 4. 

ST. PETER. IN THE CATHEDRAL SACRISTY. VIZEU. ]

Hollanda, was famous for his illuminations. He lived and worked atEvora, and is said by his son Francisco to have been the first inPortugal 'to make known a pleasing manner of painting in black andwhite, superior to all processes known in other countries. '[17]

When the convent of Thomar was being finished by Dom João III. , somelarge books were in November 1533 sent on a mule to Antonio at Evora tobe illuminated. Two of these books were finished and paid for inFebruary 1535, when he received 63$795 or about £15. The books werebound at Evora for 4$000 or sixteen shillings. 

By the end of the next year a Psalter was finished which cost 54$605 or£12, at the rate of 6$000, £1, 6s. 8d. For each of four large headings, forty illuminated letters with vignettes at 2s. 2d. Each, a hundred andfifteen without vignettes at fivepence-halfpenny, two hundred and threein red, gold, and blue at fourpence-farthing, eighty-four drawn in blackat twopence, and 2846 small letters at the beginning of each verse atless than one farthing. Next March this Psalter was brought back toThomar on a mule whose hire was two shillings and twopence--a sum smallenough for a journey of well over a hundred miles, [18] but which mayhelp us the better to estimate the value of the money paid toAntonio. [19]

CHURCH PLATE. 

A very great part of the church plate of Portugal has long sincedisappeared, for few chapters had the foresight to hide all that wasmost valuable when Soult began his devastating march from the north, andso he and his men were able to encumber their retreat with cart-loads ofthe most beautiful gold and silver ornaments. 

Yet a good deal has survived, either because it was hidden away as atGuimarães or at Coimbra--where it is said to have been only foundlately--or because, as at Evora, it lay apart from the course of thisfamous plunderer. 

The richest treasuries at the present day are those of Nossa Senhora daOliveira at Guimarães, and of the Sés at Braga, at Coimbra, and atEvora. 

A silver-gilt chalice and a pastoral staff of the twelfth century in thesacristy at Braga are among the oldest pieces of plate in the country. The chalice is about five inches high. The cup, ornamented with animalsand leaves, stands on a plain base inscribed, 'In n[=m]e D[=m]i MenendusGundisaluis de Tuda domna sum. ' It is called the chalice of São Giraldo, and is supposed to have belonged to that saint, who as archbishop ofBraga baptized Affonso Henriques. 

The staff of copper-gilt is in the form of a snake with a cross in itsmouth, and though almost certainly of the twelfth century is said tohave been found in the tomb of Santo Ovidio, the third archbishop of thesee. 

Another very fine chalice of the same date is in the treasury atCoimbra. Here the round cup is enriched by an arcade, under each arch ofwhich stands a saint, while on the base are leaves and medallions withangels. It is inscribed, 'Geda Menendis me fecit in onore sci. Michaelise. MCLXXXX. ', that is A. D. 1152. 

It was no doubt given by Dom Miguel, who ruled the see from 1162 to 1176and who spent so much on the old cathedral and on its furniture. For himMaster Ptolomeu made silver altar fronts, and the goldsmith Felix a jugand basin for the service of the altar. He also had a gold chalice madeweighing 4 marks, probably the one made by Geda Menendis, and a goldcross to enclose some pieces of the Holy Sepulchre and two pieces of theTrue Cross. 

At Guimarães the chalice of São Torquato is of the thirteenth century. The cup is quite plain and small, but on the wide-spreading base areeight enamels of Our Lady and of seven of the Apostles. 

The finest of all the objects in the Guimarães treasury is the reredos, taken by Dom João I. From the Spanish king's tent after the victory ofAljubarrota, and one of the angels which once went with it. 

The same king also gave to the small church of São Miguel a silverprocessional cross, all embossed with oak leaves, and ending infleurs-de-lys, which rises from two superimposed octagons, covered withGothic ornament. 

Another beautiful cross now at Coimbra has a 'Virgin and Child' in thecentre under a rich canopy, and enamels of the four Evangelists on thearms, while the rest of the surface including the foliated ends iscovered with exquisitely pierced flowing tracery. (Fig. 5. )

Earlier are the treasures which once belonged the Queen St. Isabel whodied in 1327, and which are still preserved at Coimbra. These include abeautiful and simple cross of agate and silver, a curious reliquary madeof a branch of coral with silver mountings, her staff as abbess of St. Clara, shaped like the cross of an Eastern bishop, and with heads ofanimals at the ends of the arms, and a small ark-shaped reliquary ofsilver and coral now set on a high renaissance base. 

But nearly all the surviving church plate dates from the time of DomManoel or his son. 

To Braga Archbishop Diogo de Souza gave a splendid silver-gilt chalicein 1509. Here the cup is adorned above by six angels holding emblems ofthe Passion, and below by six others holding bells. Above them runs aninscription, _Hic est calix sanguinis mei novi et eter_. The stem isentirely covered with most elaborate canopy work, with six Apostles inniches, while on the base are five other Apostles in relief, thearchbishop's arms, and six pieces of enamel. 

Very similar is a splendid chalice in the Misericordia at Oporto, probably of about the same date, and two at Coimbra. In both of thesethe cup is embossed with angels and leafage--in one the angels holdbells--and the stem is covered with tabernacle work. On the base of theone is a _pietà_ with mourning angels and other emblems of the Passionin relief, while that of the other is enriched with filigree work. (Fig. 6. )

Another at Guimarães given by Fernando Alvares is less well proportionedand less beautiful. 

So far the architectural details of the chalices mentioned have beenentirely national, but there is a custodia at Evora, whose interlacingcanopy work seems to betray the influence of the Netherlands. The baseof this custodia[20] or monstrance, in the shape of a chalice seemslater than the upper part, which is surmounted by a rounded canopy whosehanging cusps and traceried panels strongly recall the Flemish work ofthe great reredos in the old cathedral at Coimbra. 

Even more Flemish are a pastoral staff made for Cardinal Henrique, sonof Dom Manoel and afterwards king, a monstrance or reliquary atCoimbra, [21] and another at Guimarães. [22]

Much splendid plate was also given to Santa Cruz at Coimbra by DomManoel, but all--candlesticks, lamps, crosses and a monstrance--havesince vanished, sent to Gôa in India when the canons in the eighteenthcentury wanted something more fashionable. 

Belem also possessed splendid treasures, among them a cross of silverfiligree and jewels which is still preserved. 

Much filigree work is still done in the north, where the young womeninvest their savings in great golden hearts or in beautiful earrings, though now bunches of coloured flowers on huge lockets of coppery goldare much more sought after. 

Curiously, many of the most famous goldsmiths of the sixteenth centurywere Jews. Among them was the Vicente family, a member of which made afine monstrance for Belem in 1505, and which, like other families, wasexpelled from Coimbra to Guimarães between the years 1532 and 1537, anddoubtless wrought some of the beautiful plate for which the treasury ofNossa Senhora is famous. 

The seventeenth century, besides smaller works, has left the greatsilver tomb of the Holy Queen St. Isabel in the new church of SantaClara. Made by order of Bishop Dom Affonso de Castello Branco in 1614, it weighs over 170 lbs. , has at the sides and ends Corinthian columns, leaving panels between them with beautifully chased framing, and asloping top. 

Later and less worthy of notice are the coffins of the two first saintedabbesses of the convent of Lorvão, near Coimbra, in which elaborateacanthus scrolls in silver are laid over red velvet. 

TILE WORK OR AZULEJOS. 

The Moors occupied most of what is now Portugal for a considerablelength of time. The extreme north they held for rather less than twohundred years, the extreme south for more than five hundred. Thisoccupation by a governing class, so different in religion, in race, andin customs from

[Illustration: FIG. 5. 

CROSS AT COIMBRA. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 6. 

CHALICE AT COIMBRA. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 7. 

MONSTRANCE AT COIMBRA. ]

those they ruled, has naturally had a strong influence, not only on thelanguage of Portugal, but also on the art. Though there survive noimportant Moorish buildings dating from before the re-conquest--for theso-called mosque at Cintra is certainly a small Christian church--manywere built after it for Christians by Moorish workmen. 

These, as well as the Arab ceilings, or those derived therefrom, will bedescribed later, but here must be mentioned the tilework, the mostuniversally distributed legacy of the Eastern people who once held theland. There is scarcely a church, certainly scarcely one of any size orimportance which even in the far north has not some lining or dado oftiles, while others are entirely covered with them from floor to ceilingor vault. 

The word _azulejo_ applied to these tiles is derived from the Arabic_azzallaja_ or _azulaich_, meaning _smooth_, or else through the Arabicfrom a Low Latin word _azuroticus_ used by a Gaulish writer of the fifthcentury to describe mosaic[23] and not from the word _azul_ or _blue_. At first each different piece or colour in a geometric pattern was cutbefore firing to the shape required, and the many different pieces whencoloured and fired were put together so as to form a regular mosaic. This method of making tiles, though soon given up in most places asbeing too troublesome, is still employed at Tetuan in Morocco, where incaves near the town the whole process may still be seen; for there themixing of the clay, the cutting out of the small pieces, the colouringand the firing are still carried on in the old primitive and traditionalmanner. [24]

Elsewhere, though similar designs long continued to be used in Spain andPortugal, and are still used in Morocco, the tiles were all made square, each tile usually forming one quarter of the pattern. In them thepattern was formed by lines slightly raised above the surface of thetile so that there was no danger during the firing of the colour runningbeyond the place it was intended to occupy. 

For a long time, indeed right up to the end of the fifteenth century, scarcely anything but Moorish geometric patterns seem to have been used. Then with the renaissance their place was taken by other patterns ofinfinite variety; some have octagons with classic mouldings representedin colour, surrounding radiating green and blue leaves;[25] some morestrictly classical are not unlike Italian patterns; some again are morenaturalistic, while in others the pattern, though not of the oldgeometric form, is still Moorish in design. 

Together with the older tiles of Moorish pattern plain tiles were oftenmade in which each separate tile, usually square, but at timesrhomboidal or oblong, was of one colour, and such tiles were often usedfrom quite early times down at least to the end of the seventeenthcentury. 

More restricted in use were the beautiful embossed tiles found in thepalace at Cintra, in which each has on it a raised green vine-leaf andtendril, or more rarely a dark bunch of grapes. 

Towards the middle of the sixteenth century the Moorish technique oftilemaking, with its patterns marked off by raised edges, began to goout of fashion, and instead the patterns were outlined in dark blue andpainted on to flat tiles. About the same time large pictures painted ontiles came into use, at first, as in the work of Francisco de Mattos, with scenes more or less in their natural colours, and later in thesecond half of the seventeenth century, and in the beginning of theeighteenth in blue on a white ground. 

Towards the end of the eighteenth century blue seems to have usurped theplace of all other colours, and from that time, especially in or nearOporto, tiles were used to mask all the exterior rubble walls of housesand churches, even spires or bulbous domes being sometimes so covered. 

Now in Oporto nearly all the houses are so covered, usually withblue-and-white tiles, though on the more modern they may be embossed andpale green or yellow, sometimes even brown. But all the tiles from thebeginning of the nineteenth century to the present day are marked by thepoverty of the colour and of the pattern, and still more by the hardshiny glaze, which may be technically more perfect, but is infinitelyinferior in beauty to the duller and softer glaze of the previouscenturies. 

When square tiles were used they were throughout singularly uniform insize, being a little below or a little above five inches square. Theground is always white with a slightly blueish tinge. In the earliertiles of Arab pattern the colours are blue, green, and brown; veryrarely, and that in some of the oldest tiles, the pattern may be inblack; yellow is scarcely ever seen. In those of Moorish technique butWestern pattern, the most usual colours are blue, green, yellow and, more rarely, brown. 

Later still in the flat tiles scarcely anything but blue and yellow areused, though the blue and the yellow may be of two shades, light anddark, golden and orange. Brown and green have almost disappeared, and, as was said above, so did yellow at last, leaving nothing but blue andwhite. 

Although there are few buildings which do not possess some tiles, theoldest, those of Moorish design, are rare, and, the best collection isto be found in the old palace at Cintra, of which the greater part wasbuilt by Dom João I. Towards the end of the fourteenth and the beginningof the fifteenth century. 

Formerly all the piers of the old cathedral of Coimbra were covered withsuch tiles, but they have lately been swept away, and only those leftwhich line the aisle walls. 

At Cintra there are a few which it is supposed may have belonged to thepalace of the Walis, or perhaps it would be safer to say to the palacebefore it was rebuilt by Dom João. These are found round a door leadingout of a small room, called from the mermaids on the ceiling the _Saladas Sereias_. The pointed door is enclosed in a square frame by a bandof narrow dark and light tiles with white squares between, arranged inchecks, while in the spandrels is a very beautiful arabesque pattern inblack on a white ground. 

Of slightly later date are the azulejos of the so-called _Sala dosArabes_, where the walls to a height of about six feet are lined withblue, green, and white tiles, the green being square and the otherrhomboidal. Over the doors, which are pointed, a square framing iscarried up, with tiles of various patterns in the spandrels, and abovethese frames, as round the whole walls, runs a very beautiful crestingtwo tiles high. On the lower row are interlacing semicircles in highrelief forming foliated cusps and painted blue. In the spandrels formedby the interlacing of the semicircles are three green leaves growing outfrom a brown flower; in short the design is exactly like a Gothiccorbel table such as was used on Dom João's church at Batalha turnedupside down, and so probably dates from his time. On the second row oftiles there are alternately a tall blue fleur-de-lys with a yellowcentre, and a lower bunch of leaves, three blue at the top and oneyellow on each side; the ground throughout is white. (Fig. 8. )

Also of Dom João's time are the tiles in the _Sala das Pegas_, wherethey are of the regular Moorish pattern--blue, green and brown on awhite ground, and where four go to make up the pattern. The cresting ofgreen scrolls and vases is much later. 

Judging from the cresting in the dining-room or _Sala de Jantar_, where, except that the ground is brown relieved by large white stars, and thatthe cusps are green and not blue, the design is exactly the same as inthe _Sala dos Arabes_, the tiles there must be at least as old as thesecrestings; for though older tiles might be given a more modern cresting, the reverse is hardly likely to occur, and if as old as the crestingsthey may possibly belong to Dom João's time, or at least to the middleof the fifteenth century. (Fig. 9. )

These dining-room tiles, and also those in the neighbouring _Sala dasSereias_, are among the most beautiful in the palace. The ground is asusual white, and on each is embossed a beautiful green vine-leaf withbranches and tendril. Tiles similar, but with a bunch of grapes added, line part of the stair in the picturesque little _Pateo de Diana_ nearat hand, and form the top of the back of the tiled bench and throne inthe _Sala do Conselho_, once an open veranda. Most of this bench iscovered with tiles of Moorish design, but on the front each is stampedwith an armillary sphere in which the axis is yellow, the lines of theequator and tropics green, and the rest blue. These one would certainlytake to be of Dom Manoel's time, for the armillary sphere was hisemblem, but they are said to be older. 

Most of the floor tiles are of unglazed red, except some in the chapel, which are supposed to have formed the paving of the original mosque, andsome in an upper room, worn smooth by the feet of Dom Affonso VI. , whowas imprisoned there for many a year in the seventeenth century. 

When Dom Manoel was making his great addition to the palace in the earlyyears of the sixteenth century he lined the walls of the _Sala dosCysnes_ with tiles forming a check of green

[Illustration: FIG. 8. 

SALA DOS ARABES. PALACE, CINTRA. 

_From a photograph by L. Oram, Cintra. _]

[Illustration: FIG. 9. 

DINING-ROOM, OLD PALACE. CINTRA. 

_From a photograph by L. Oram, Cintra. _]

and white. These are carried up over the doors and windows, and inplaces have a curious cresting of green cones like Moorish battlements, and of castles. 

Much older are the tiles in the central _Pateo_, also green and white, but forming a very curious pattern. 

Of later tiles the palace also has some good examples, such as thehunting scenes with which the walls of the _Sala dos Brazões_ werecovered probably at the end of the seventeenth century, during the reignof Dom Pedro II. 

The palace at Cintra may possess the finest collection of tiles, Moorishboth in technique and in pattern, but it has few or none of the secondclass where the technique remains Moorish but the design is Western. Tosee such tiles in their greatest quantity and variety one must cross theTagus and visit the Quinta de Bacalhôa not far from Setubal. 

There a country house had been built in the last quarter of thefifteenth century by Dona Brites, the mother of Dom Manoel. [26] Thehouse, with melon-roofed corner turrets, simple square windows and twologgias, has an almost classic appearance, and if built in its presentshape in the time of Dona Brites, must be one of the earliest examplesof the renaissance in the country. It has therefore been thought thatBacalhôa may be the mysterious palace built for Dom João II. By Andreada Sansovino, which is mentioned by Vasari, but of which all trace hasbeen lost. However, it seems more likely that it owes its classicwindows to the younger Affonso de Albuquerque, son of the great IndianViceroy, who bought the property in 1528. The house occupies one cornerof a square garden enclosure, while opposite it is a large square tankwith a long pavilion at its southern side. A path runs along thesouthern wall of the garden leading from the house to the tank, and allthe way along this wall are tiled seats and tubs for orange-trees. It ison these tubs and seats that the greatest variety of tiles are found. 

It would be quite impossible to give any detailed description of thesetiles, the patterns are so numerous and so varied. In some the patternis quite classical, in others it still shows traces of Moorishinfluence, while in some again the design is entirely naturalistic. Thisis especially the case in a pattern used in the lake pavilion, whereeight large green leaves are arranged pointing to one centre, and foursmaller brown ones to another, and in a still more beautiful patternused on an orange tub in the garden, where yellow and dark flowers, green and blue leaves are arranged in a circle round eight beautifulfruits shaped like golden pomegranates with blue seeds set among greenleaves and stalks. 

But these thirty or more patterns do not exhaust the interest of theQuinta. There are also some very fine tile pictures, especially one of'Susanna and the Elders, ' and a fragment of the 'Quarrel of the Lapithæand Centaurs' in the pavilion overlooking the tank. 'Susanna and theElders' is particularly good, and is interesting in that on a smalltemple in the background is the date 1565. [27] Rather later seem thefive river gods in the garden loggia of the house, for their strapworkframes of blue and yellow can hardly be as early as 1565; besides, afragment with similar details has on it the letters TOS, no doubt theend of the signature 'Francisco Mattos, ' who also signed some beautifultiles in the church of São Roque at Lisbon in 1584. 

It is known that the entrance to the convent of the Madre de Deus atLisbon was ornamented by Dom Manoel with some della Robbia reliefs, twoof which are now in the Museum. 

On the west side of the tank at Bacalhôa is a wall nearly a hundred feetlong, and framed with tiles. In the centre the water flows into the tankfrom a dolphin above which is an empty niche. There are two other emptyniches, one inscribed _Tempora labuntur more fluentis aquae_, and theother _Vivite victuri moneo mors omnibus instat_. These niches standbetween four medallions of della Robbia ware, some eighteen inchesacross. Two are heads of men and two of women, only one of each beingglazed. The glazed woman's head is white, with yellow hair, a sky-blueveil, and a loose reddish garment all on a blue ground. All arebeautifully modelled and are surrounded by glazed wreaths of fruit andleaves. These four must certainly have come from the della Robbiafactory in Florence, for they, and especially the surrounding wreaths, are exactly like what may be seen so often in North Italy. 

Much less good are six smaller medallions, four of which are muchdestroyed, on the wall leading north from the tank to a pavilion namedthe _Casa da India_, so called from the beautiful Indian hangings withwhich its walls were covered by Albuquerque. In them the modelling isless good and the wreaths are more conventional. 

Lastly, between the tank and the house are twelve others, one under eachof the globes, which, flanked by obelisks, crown the wall. They are allof the same size, but in some the head and the blue backing are not inone place. The wreaths also are inferior even to those of the last six, though the actual heads are rather better. They all represent famous menof old, from Alexander the Great to Nero. Two are broken; that ofAugustus is signed with what may perhaps be read Doñus Vilhelmus, 'Master William, ' who unfortunately is otherwise unknown. 

It seems impossible now to tell where these were made, but they werecertainly inspired by the four genuine Florentine medallions on the tankwall, and if by a native artist are of great interest as showing how menso skilled in making beautiful tiles could also copy the work of a greatItalian school with considerable success. 

Of the third class of tiles, those where the patterns are merely paintedand not raised, there are few examples at Bacalhôa--except when somerestoration has been done--for this manner of tile-painting did notbecome common till the next century, but there are a few with very goodpatterns in the house itself, and close by, the walls of the church ofSão Simão are covered with excellent examples. These were put up by theheads of a brotherhood in 1648, and are almost exactly the same as thosein the church of Alvito; even the small saintly figures over the archesoccur in both. The pattern of Alvito is one of the finest, and is foundagain at Santarem in the church of the Marvilla, where the lower tilesare all of singular beauty and splendid colouring, blue and yellow on awhite ground. Other beautiful tiled interiors are those of the Matriz atCaldas da Rainha, and at Caminha on the Minho. Without seeing thesetiled churches it is impossible to realise how beautiful they reallyare, and how different are these tiles from all modern ones, whose hardsmooth glaze and mechanical perfection make them cold and anything butpleasing. (Figs. 10 and 11, _frontispiece_. )

Besides the picture-tiles at Bacalhôa there are some very good examplesof similar work in the semicircular porch which surrounds the smallround chapel of Sant' Amaro at Alcantara close to Lisbon. The chapelwas built in 1549, and the tiles added about thirty years later. Here, as in the Dominican nunnery at Elvas, and in some exquisite framings andsteps at Bacalhôa, the pattern and architectural details are spread allover the tiles, often making a rich framing to a bishop or saint. Someare not at all unlike Francisco Mattos' work in São Roque, which is alsowell worthy of notice. 

Of the latest pictorial tiles, the finest are perhaps those in thechurch of São João Evangelista at Evora, which tell of the life of SanLorenzo Giustiniani, Venetian Patriarch, and which are signed and dated'Antoninus ab Oliva fecit 1711. '[28] But these blue picture-tiles arealmost the commonest of all, and were made and used up to the end of thecentury. [29]

Now although some of the patterns used are found also in Spain, as atSeville or at Valencia, and although tiles from Seville were used atThomar by João de Castilho, still it is certain that many were of homemanufacture. 

As might be expected from the patterns and technique of the oldesttiles, the first mentioned tilers are Moors. [30] Later there were asmany as thirteen tilemakers in Lisbon, and many were made in thetwenty-eight ovens of _louça de Veneza_, 'Venetian faience. ' The tilesused by Dom Manoel at Cintra came from Belem, while as for the picturetiles the novices of the order of São Thiago at Palmella formed a schoolfamous for such work. 

Indeed it may be said that tilework is the most characteristic featureof Portuguese buildings, and that to it many a church, otherwise poorand even mean, owes whatever interest or beauty it possesses. Withouttiles, rooms like the _Sala das Sereias_ or the _Sala dos Arabes_ wouldbe plain whitewashed featureless apartments, with them they have a charmand a romance not easy to find anywhere but in the East. 

CHAPTER I

THE EARLY BUILDINGS IN THE NORTH

Portugal, like all the other Christian kingdoms of the Peninsula, havingbegun in the north, first as a county or march land subject to the kingof Galicia or of Leon, and later, since 1139, as an independent kingdom, it is but natural to find nearly all the oldest buildings in those partsof the country which, earliest freed from the Moslem dominion, formedthe original county. The province of Entre Minho-e-Douro has always beenheld by the Portuguese to be the most beautiful part of their country, and it would be difficult to find anywhere valleys more beautiful thanthose of the Lima, the Cavado, or the Ave. Except the mountain range ofthe Marão which divides this province from the wilder and drierTras-os-Montes, or the Gerez which separates the upper waters of theCavado and of the Lima, and at the same time forms part of the northernfrontier of Portugal, the hills are nowhere of great height. They areall well covered with woods, mostly of pine, and wherever a piece oftolerably level ground can be found they are cultivated with the care ofa garden. All along the valleys, and even high up the hillsides amongthe huge granite boulders, there is a continuous succession of smallvillages. Many of these, lying far from railway or highroad, can only bereached by narrow and uneven paths, along which no carriage can passexcept the heavy creaking carts drawn by the beautiful large long-hornedoxen whose broad and splendidly carved yokes are so remarkable a featureof the country lying between the Vouga and the Cavado. [31] In many ofthese villages may still be seen churches built soon after theexpulsion of the Moors, and long before the establishment of theMonarchy. Many of them originally belonged to some monastic body. Ofthese the larger part have been altered and spoiled during theseventeenth or eighteenth centuries, when, after the expulsion of theSpaniards, the country began again to grow rich from trade with therecovered colony of Brazil. Still enough remains to show that these oldromanesque churches differed in no very striking way from the generalromanesque introduced into Northern Spain from France, except that as arule they were smaller and ruder, and were but seldom vaulted. 

That these early churches should be rude is not surprising. They arebuilt of hard grey granite. When they were built the land was stillliable to incursions, and raids from the south, such as the famous forayof Almansor, who harried and burned the whole land not sparing even theshrine of Santiago far north in Galicia. Their builders were stilllittle more than a race of hardy soldiers with no great skill in theworking of stone. Only towards the end of the twelfth century, longafter the border had been advanced beyond the Mondego and after Coimbrahad become the capital of a new county, did the greater security as wellas the very fine limestone of the lower Mondego valley make it possiblefor churches to be built at Coimbra which show a marked advance inconstruction as well as in elaboration of detail. Between the Mondegoand the Tagus there are only four or five churches which can be calledromanesque, and south of the Tagus only the cathedral of Evora, begunabout 1186 and consecrated some eighteen years later, is romanesque, constructively at least, though all its arches have become pointed. 

But to return north to Entre Minho-e-Douro, where the oldest and mostnumerous romanesque churches exist and where three types may be seen. Ofthese the simplest and probably the oldest is that of an aisleless navewith simple square chancel. In the second the nave has one or twoaisles, and at the end of these aisles a semicircular apse, but with thechancel still square: while in the third and latest the plan has beenfurther developed and enlarged, though even here the main chancelgenerally still remains square. 

[Sidenote: Villarinho. ]

There yet exist, not far from Oporto, a considerable number of examplesof the first type, though several by their pointed doorways show thatthey actually belong, in part at least, to the period of the Transition. One of the best-preserved is the small church of Villarinho, not farfrom Vizella in the valley of the Ave. Originally the church of a smallmonastery, it has long been the parish church of a mountain hamlet, andtill it was lately whitewashed inside had scarcely been touched sincethe day it was finished some time before the end of the twelfth century. It consists of a rather high and narrow nave, a square-ended chancel, and to the west a lower narthex nearly as large as the chancel. Thechurch is lit by very small windows which are indeed mere slits, and bya small round opening in the gable above the narthex. [32] The narthex isentered by a perfectly plain round-headed door with strong impost anddrip-mould, while above the corbels which once carried the roof of alean-to porch, a small circle enclosing a rude unglazed quatrefoilserves as the only window. The door leading from the narthex to the naveis much more elaborate; of four orders of mouldings, the two inner areplain, the two outer have a big roll at the angle, and all are slightlypointed. Except the outermost, which springs from square jambs, they allstand on the good romanesque capitals of six shafts, four round and twooctagonal. (Fig. 12. )

[Sidenote: São Miguel, Guimarães. ]

Exactly similar in plan but without a narthex is the church of SãoMiguel at Guimarães, famous as being the church in which AffonsoHenriques, the first king of Portugal, was baptized in 1111. It claimsto have been the _Primaz_ or chief church of the whole archdiocese ofBraga. It is, like Villarinho, a small and very plain church built ofgreat blocks of granite, with a nave and square chancel lit by narrowwindow slits. On the north side there are a plain square-headed doorwayand two bold round arches let into the outer wall over the graves ofsome great men of these distant times. The drip-mould of one of thesearches is carved with a shallow zigzag ornament which is repeated on thewestern door, a door whose slightly pointed arch may mean a rather laterdate than the rest of the church. The wooden roof, as at Villarinho, hasa very gentle slope with eaves of considerable projection resting onvery large plain corbels, while other corbels lower down the wall seemto show that at one time a veranda or cloister ran round three sides ofthe building. The whole is even ruder and simpler than Villarinho, buthas a certain amount of dignity due to the great size of the stones ofwhich it is built and to the severe plainness of the walling. 

[Sidenote: Cedo Feita, Oporto. ]

Only one other church of this type need be described, and that becauseit is the only one which is vaulted throughout. This is the small churchof São Martim de Cedo Feita or 'Early made' at Oporto itself. It is socalled because it claims, wrongly indeed, to be the very church whichTheodomir, king of the Suevi, who then occupied the north-west of thePeninsula, hurriedly built in 559 A. D. This he did in order that, havingbeen converted from the Arian beliefs he shared with all the Germanicinvaders of the Empire, he might there be baptized into the Catholicfaith, and also that he might provide a suitable resting-place for somerelic of St. Martin of Tours which had been sent to him as a mark ofOrthodox approval. This story[33] is set forth in a long inscription onthe tympanum of the west door stating that it was put there in 1767, acopy taken in 1557 from an old stone having then been found in thearchives of the church. As a matter of fact no part of the church can beolder than the twelfth century, and it has been much altered, probablyat the date when the inscription was cut. It is a small building, abarrel-vaulted nave and chancel, with a door on the north side and alarger one to the west now covered by a large porch. The six capitals ofthis door are very like those at Villarinho, but the moulded arches areround and not as there pointed. 

Other churches of this type are Gandara and Boelhe near Penafiel, andEja not far off--a building of rather later date with a fine pointedchancel arch elaborately carved with foliage--São Thiago d'Antas, nearFamilicão, a slightly larger church with good capitals to the chancelarch, a good south door and another later west door with traceried roundwindow above;

[Illustration: FIG. 12. 

CHURCH AT VILLARINHO. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 13. 

VILLAR DE FRADES. 

W. DOOR. ]

and São Torquato, near Guimarães, rather larger, having once hadtransepts of which one survives, with square chancel and square chapelsto the east; one of the simplest of all having no ornament beyond thecorbel table and the small slitlike windows. 

South of the Douro, but still built of granite, are a group of three orfour small churches at Trancoso. Another close to Guarda has a muchricher corbel table with a large ball ornament on the cornice and around window filled with curiously built-up tracery above the plain, round-arched west door, while further south on the castle hill at Leiriaare the ruins of the small church of São Pedro built of fine limestonewith a good west door. 

[Sidenote: Aguas Santas. ]

Of the second and rather larger type there are fewer examples stillremaining, and of these perhaps the best is the church of Aguas Santassome seven miles north-east of Oporto. Originally the church consistedof a nave with rectangular chancel and a north aisle with an easternapse roofed with a semi-dome. Later a tower with battlemented top andlow square spire was built at the west end of the aisle, and some thirtyyears ago another aisle was added on the south side. As in most of thesmaller churches the chancel is lower than the nave, leaving room aboveits roof for a large round window, now filled up except for a smalltraceried circle in the centre. The most highly decorated part is thechancel, which like all the rest of the church has a good corbel table, and about two-thirds of the way up a string course richly covered withbillet moulding. Interrupting this on the south side are tworound-headed windows, still small but much larger than the slits foundin the older churches. In each case, in a round-headed opening therestand two small shafts with bases and elaborately carved capitals butwithout any abaci, supporting a large roll moulding, and these are allrepeated inside at the inner face of a deep splay. In one of thesewindows not only are the capitals covered with intertwined ribbon-work, but each shaft is covered with interknotted circles enclosing flowers, and there is a band of interlacing work round the head of the actualwindow opening. Inside the church has been more altered. Formerly theaisle was separated from the nave by two arches, but when the southaisle was built the central pier was taken out and the two arches throwninto one large and elliptical arch, but the capitals of the chancelarch and the few others that remain are all well wrought and welldesigned. The west door is a good simple example of the first pointedperiod, with plain moulded arches and shafts which bear simpleFrench-looking capitals. Other churches of the same class are those ofSão Christovão do Rio Mau not far from Villo do Conde, and São Pedro deRates, a little further up the Ave at the birthplace of the first bishopof Braga and earliest martyr of Portugal. São Pedro is a little later, as the aisle arches are all pointed, and is a small basilica of nave andaisles with short transepts, chancel and eastern chapels. 

[Sidenote: Villar de Frades. ]

The two earliest examples of the third and most highly developed type, the church of Villar de Frades and the cathedral of Braga, haveunfortunately both suffered so terribly, the one from destruction andthe other from rebuilding, that not much has been left to show what theywere originally like--barely enough to make it clear that they were muchmore elaborately decorated, and that their carved work was much betterwrought than in any of the smaller churches already mentioned. A shortdistance to the south of the river Cavado and about half-way betweenBraga and Barcellos, in a well-watered and well-wooded region, thereexisted from very early Christian times a monastery called Villar, andlater Villar de Frades. During the troubles and disorders which followedthe Moslem invasion, this Benedictine monastery had fallen into completedecay and so remained till it was restored in 1070 by Godinho Viegas. Although again deserted some centuries later and refounded in 1425 asthe mother house of a new order--the Loyos--the fifteenth-century churchwas so built as to leave at least a part of the front of the old ruinedchurch standing between itself and the monastic building, as well as theruins of an apse behind. Probably this old west front was the last partof Godinho's church to be built, but it is certainly more or lesscontemporary with some portions of the cathedral of Braga. 

At some period, which the legend leaves quite uncertain, one of themonks of this monastery was one day in the choir at matins, when theycame to that Psalm where it is said that 'a thousand years in the sightof God are but as yesterday when it is gone, ' and the old monk wonderedgreatly and began to think what that could mean. When matins were overhe remained praying as was his wont, and begged Our Lord to give himsome understanding of that verse. Then there appeared to him a littlebird which, singing most sweetly, flew this way and that, and so littleby little drew him towards a wood which grew near the monastery, andthere rested on a tree while the servant of God stood below to listen. After what seemed to the monk a short time it took flight, to the greatsorrow of God's servant, who said, 'Bird of my Soul, where art thou goneso soon?' He waited, and when he saw that it did not return he went backto the monastery thinking it still that same morning on which he hadcome out after matins. When he arrived he found the door, through whichhe had come, built up and a new one opened in another place. The porterasked who he was and what he wanted, and he answered, 'I am thesacristan who a few hours ago went out, and now returning find allchanged. ' He gave too the names of the Abbot and of the Prior, andwondered much that the porter still would not let him in, and seemed notto remember these names. At last he was led to the Abbot, but they didnot know one another, so that the good monk was all confused and amazedat so strange an event. Then the Abbot, enlightened of God, sent for theannals and histories of the order, found there the names the old man hadgiven, so making it clear that more than three hundred years had passedsince he had gone out. He told them all that had happened to him, wasreceived as a brother; and after praising God for the great marvel whichhad befallen him, asked for the sacraments and soon passed from thislife in great peace. [34]

Whether the ruined west front of the older church be that which existedwhen the bird flew out through the door or not, it is or has been ofvery considerable beauty. Built, like everything else in the north, ofgranite, all that is now left is a high wall of carefully wrought stone. Below is a fine round arched door of considerable size, now roughlyblocked up. It has three square orders covered with carving and a plaininner one. First is a wide drip-mould carved on the outer side with azigzag threefold ribbon, and on the inner with three rows of what lookslike a rude attempt to copy the classic bead-moulding; then the firstorder, of thirteen voussoirs, each with the curious figure of astrangely dressed man or with a distorted monster. This with thedrip-mould springs from a billet-moulded abacus resting on broad squarepiers. Of the two inner carved orders, the outer is covered on bothfaces with innumerable animals and birds, and the other with a delicatepattern of interlacing bands. These two spring from strange square abaciresting on the carved capitals of round shafts, two on each side. A fewfeet above the door runs a billet-moulded string course, and two orthree feet higher another and slighter course. On this stands a largewindow of two orders. Of these the outer covered with animals springsfrom shafts and capitals very like those of the doorway, and the innerhas a billet-moulded edge and an almost Celtic ornament on the face. Nowwhether Villar be older than the smaller buildings in the neighbourhoodor not, it is undoubtedly quite different not only in style but inexecution. It is not only much larger and higher, but it is better builtand the carving is finer and more carefully wrought. (Fig. 13. )

It is known that the great cathedral of Santiago in Galicia was begun in1078, just about the time Villar must have been building, and Santiagois an almost exact copy in granite of what the great abbey church of S. Sernin at Toulouse was intended to be, so that it may be assumed thatBernardo who built the cathedral was, if not a native of Toulouse, atany rate very well acquainted with what was being done there. If, then, a native of Languedoc was called in to plan so important a church inGalicia, it is not unlikely that other foreigners were also employed inthe county of Portugal--at that time still a part of Galicia; and infact many churches in the south-west of what is now France have doorwaysand windows whose general design is very like that at Villar de Frades, if allowance be made for the difference of material, granite here, finelimestone there, and for a comparative want of skill in the workmen. [35]

[Sidenote: Sé, Braga. ]

Probably these foreigners were not invited to Portugal for the sake ofthe church of a remote abbey like Villar, but to work at themetropolitan cathedral of Braga. The see of Braga is said to have beenfounded by São Pedro de Rates, a disciple of St. James himself, and inconsequence of so distinguished an origin its archbishops claim theprimacy not only of all Portugal, but even of all the Spains, a claimwhich is of course disputed by the patriarch of Lisbon, not to speak ofthe archbishops of Toledo and of Tarragona. However that may be, thecathedral of Braga is not now, and can never have been, quite worthy ofsuch high pretensions. It is now a church with a nave and aisles of sixbays, a transept with four square chapels to the east, a chancelprojecting beyond the chapels, and at the west two towers with the maindoor between and a fine porch beyond. 

Count Henry of Burgundy married Dona Theresa and received the earldom ofPortugal from his father-in-law, Alfonso VI. Of Castile and Leon, in1095, and he and his wife rebuilt the cathedral--where they now lieburied--before the end of the century. By that time it may well havebecome usual, if the churches were important, to call in a foreigner tooversee its erection. Of the original building little now remains butthe plan and two doorways, the chancel having been rebuilt and the porchadded in the sixteenth, and the whole interior beplastered and bepaintedin the worst possible style in the seventeenth, century. Of the twodoors the western has been very like that at Villar. It has only twoorders left, of which the outer, though under a deep arch, has abillet-moulded drip-mould, and its voussoirs each carved with a figureon the outer and delicate flutings on the under side, while the innerhas on both faces animals and monsters which, better wrought than thoseat Villar, are even more like so many in the south-west of France. Theother doorway, on the south side next the south-west tower, is farbetter preserved. It has three shafts on each side, all with goodcapitals and abaci, from which spring two carved and one plain arch. Theouter has a rich drip-mould covered with a curious triple arrangement ofcircles, has flutings on the one face and a twisting ribbon on theother, while the next has leaf flutings on both faces, and both aroll-moulding on the angle. The inner order is quite plain, but thetympanum has in the centre a circle enclosing a cross with expandingarms, the spaces between the arms and the circle being pierced and thewhole surrounded with intertwining ribbons. 

[Sidenote: Sé, Oporto. ]

Another foundation of Count Henry's was the cathedral of Oporto, which, judging from its plan, must have been very like that of Braga, but ithas been so horribly transformed during the seventeenth and eighteenthcenturies that nothing now remains of the original building but part ofthe walls; for the fine western rose window must have been insertedabout the middle of the thirteenth century. 

[Sidenote: Paço de Souza. ]

Except the tragedy of Inez de Castro, there is no story in Portuguesehistory more popular or more often represented in the engravings whichadorn a country inn dining-room than that of the surrender of Egas Monizto Alfonso VII. Of Castile and Leon, when his pupil Affonso Henriques, beginning to govern for himself, refused to fulfil the agreement[36]whereby Egas had induced Alfonso to raise the siege of the castle ofGuimarães. And it is the fact that the church of São Salvador at Paço deSouza contains his tomb, which adds not a little to the interest of thebest-preserved of the churches of the third type. Egas Moniz died in1144, and at least the eastern part of the church may have existedbefore then. The chancel, where the tomb first stood, is rather long andhas as usual a square east end while the two flanking chapels areapsidal. The rest of the church, which may be a little later, as all thelarger arches are pointed, consists of a nave and aisles of three bays, a transept, and a later tower standing on the westernmost bay of thesouth aisle. The constructive scheme of the inside is interesting, though a modern boarded vault has done its best to hide what it formerlywas. The piers are cross-shaped with a big semicircular shaft on eachface, and a large roll-moulding on each angle which is continued upabove the abacus to form an outer order for both the aisle and the mainarches, for large arches are carried across the nave and aisles fromnorth to south as if it had been intended to roof the church with anordinary groined vault. However, it is clear that this was not reallythe case, and indeed it could hardly have been so as practically novaults had yet been built in the country except a few small barrels. Indeed, though later the Portuguese became very skilful at vaulting, they were at no time fond of a nave with high groined vault upheld byflying buttresses, and low aisles, for there seems to have been nevermore than three or four in the country, one of which, the choir ofLisbon Cathedral, fell in 1755. Instead of groined vaults, barrel vaultscontinued to be used where a stone roof was wanted, even till the middleof the fourteenth century and later, long after they had been given upelsewhere, but usually a roof of wood was thought sufficient, sometimesresting, as was formerly the case here, on transverse arches thrownacross the nave and aisles. This was the system adopted in thecathedrals of Braga and of Oporto before they were altered, in thischurch and in that of Pombeiro not far off, and in that of Bayona nearVigo in Galicia. [37] (Fig. 14. )

All the details are extremely refined--almost Byzantine in theirdelicacy--especially the capitals, and the abaci against the walls, which are carried along as a beautiful string course from pier to pier. The bases too are all carved, some with animals' heads and some withsmall seated figures at the angles, while the faces of the square blocksbelow are covered with beautiful leaf ornament. But the most curiousthing in the whole church is the tomb of Egas Moniz himself. [38] (Fig. 15. ) Till the eighteenth century it stood in the middle of the chancel, then it was cut in two and put half against the wall of the south aisle, and half against that of the north. It has on it three bands ofornament. Of these the lowest is a rudely carved chevron with what aremeant for leaves between, the next, a band of small figures includingEgas on his deathbed and what is supposed to be three of his childrenriding side by side on an elongated horse with a camel-like head, andthat on the top, larger figures showing him starting on his fatefuljourney to the court of Alfonso of Castile and Leon and parting from hisweeping wife. Although very rude, --all the horses except that of Egashimself having most unhorselike heads and legs, --some of the figures arecarved with a certain not unpleasing vigour, especially that of aspear-bearing attendant who marches with swinging skirts behind hismaster's horse. Outside the most remarkable feature is the fine westdoor, with its eight shafts, four on each side, some round and someoctagonal, the octagonal being enriched with an ornament like theEnglish dog-tooth, with their finely carved cubical capitals and richabaci, and with the four orders of mouldings, two of which are enrichedwith ball ornament. Outside, instead of a drip-mould, runs a broad bandcovered with plaited ribbon. On the tympanum, which rests on corbelssupported on one side by the head of an ox and on the other by that of aman, are a large circle enclosing a modern inscription, and two smallercircles in which are the symbols of the Sun and Moon upheld by curiouslittle half-figures. The two apses east of the transept are of thepattern universal in Southern Europe, being divided into three equalparts by half-shafts with capitals and crowned with an overhangingcorbel table. 

[Sidenote: Pombeiro. ]

The abbey church of Pombeiro, near Guimarães, must once have been verysimilar to São Salvador at Paço de Souza, except that the nave is a gooddeal longer, and that it once had a large narthex, destroyed about ahundred and fifty years ago by an abbot who wished to add to the westfront the two towers and square spires which still exist. So full wasthis narthex of tombs that from the arms on them it had become a sort ofHeralds' College for the whole of the north of Portugal, but now onlytwo remain in the shallow renaissance porch between the towers. As atPaço de Souza, the oldest part of the church is the east end, where thetwo apses flanking the square chancel remain unaltered. They are dividedas usual by semicircular shafts bearing good romanesque capitals, andcrowned by a cornice of three small arches to each division, each cutout of one stone, and resting on corbels and on the capitals. Of thewest front only the fine doorway is left unchanged; pointed in shape, but romanesque in detail; having three of the five orders, carved onewith grotesque animals and two with leafage. Above the shallow porch isa large round window with renaissance tracery, but retaining itsoriginal framing of a round arch resting on tall shafts with romanesquecapitals. Everything else has been altered, the inside being coveredwith elaborate rococo painted and gilt plaster-work, and the outsidedisfigured by shapeless rococo windows. 

Although some, and especially the last two of the buildings describedabove belong, in part at least, to the time of transition fromromanesque to first pointed, and although the group of churches atCoimbra are wholly romanesque, it would be better to have done with allthat can be ascribed to a period older than the beginning of thePortuguese monarchy before following Affonso Henriques in his successfulefforts to extend his kingdom southwards to the Tagus. 

Although Braga was the ecclesiastical capital of their fief, [Illustration: FIG. 14. 

CHURCH, PAÇO DE SOUZA. 

NAVE. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 15. 

PAÇO DE SOUZA. 

TOMB OF EGAS MONIZ. ]

[Sidenote: Guimarães, Castle. ]

Count Henry and his wife lived usually at Guimarães, a small town somefifteen miles to the south. Towards the beginning of the tenth centurythere died D. Hermengildo Gonçalves Mendes, count of Tuy and Porto, whoby his will left Vimaranes, as it was then called, to his widow, Mumadona. About 927 she there founded a monastery and built a castle forits defence, and this castle, which had twice suffered from Mosleminvaders, was restored or rebuilt by Count Henry, and there in 1111 wasborn his son Affonso Henriques, who was later to become the first kingof the new and independent kingdom of Portugal. Henry died soon after, in 1114, at Astorga, perhaps poisoned by his sister-in-law, Urraca, queen of Castile and Leon, and for several years his widow governed hislands as guardian for their son. 

Thirteen years after Count Henry's death, in 1127, the castle was thescene of the famous submission of Egas Moniz to the Spanish king, andthis, together with the fact that Affonso Henriques was born there, hasgiven it a place in the romantic history of Portugal which is ratherhigher than what would seem due to a not very important building. Thecastle stands to the north of the town on a height which commands allthe surrounding country. Its walls, defended at intervals by squaretowers, are built among and on the top of enormous granite boulders, andenclose an irregular space in which stands the keep. The inhabited partof the castle ran along the north-western wall where it stood highestabove the land below, but it has mostly perished, leaving only a fewwindows which are too large to date from the beginning of the twelfthcentury. The square keep stands within a few feet of the western wall, rises high above it, and was reached by a drawbridge from the walk onthe top of the castle walls. Its wooden floors are gone, its windows aremere slits, and like the rest of the castle it owes its distinctiveappearance to the battlements which crown the whole building, and whosemerlons are plain blocks of stone brought to a sharp point at the top. This feature, which is found in all the oldest Portuguese castles suchas that of Almourol on an island in the Tagus near Abrantes, and even onsome churches such as the old cathedral at Coimbra and the later churchat Leça de Balio, is one of the most distinct legacies left by theMoors: here the front of each merlon is perpendicular to the top, butmore usually it is finished in a small sharp pyramid. 

[Sidenote: Church. ]

The other foundation of Mumadona, the monastery of Nossa Senhora and SãoSalvador in the town of Guimarães, had since her day twice suffereddestruction at the hands of the Moors, once in 967 when the castle wastaken by Al-Coraxi, emir of Seville, and thirty years later whenAlmansor[39] in 998 swept northwards towards Galicia, sacking andburning as he went. At the time when Count Henry and Dona Teresa wereliving in the castle, the double Benedictine monastery for men and womenhad fallen into decay, and in 1109 Count Henry got a Papal Bull changingthe foundation into a royal collegiate church under a Dom Prior, and atonce began to rebuild it, a restoration which was not finished till1172. Since then the church has been wholly and the cloisters partlyrebuilt by João I. At the end of the fourteenth century, but some archesof the cloister and the entrance to the chapter-house may very likelydate from Count Henry's time. These cloisters occupy a very unusualposition. Starting from the north transept they run round the back ofthe chancel, along the south side of the church outside the transept, and finally join the church again near the west front. The large roundarches have chamfered edges; the columns are monoliths of granite abouteighteen inches thick; the bases and the abaci all romanesque in form, though many of the capitals, as can be seen from their shape andcarving, are of the fourteenth or even fifteenth century, showing howJuan Garcia de Toledo, who rebuilt the church for Dom João I. , tried, inrestoring the cloister, to copy the already existing features and asusual betrayed the real date by his later details. A few of the oldcapitals still remain, and are of good romanesque form such as may beseen in any part of southern France or in Spain. [40] To thechapter-house, a plain oblong room with a panelled wood ceiling, thereleads, from the east cloister walk, an unaltered archway, flanked asusual by two openings, one on either side. The doorway arch is plain, slightly horseshoe in shape, and is carried by short strong half-columnswhose capitals are elaborately carved with animals and twistingbranches, the animals, as is often the case, [Illustration: FIG. 16. 

DOOR OF CHAPTER HOUSE, N. S. DA OLIVEIRA. 

GUIMARÃES. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 17. 

CLOISTER. 

LEÇA DO BALIO. ]

being set back to back at the angles so that one head does duty for eachpair. Above is a large hollow hood-mould exactly similar to those whichenclose the side windows. The two lights of these windows are separatedby short coupled shafts whose capitals, derived from the Corinthian orComposite, have stiff leaves covering the change from the round to thesquare, and between them broad tendrils which end in very carefully cutvolutes at the angles. The heads themselves are markedly horseshoe inshape, which at first sight suggests some Moorish influence, but ineverything else the details are so thoroughly Western, and by 1109 sucha long time, over a hundred years, had passed since the Moors had beenpermanently expelled from that part of the country, that it were betterto see in these horseshoes an unskilled attempt at stilting, rather thanthe work of some one familiar with Eastern forms. (Fig. 16. )

CHAPTER II

THE EARLY BUILDINGS IN THE SOUTH

In 1057 Fernando, king of Castile, Leon and Galicia crossed the Douro, took Lamego, where the lower part of the tower is all that is left ofthe romanesque cathedral, and is indeed the only romanesque tower in thecountry. Vizeu fell soon after, and seven years later he advanced hisborders to the Mondego by the capture of Coimbra. The Mondego, the onlylarge river whose source and mouth are both in Portugal, long remainedthe limit of the Christian dominion, and nearly a hundred years were topass before any further advance was made. In 1147 Affonso Henriques, whohad but lately assumed the title of king, convinced at last that he waswasting his strength in trying to seize part of his cousin's dominionsof Galicia, determined to turn south and extend his new kingdom in thatdirection. Accordingly in March of that year he secretly led his armyagainst Santarem, one of the strongest of the Moorish cities standinghigh above the Tagus on an isolated hill. The vezir, Abu-Zakariah, wassurprised before he could provision the town, so that the garrison wereable to offer but a feeble resistance, and the Christians entered afterthe attack had lasted only a few days. Before starting the king hadvowed that if successful he would found a monastery in token of hisgratitude, and though its vast domestic buildings are now but barracksand court-houses, the great Cistercian abbey of Alcobaça still stands toshow how well his vow was fulfilled. 

Although Santarem was taken in 1147, the first stone of Alcobaça was notlaid till 1153, and the building was carried out very slowly and in astyle, imported directly from France, quite foreign to any previous workin Portugal. It were better, therefore, before coming to this, thelargest church and the richest foundation in the whole country, to havedone with the other churches which though contemporary with Alcobaçaare not the work of French but of native workmen, or at least of such ashad not gone further than to Galicia for their models. 

[Sidenote: Sé, Lisbon. ]

The same year that saw the fall of Santarem saw also the more importantcapture of Lisbon. Taken by the Moors in 714, it had long been theircapital, and although thrice captured by the Christians had always beenrecovered. In this enterprise Affonso Henriques was helped by a body ofCrusaders, mostly English, who sailing from Dartmouth were persuaded bythe bishop of Oporto to begin their Holy War in Portugal, and whenLisbon fell, one of them, Gilbert of Hastings, was rewarded by beingmade its first bishop. Of the cathedral, begun three years later, in1150, little but the plan of the nave and transept has survived. Muchinjured by an earthquake in 1344, the whole choir was rebuilt on aFrench model by Affonso IV. Only to be again destroyed in 1755. Theoriginal plan must have been very like that of Braga, an aislelesstransept, a nave and aisles of six bays, and two square towers beyondwith a porch between. The two towers are now very plain with largebelfry windows near the top, but there are traces here and there of oldbuilt-up round-headed openings which show that the walls at least arereally old. The outer arch of the porch has been rebuilt since theearthquake, but the original door remains inside, with a carvedhood-mould, rich abacus, and four orders of mouldings enriched withsmall balls in their hollows. The eight plain shafts stand on unusuallyhigh pedestals and have rather long capitals, some carved with flatacanthus leaves and some with small figures of men and animals. 

Like that of the cathedral of Coimbra, which was being built about thesame time, the inside is clearly founded on the great cathedral ofSantiago, itself a copy of S. Sernin at Toulouse, and quite uninfluencedby the French design of Alcobaça. The piers are square with a half-shafton each face, the arches are round, and the aisles covered with plainunribbed fourpart vaulting, while the main aisle is roofed with a roundbarrel. Instead of the large open gallery, which at Santiago allows thequadrant vault supporting the central barrel to be seen, there is here alow blind arcade of small round arches. Unfortunately, when restoredafter the disaster of 1755 the whole inside was plastered, all thecapitals both of the main

[Illustration: PLAN OF CATHEDRAL, LISBON]

piers and of the gallery were converted into a semblance of giltCorinthian capitals, and large skylights were cut through the vault. Only the inside of the low octagonal lantern remains to show that thechurch must have been at least as interesting, if not more so, than theSé Velha or old cathedral at Coimbra. If the nave has suffered such atransformation the fourteenth-century choir has been even worsetreated. The whole upper part, which once was as high as the top of thelantern, fell and was re-roofed in a most miserable manner, having onlythe ambulatory and its chapels uninjured. But these, the cloister and arather fine chapel to the north-west of the nave, had better be left foranother chapter. [41]

[Sidenote: Sé Velha, Coimbra. ]

[Illustration: PLAN OF CATHEDRAL, COIMBRA]

Smaller but much better preserved than Lisbon Cathedral is the Sé Velhaor old cathedral of Coimbra. According to the local tradition, thecathedral is but a mosque turned into a church after the Christianconquest, and it may well be that in the time of Dom Sesnando, the firstgovernor of Coimbra--a Moor who, becoming a Christian, was made count ofCoimbra by King Fernando, and whose tomb, broken open by the French, maystill be seen outside the north wall of the church--the chief mosque ofthe town was used as the cathedral. But although an Arab inscription[42]is built into the outer wall of the nave, there can be no doubt that thepresent building is as Christian in plan and design as any church canbe. If the nave of the cathedral of Lisbon is like Santiago inconstruction, the nave here is, on a reduced scale, undoubtedly a copyof Santiago not only constructively but also in its general details. Thepiers are shorter but of the same plan, the great triforium gallerylooks towards the nave, as at Santiago and at Toulouse, by a doubleopening whose arches spring from single shafts at the sides to rest ondouble shafts in the centre, both being enclosed under one larger arch, while the barrel vault and the supporting vaults of the gallery areexactly similar. Now Santiago was practically finished in 1128, andthere still exists a book called the _Livro Preto_ in which is given alist of the gifts made by Dom Miguel, who ruled the see of Coimbra from1162 to 1176, towards the building and adorning of the church. Nothingis said as to when the church was begun, but we are told that Dom Miguelgave 124 morabitinos to Master Bernardo[43] who had directed thebuilding for ten years; the presents too of bread and wine made to hissuccessor Soeiro are also mentioned, so that it seems probable that thechurch may have been begun soon after Dom Miguel became bishop, and thatit was finished some time before the end of his episcopate. 

Though the nave is like that of Santiago, the transepts and choir aremuch simpler. There the transept is long and has an aisle on each side;here it is short and aisleless. There the choir is deep with asurrounding aisle and radiating chapels, here it is a simple apseflanked by two smaller apses. Indeed throughout the whole of thePeninsula the French east end was seldom used except in churches of adistinctly foreign origin, such as Santiago, Leon or Toledo in Spain, orAlcobaça in Portugal, and so it is natural here to find Bernardorejecting the elaboration and difficult construction of his model, andreturning to the simpler plan which had already been so often used inthe north. (Fig. 18. )

Inside the piers are square with four half-shafts, one of which runs upin front to carry the barrel vault, which is about sixty feet high. Allthe capitals are well carved, and a moulded string which runs alongunder the gallery is curiously returned against the vaulting shafts asif it had once been carried round them and had afterwards been cut off. Almost the only light in the nave comes from small openings in thegalleries, the aisle windows being nearly all blocked up by lateraltars, and from a large window at the west end. The transept on theother hand is very light, with several windows at either end, and eightin the square lantern, so that the effect is extremely good of the darknave followed by the brilliant transept and ending in a great carved andgilt reredos. This reredos, reaching up to the blue-and-gold apse vault, was given to the cathedral in 1508 by Bishop D. Jorge d'Almeida, and wasthe work of 'Master Vlimer a Framengo, ' that is, a Fleming, and of hispartner, João D'ipri, or of Ypres, two of the many foreigners who atthat time worked for King D. Manoel. There are several picturesque tombsin the church, especially two in the north-east corner of the transept, whose recesses still retain their original tile decoration. Later tilesstill cover the aisle walls and altar recesses, but beautiful examplesof the Mozárabe or Moorish style which once covered the piers of thenave, as well as the wooden choir gallery with its finely panelled underside, have been swept away by a recent well-meaning if mistakenrestoration. The outside of the church is more unusual than the inside. The two remaining original apses are much hidden by the sacristy, builtprobably by Bishop Jorge de Castello Branco in 1593, but in theirdetails they are greatly like those of the church of San Isidoro atLeon, and being like it built of fine limestone, are much moredelicately ornamented than are those of any of the granite churchesfurther north. The side aisles are but little lower than the centralaisle or than the transepts, and are all crowned with battlements verylike those on the castle of Guimarães. The buttresses are only shallowstrips, which in the transepts are united by round arches, but in theaisles end among the battlements in a larger merlon. The west front isthe most striking and original part of the whole church. Below, at thesides, a perfectly plain window lights the aisles, some feet above itruns a string course, on which stands a small two-light window for thegallery, flanked by larger blind arches, and then many feet of blankwalling ending in battlements. Between these two aisle ends thereprojects about ten feet a large doorway or porch. This doorway is ofconsiderable size; some of its eight shafts are curiously twisted andcarved, its capitals are very refined and elaborate, and its arches wellmoulded with, as at Lisbon, small bosses in the hollows. The abacus isplain, and the broad pilasters which carry the outermost order arebeautifully carved on the broader face with a small running pattern ofleaves. The same 'black book' which tells of the bishop's gifts to thechurch, tells how a certain Master Robert came four times from Lisbon toperfect the work of the door, and how each time he received sevenmorabitinos, besides ten for his expenses, as well as bread, wine andmeat for his four apprentices and food for his four asses. It is notoften that the name of a man who worked on a mediæval church has beenso preserved, and it is worth noticing that the west door at Lisbon hason it exactly the same ball ornament as that with which Master Robertand his four helpers enriched the archway here. Above the door runs anarched corbel table on which stands the one large window which thechurch possesses. This window, [44] which is much more like a door than awindow, is deeply recessed within four orders of mouldings, resting onshafts and capitals, four on each side, all very like the door below. Above, the whole projection is carried up higher than the battlements inan oblong embattled belfry, having two arched openings in front and oneat the side, added in 1837 to take the place of a detached belfry whichonce stood to the south of the church, and to hold some bells broughtfrom Thomar after that rich convent had been suppressed. (Fig. 19. )

Of the two other doorways, that at the end of the north transept, whichhas a simple archway on either side, and is surmounted by an arcade offive arches, has been altered in the early sixteenth century with gooddetails of the first French renaissance, while the larger doorway in thethird bay of the nave has at the same time been rebuilt as a beautifulthree-storied porch, reaching right up to the battlements. To the southlie the cloisters, added about the end of the thirteenth century, butnow very much mutilated. They are of the usual Portuguese type ofvaulted cloister, a large arch, here pointed, enclosing two round archesbelow with a circular opening above. 

The central lantern--the only romanesque example surviving except thatof Lisbon Cathedral--is square, and not as there octagonal. It has tworound-headed windows on each side whose sills are but little above thelevel of the flat roof--for, like almost all vaulted churches inPortugal, the roofs are flat and paved--and is now crowned by apicturesque dome covered with many-coloured tiles. 

Somewhat older than the cathedral, but not unlike it, was the church ofSão Christovão now destroyed, while São Thiago still has a west doorwhose shafts are even more elaborately carved and twisted than are thoseat the Sé Velha. [45]

There is more than one building, such as the Templar

[Illustration: FIG. 18. 

COIMBRA. 

SÉ VELHA. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 19. 

COIMBRA. 

WEST FRONT OF SÉ VELHA. ]

church at Thomar, older than the cathedral of Evora, and indeed olderthan the Sé Velha at Coimbra; but Evora, except that its arches arepointed instead of round, is so clearly derived directly from the Sé atLisbon that it must be mentioned next in order. 

[Sidenote: Sé, Evora. ]

Although the great province of Alemtejo, which reaches from the southbank of the Tagus to within about twenty-five or thirty miles of theSouthern Sea, had more than once been entered by the victoriousPortuguese king Affonso Henriques, it was not till after his death in1185, indeed not till the beginning of the thirteenth century, that itcould be called a part of Portugal. As early as 1139 Affonso Henriqueshad met and defeated five kings at Ourique not far from Beja, a victorywhich was long supposed to have secured his country's independence, andwhich was therefore believed to have been much greater and moreimportant than was really the case. [46] Evora, the Roman capital of thedistrict, did not fall into the hands of the Christians till 1166, whenit is said to have been taken by stratagem by Giraldo Sem Pavor, or 'theFearless, ' an outlaw who by this capture regained the favour of theking. But soon the Moors returned, first in 1174 when they won back thewhole of the province, and again in 1184 when Dom Sancho, Affonso's son, utterly defeated and killed their leader, Yusuf. Yusuf's son, Yakub, returned to meet defeat in 1188 and 1190 when he was repulsed fromThomar, but when he led a third army across the Straits in 1192 he foundthat the Crusaders who had formerly helped Dom Sancho had sailed on toPalestine, and with his huge army was able to drive the Christians backbeyond the Tagus and compel the king to come to terms, nor did theChristian borders advance again for several years. It is said that thecathedral begun in 1185 or 1186[47] was dedicated in 1204, so it musthave been still incomplete when Yakub's successful invasion took place, and only finished after the Christians had again recovered the town, though it is difficult to see how the church can have been dedicated inthat year as the town remained in Moorish power till after Dom Sancho'sdeath in 1211. Except the Sé Velha at Coimbra, Evora is thebest-preserved of all the older Portuguese cathedrals, and must alwayshave been one of the largest. The plan is evidently founded on those ofthe cathedrals of Lisbon and Braga; a nave of eight bays 155 feet longby 75 wide, leads to an aisleless transept 125 by 30, with lantern atthe crossing, to the east of which were five chapels. Unfortunately in1718 the Capella Mor or main chancel was pulled down as being too smallfor the dignity of an archiepiscopal see, and a new one of many-colouredmarbles built in its stead, measuring 75 feet by 30. [48]

[Illustration: PLAN OF SÉ, EVORA]

To the west are two large square towers; to the south a cloister addedin 1376; and at the end of the north transept a chapel built at the endof the fifteenth century and entered by a large archway well carved withrich early renaissance ornament. If there is no advance from theromanesque plan of older churches, there is none in construction. Allthe arches are pointed, but that is the only direction in which anychange has been made. The piers are all cross-shaped with a largehalf-shaft on each of the four main faces and a smaller round shaft ineach angle. The capitals have square moulded abaci, and are ratherrudely carved with budlike curled leaves; the pointed arches of thearcade are well moulded, and above them runs a continuous triforiumgallery like that in the nave at Lisbon, but with small pointed arches. The main vault is a pointed barrel with bold ribs; it is held up by ahalf-barrel over the aisles, which have groined vaults with very largetransverse arches. The galleries over the aisles are lit by smallpointed windows of two lights with a cusped circle between, but exceptin the lantern which has similar windows, in the transept ends and thewest front, these are the only original openings which survive. (Fig. 20. ) Both transepts have large rose windows, the northern filled withtracery, like that, common in Champagne, radiating towards and not fromthe centre. The southern is more interesting. The whole, well moulded, is enclosed in a curious square framing. In the centre a doubly cuspedcircle is surrounded by twelve radiating openings, whose trefoiled headsabut against twelve other broad trefoils, which are rather curiously runinto the mouldings of the containing circle. Over the west porch is acurious eight-light window. There are four equal two-light openingsbelow; on the two in the centre rests a large plain circle, and thespace between it and the enclosing arch is very clumsily filled by a ribwhich, springing from the apex of either light, runs concentrically withthe enclosing arch till it meets the larger circle. The whole buildingis surmounted by brick battlements, everything else being of granite, resting on a good trefoil corbel table, and, as the roofs are perfectlyflat, there are no gables. 

The two western towers are very picturesque. The northern, withoutbuttresses, has its several windows arranged without any regard tosymmetry, and finishes in a round spire covered with green and whiteglazed tiles. In the southern plain buttresses run up to the belfrystage which has round-headed openings, and above it is a low octagonalspire set diagonally and surrounded by eight pinnacles. 

The most unusual feature of the whole cathedral is the fine octagonallantern at the crossing. Each face has a two-light window, pointedoutside, with a round-headed arch within, leaving a passage between thetwo walls. At each angle are plain buttresses, weathered back a few feetbelow the corbel table, above which stand eight octagonal pinnacles eachwith eight smaller pinnacles surrounding a conical stone spire. Thewhole lantern is covered by a steep stone roof which, passingimperceptibly from the octagonal to the round, is covered, as are allthe other pinnacles, with scales carved in imitation of tiles. Insidethe well-moulded vaulting ribs do not rise higher than the windows, leaving therefore a large space between the vault and the outer stonecapping. (Fig. 21. )

Lanterns, especially octagonal lanterns, are particularly common inSpain, and at Salamanca and its neighbourhood were very early developedand attained to a remarkable degree of perfection before the end of thetwelfth century. It is strange, therefore, that they should be so rarein Portugal where there seem now to be only three: one, square, atCoimbra, an octagonal at Lisbon, and one here, where however there isnothing of the internal dome which is so striking at Salamanca. Probablythis lantern was one of the enrichments added to the church by BishopDurando who died in 1283, for the capitals of the west door lookconsiderably later. 

This door is built entirely of white marble with shafts which look, asdo those of the south transept door, almost like Cipollino, takenperhaps from some Roman building. It has well-moulded arches and abaci;capitals richly carved with realistic foliage, and on each side six ofthe apostles, all very like each other, large-headed, long-bearded, andlong-haired, with rather good drapery but bodies and legs which look fartoo short. St. Peter alone, with short curly hair and beard, has anyindividuality, but is even less prepossessing than his companions. Theyare, however, among the earliest specimens of large figure sculpturewhich survive, and by their want of grace make it easier to understandwhy Dom Manoel employed so many foreign artists in the early years ofthe sixteenth century. 

[Illustration: FIG. 20. 

EVORA. 

SÉ. INTERIOR. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 21. 

EVORA. 

SÉ. FROM CLOISTERS. 

SHEWING CENTRAL LANTERN. ]

The large cloister to the south must once have been one of the best inthe country. Here the main arches alone survive, having lost whateversubsidiary arches or tracery they may once have contained, but higher upunder the corbel table are large open circles, not as everywhere elseenclosed under the large arch, but quite independent of it. Many ofthese circles are still filled with thin slabs of granite all piercedwith most beautiful patterns, some quite Gothic, but the majority almostMoorish in design, not unlike the slabs in the circles over the cloisterarcades at Alcobaça, but though this is probably only a coincidence, still more like those at Tarragona in Cataluña. (Fig. 22. )

[Sidenote: Templar Church, Thomar. ]

Like the cathedral at Evora, some of the arches in the Templar Church atThomar are pointed, yet like it again, it is entirely romanesque both inconstruction and in detail. 

The Knights Templars were already established in Portugal in 1126. Withtheir headquarters at Soure, a little to the south of Coimbra, they hadbeen foremost in helping Affonso Henriques in his attacks on the Moors, and when Santerem was taken in 1147 they were given the ecclesiasticalsuperiority of the town. This led to a quarrel with Dom Gilberto, theEnglish bishop of Lisbon, which was settled in 1150, when Dom GualdimPaes, the most famous member the order ever produced in Portugal, waschosen to be Grand Master. He at once gave up all Santarem to thebishop, except the church of São Thiago, and received instead theterritory of Cêras some forty or fifty miles to the north-east. There onthe banks of the river Nabão, on a site famous for the martyrdom underRoman rule of Sant' Iria or Irene, Dom Gualdim built a church, and begana castle which was soon abandoned for a far stronger position on a steephill some few hundred yards to the west across the river. This secondcastle, begun in 1160, still survives in part but in a very ruinouscondition; the walls and the keep alike have lost their battlements andtheir original openings, though a little further west, and once formingpart of the fortified enclosure, the church, begun in 1162, stillremains as a high tower-like bastion crowned with battlements. DomGualdim had the laudable habit of carving inscriptions telling of anystriking event, so that we may still read, not only how the castle wasfounded, but how 'In the year of the Era of Cæsar, 1228 (that is 1190A. D. , on the 3rd of July), came the King of Morocco, leading fourhundred thousand horsemen and five hundred thousand foot and besiegedthis castle for six days, destroying everything he found outside thewalls. God delivered from his hands the castle, the aforesaid Master andhis brethren. The same king returned to his country with innumerableloss of men and of animals. '[49] Doubtless the size of Yakub theAlmohade leader's army is here much exaggerated, but that he was forcedto retire from Thomar, and by pestilence from Santarem is certain, andthough he made a more successful invasion two years later the Moorsnever again gained a footing to the north of the Tagus. 

Dom Gualdim's church, since then enlarged by the addition of a nave tothe west, was originally a polygon of sixteen sides with a circularbarrel-vaulted aisle surrounding a small octagon, which with its twostories of slightly pointed arches contains the high altar. [50] (Fig. 23. )

The round-headed windows come up high, and till it was so richly adornedby Dom Manoel during his grand mastership of the Order of Christ morethan three hundred years later, the church must have been extremelysimple. Outside the most noticeable feature is the picturesque groupingof the bell-towers and gable, added probably in the seventeenth century, which now rise on the eastern side of the polygon, and which, seen abovethe orange and medlar trees of a garden reaching eastwards towards thecastle, forms one of the most pleasing views in the whole country. 

[Sidenote: São João de Alporão, Santarem. ]

If Evora and the Templar church at Thomar show one form of transition, where the arches are pointed, but the construction and detail isromanseque, São João de Alporão at Santarem shows another, where theconstruction is Gothic but the arches are still all round. 

[Illustration: FIG. 22. 

EVORA. 

SÉ. CLOISTER. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 23. 

THOMAR. 

TEMPLARS' CHURCH. ]

This church is said to stand on the site of a mosque and to have been atfirst called Al Koran, since corrupted into Alporão, but the presentbuilding can hardly have been begun till the early years of thethirteenth century. The church consists of an aisleless nave with goodgroined vaulting and a five-sided apsidal chancel. The round-arched westdoor stands under a pointed gable, but seems to have lost by decay andconsequent restoration whatever ornament its rather flat mouldings mayonce have had. Above is a good wheel window, with a cusped circle in thecentre, surrounded by eight radiating two-arched lights separated byeight radiating columns. The two arches of each light spring from adetached capital which seems to have lost its shaft, but as there is notrace of bases for these missing shafts on the central circle theyprobably never existed. All the other nave windows are mere slits; andabove them runs a rich corbel table of slightly stilted arches withtheir edges covered with ball ornament resting on projecting corbels. Inthe apse the five windows are tall and narrow with square heads, and thecorbel table of a form common in Portugal but rare elsewhere, where eachcorbel is something like the bows of a boat. [51]

The inside, now turned into a museum, is much more interesting. Thechancel is entered, under a circular cusped window, by a wide roundarch, whose outer moulding is curiously carried by shafts with capitalsset across the angle as if to carry a vaulting rib; in the chancelitself the walls are double, the outer having the plain square-headedwindows seen outside, and the inner very elegant two-light round-headedopenings resting on very thin and delicate shafts, with a doubly cuspedcircle above. The vault, whose wall arches are stilted and slightlypointed, has strong well-moulded ribs springing from the well-wroughtcapitals of tall angle shafts. It will be seen that this is a very greatadvance on any older vaulting, since previously, except in the FrenchChurch at Alcobaça, groined vaults had only been attempted over squarespaces. The finest of the many objects preserved in the museum is thetomb of Dom Duarte de Menezes, who was killed in Africa in 1464 andburied in the church of São Francisco, whence, São Francisco havingbecome a cavalry stable, it was brought here not many years ago. (Fig. 24. )

Such are, except for the church at Idanha a Velha and that of Castro deAvelans near Braganza, nearly all the early buildings in the country. Castro de Avelans is interesting and unique as having on the outsidebrick arcades, like those on the many Mozarabic churches at Toledo, aform of decoration not found elsewhere in Portugal. The church ofAlcobaça is of course, in part, a good deal older than are some of thosementioned above; but the whole, the romanesque choir as well as theearly pointed nave, is so unlike anything that has come before oranything that has come after, that it seemed better to take it by itselfwithout regard to strict chronological order. 

[Illustration: PLAN OF ALCOBAÇA]

[Illustration: FIG. 24. 

SANTAREM. 

APSE, SÃO JOÃO DE ALPORÃO. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 25. 

TRANSEPT. 

ALCOBAÇA. ]

[Sidenote: Alcobaça. ]

The first stone was laid in 1158, but the church was barely finishedwhen King Sancho I. Died in 1211 and was not dedicated till 1220, whilethe monastic buildings were not ready till 1223, when the monks migratedfrom Sta. Maria a Velha, their temporary home. The abbey was immenselywealthy: it had complete jurisdiction over fourteen villages whoseinhabitants were in fact its serfs: it or its abbot was visitor to allBenedictine abbeys in the country and was, for over three hundred years, till the reign of Cardinal King Henry, the superior of the greatmilitary Order of Christ. It early became one of the first centres oflearning in Portugal, having begun to teach in 1269. It helped Dom Dinizto found the University of Lisbon, now finally settled at Coimbra, withpresents of books and of money, and it only acknowledged the king in sofar as to give him a pair of boots or shoes when he chanced to come toAlcobaça. All these possessions and privileges of the monks wereconfirmed by Dom João IV. (1640-56) after the supremacy of the Spaniardshad come to an end, and were still theirs when Beckford paid them hismemorable visit near the end of the eighteenth century and was sosplendidly entertained with feastings and even with plays and operasperformed by some of the younger brothers. Much harm was of course doneby the French invasion, and at last in 1834 the brothers were turnedout, their house made into barracks, and their church and cloister leftto fall into decay--a decay from which they are only being slowlyrescued at the present time. 

The first abbot, Ranulph, was sent by St. Bernard of Clairvaux himselfat the king's special request, and he must have brought with him theplan of the abbey or at least of the church. Nearly all Cistercianchurches, which have not been altered, are of two types which resembleeach other in being very simple, having no towers and very littleornament of any kind. In the simpler of these forms, the one whichprevailed in England, the transept is aisleless, with five or morechapels, usually square, to the east, of which the largest, in thecentre, contains the main altar. Such are Fontenay near Monbart andFurness in Lancashire, and even Melrose, though there the church hasbeen rebuilt more or less on the old plan but with a wealth of detailand size of window quite foreign to the original rule. In the other, amore complex type, the transept may have a western aisle, and instead ofa plain square chancel there is an apse with surrounding aisle andbeyond it a series of four-sided chapels. Pontigny, famous for theshelter it gave to Thomas-à-Becket, and begun in 1114, is of this type, and so was Clairvaux itself, begun in 1115 and rebuilt in the eighteenthcentury. Now this is the type followed by Alcobaça, and it is worthy ofnotice that, as far as the plan of choir and transept goes, Alcobaça andClairvaux are practically identical. Pontigny has a choir of three baysbetween the transept and the apse and seven encircling chapels;Clairvaux had, and Alcobaça still has, a choir of but one bay and nineinstead of seven chapels. Both had long naves, Clairvaux of eleven andAlcobaça of thirteen bays, but at the west end there is a change, dueprobably to the length of time which passed before it was reached, forthere is no trace of the large porch or narthex found in most earlyCistercian churches. 

The church is by far the largest in Portugal. It is altogether about 365feet long, the nave alone being about 250 feet by 75, while the transeptmeasures about 155 feet from north to south. Except in the choir all theaisles are of the same height, about 68 feet. 

The east end is naturally the oldest part and most closely resembled itsFrench original; the eight round columns of the apse have good plaincapitals like those found in so many early Cistercian churches, even inItaly;[52] the round-headed clerestory windows are high and narrow, andthere are well-developed flying buttresses. Unfortunately all else hasbeen changed: in the apse itself everything up to the clerestory levelhas been hidden by two rows of classic columns and a huge reredos, andall the choir chapels have been filled with rococo woodwork and gilding, the work of an Englishman, William Elsden, who was employed to beautifythe church in 1770. [53] Why except for the choir aisle, and the chapelsin choir and transept, the whole church should be of the same height, itis difficult to say, for such a method of building was unknown in Franceand equally unknown in Spain or Portugal. Possibly by the time the navewas reached the Frenchmen who had planned the church were dead, and thenative workmen, being quite unused to such a method of construction, forall the older vaulted churches have their central barrel upheld by thehalf-barrel vault of the galleries, could think of no other way ofsupporting the groining of the main aisle. They had of course the flyingbuttresses of the choir apse to guide them, but there the points ofsupport come so much closer together, and the weight to be upheld isconsequently so much less than could be the case in the nave, that theymay well have thought that to copy them was too dangerous an experimentas well as being too foreign to their traditional manner ofconstruction. [54] Whatever may be the reason, the west aisle of thetransept and the side aisles of the nave rise to the full height of thebuilding. Their arches are naturally very much stilted, and with themain vault rest on piers of quite unusual size and strength. Thetransverse arches are so large as almost to hide the diagonal ribs andto give the impression that the nave has, after all, a pointed barrelvault. The piers are throughout cross-shaped with a half-shaft on eachcardinal face: at the crossing there is also a shaft in the angle, butelsewhere this shaft is replaced by a kind of corbel capital[55] at thevery top which carries the diagonal ribs--another proof, as is the sizeof the transverse arches, that such a ribbed vault was still ahalf-understood novelty. The most peculiar point about nave piers is theway in which not only the front vaulting shafts but even that portion ofthe piers to which they are attached is, except in the two western bays, cut off at varying heights from the ground. In the six eastern bays, where the corbels are all at the same level, this was done to leave roomfor the monks' stalls, [56] but it is difficult to see why, in the caseof the following five piers, against which, as at Clairvaux, stood thestalls of the lay brothers, the level of the corbels should vary somuch. Now all stalls are gone and the church is very bare and desolate, with nothing but the horrible reredos to detract from that severity andsternness which was what St. Bernard wished to see in all churches ofthe Order. (Fig. 25. )

The small chapel to the west of the south transept is the only part ofthe church, except the later sixteenth-century sacristy, where there isany richness of detail, and there it is confined to the tombs of some ofthe earlier kings and queens, and especially to those of D. Pedro andthe unfortunate Inez de Castro which belongs of course to a much laterdate. 

The windows which are high up the aisle walls are large, round-headed, and perfectly plain. At the transept ends are large round windows filledwith plain uncusped circles, and there is another over the west doorfilled with a rococo attempt at Gothic tracery, which agrees well withthe two domed western towers whose details are not even good rococo. Between these towers still opens the huge west door, a very plainlymoulded pointed arch of seven orders, resting on the simple capitals ofsixteen shafts: a form of door which became very common throughout thefourteenth century. The great cloister was rebuilt later in the time ofDom Diniz, leaving only the chapter-house entrance, which seems evenolder than the nave. As usual there is one door in the centre, with alarge two-light opening on each side: all the arches are round and wellmoulded, and the capitals simply carved with stiff foliage showing agradual transition from the earlier romanesque. In the monastery itself, now a barrack, there are still a few vaulted passages which must belongto the original building, but nearly all else has been rebuilt, the maincloister in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries and the greater partof the domestic buildings in the eighteenth, so that except for thecloister and sacristy, which will be spoken of later on, there is littleworthy of attention. [57]

Now none of these buildings may show any very great originality ordiffer to any marked degree from contemporary buildings in Spain or evenin the south of France, yet to a great extent they fixed a type which inmany ways was followed down to the end of the Gothic period. The plan ofBraga, Pombeiro, Evora or Coimbra is reproduced with but little changeat Guarda, and if the western towers be omitted, at Batalha, some twohundred years later, and the flat paved roofs of Evora occur again atBatalha and at Guarda. The barrel-vaulted nave also long survived, beingfound as late as the beginning of the fourteenth century in the churchof Santa Clara at Coimbra, and even about seventy years later in thechurch of the Knights of São Thiago at Palmella. 

The battlements also of the castle at Guimarães are found not only atCoimbra, but as late as 1336 in the church of Leça do Balio near Oporto, and, modified in shape by the renaissance even in the sixteenth-centurychurches of Villa do Conde and of Azurara. 

Although the distinctively French features of Alcobaça seem to have hadbut little influence on the further development of building in Portugal, a few peculiarities are found there which are repeated again. Forexample, the unusually large transverse arches of the nave occur atBatalha, and the large plain western door is clearly related to suchlater doors as those at Leça do Balio or of São Francisco at Oporto. Again the vaulting of the apse in São João de Alporão is arranged verymuch in the way which was almost universal during the fourteenth andfifteenth centuries in the chancels and side chapels of many a church, such as Santa Maria do Olival at Thomar, or the Graça at Santaremitself, and the curious boat-like corbels of São João are found morethan once, as in the choir of the old church, formerly the cathedral ofSilves, far south in the Algarve. The large round windows at Evora donot seem to be related to the window at São João, but to be of someindependent origin; probably, like the similar windows at Leça and atOporto, they too belong to the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. 

CHAPTER III

THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES DOWN TO THE BATTLE OFALJUBARROTA

In Portugal the twelfth century is marked by a very considerableactivity in building, but the thirteenth, which in France and Englandsaw Gothic architecture rise to a height of perfection both inconstruction and in ornament which was never afterwards excelled, whenmore great churches and cathedrals were built than almost ever before orsince, seems here to have been the least productive period in the wholehistory of the country. In the thirteenth century, indeed, Portugalreached its widest European limits, but the energies, alike of the kingsand of the people, seem to have been expended rather in consolidatingtheir conquests and in cultivating and inhabiting the large regions ofland left waste by the long-continued struggle. Although Dom Sancho'skingdom only extended from the Minho to the Tagus, in the early years ofthe thirteenth century the rich provinces of Beira, and still more ofEstremadura, were very thinly peopled: the inhabitants lived only inwalled towns, and their one occupation was fighting, and plunder almosttheir only way of gaining a living. It is natural then that so fewbuildings should remain which date from the reigns of Dom Sancho'ssuccessors, Affonso II. (1211-1223), Sancho II. (1223-1248), and AffonsoIII. (1248-1279): the necessary churches and castles had been built atonce after the conquest, and the people had neither the leisure nor themeans to replace them by larger and more refined structures as was beingdone elsewhere. Of course some churches described in the last chaptermay be actually of that period though belonging artistically andconstructionally to an earlier time, as for instance a large part of thecathedral of Evora or the church of São João at Santarem. 

[Sidenote: São Francisco, Guimarães. ]

The Franciscans had been introduced into Portugal by Dona Sancha, thedaughter of Dom Sancho I. , and houses were built for them by DonaUrraca, the wife of Dom Affonso II. , at Lisbon and at Guimarães. Theirchurch at Guimarães has been very much altered at different times, mostly in the eighteenth century, but the west door may very well belongto Dona Urraca's building. It has a drip-mould covered with closely setballs, and four orders of mouldings of which the second is a broadchamfer with a row of flat four-leaved flowers; the abacus is wellmoulded, but the capitals, which are somewhat bell-shaped, have the bellcovered with rude animals or foliage which are still very romanesque indesign. The entrance to the chapter-house is probably not much later indate: from the south walk of the simple but picturesque renaissancecloister a plain pointed doorway leads into the chapter-house, with, oneither side, an opening of about equal size and shape. In these openingsthere stand three pairs of round coupled shafts with plain bases, rudelycarved capitals and large square overhanging abaci, from which springtwo pointed arches moulded only on the under side: resting on these, butconnected with them or with the enclosing arch by no moulding or fillet, is a small circle, moulded like the arches only on one side andcontaining a small quatrefoil. [58] This is one of the earliest attemptsat window tracery in the country, for the west window at Evora seemslater, but like it, it shows that tracery was not really understood inthe country, and that the Portuguese builders were not yet able so tounite the different parts as to make such a window one complete andbeautiful whole. Indeed so unsuccessful are their attempts throughoutthat whenever, as at Batalha, a better result is seen, it may be putdown to foreign influence. Much better as a rule are the round windows, mostly of the fourteenth century, but they are all very like oneanother, and are probably mostly derived from the same source, perhapsfrom one of the transept windows at Evora, or from the now empty circleover the west door at Lisbon. 

[Sidenote: São Francisco, Santarem. ]

Much more refined than this granite church at Guimarães has been SãoFrancisco at Santarem, now unfortunately degraded into being the stableof a cavalry barracks. There the best-preserved and most interestingpart is the west door, which does not lead directly into the church butinto a low porch or narthex. The narthex itself has central and sideaisles, all of the same height, is two bays in length and is covered bya fine strong vault resting on short clustered piers. [59] The doorwayitself, which is not acutely pointed, stands under a gable which reachesup to the plain battlemented parapet of the flat narthex roof. There arefour shafts on each side with a ring-moulding rather less than half-wayup, which at once distinguishes them from any romanesque predecessors;the capitals are round with a projecting moulding half-way up andanother one at the top with a curious projection or claw to unite theround cap and the square moulded abacus. Of the different orders of thearch, all well moulded, the outer has a hood with billet-mould; thesecond a well-developed chevron or zigzag; and the innermost a series ofsmall horseshoes, which like the chevron stretch across the hollow so asto hold in the large roll at the angle. [60] (Fig. 26. )

[Sidenote: Santa Maria dos Olivaes, Thomar. ]

In a previous chapter the building of a church at Thomar by Dom GualdimPaes, Grand Master of the Templars, has been mentioned. Of this churchand the castle built at the same time, both of which stood on the eastor flat bank of the river Nabão, nothing now remains except perhaps thelower part of the detached bell-tower. This church, Santa Maria dosOlivaes, was the Matriz or mother church of all those held, first by theTemplars and later by their successors, the Order of Christ, not only inPortugal but even in Africa, Brazil, and in India. Of so high a dignityit is scarcely worthy, being but a very simple building neither largenor richly ornamented. A nave and aisles of five bays, three polygonalapses to the east and later square chapels beyond the aisles, make upthe whole building. The roofs are all of panelled wood of the sixteenthcentury except in the three vaulted apses, of which the central isentered by an arch, which, rising no higher than the aisle arches, leaves room for a large window under the roof. All the arches of theaisle arcade spring from the simple moulded capitals of piers whosesection is that of four half-octagons placed together. In the

[Illustration: FIG. 26. 

SANTAREM. 

W. DOOR, SÃO FRANCISCO. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 27. 

SÉ SILVES. ]

clerestory are windows of one small light, in the aisles of two largerlights, and in the apses single lancets. The great simplicity of thebuilding notwithstanding it can scarcely be as old as the thirteenthcentury: the curious way in which the two lancet lights of the aislewindows are enclosed under one larger trefoiled arch recalls the similarwindows in the church at Leça do Balio near Oporto begun in 1336, thoughthere the elliptical head of the enclosing arch is much lesssatisfactory than the trefoiled head here used. The only part of thechurch which can possibly have been built in the thirteenth century isthe central part of the west front. The pointed door below stands undera projecting gable like that at São Francisco Santarem, except thatthere is a five-foiled circle above the arch containing a pentalpha, putthere perhaps to keep out witches. The door itself has three largeshafts on each side with good but much-decayed capitals of foliage, anda moulded jamb next the door. The arch itself is terribly decayed, butone of its orders still has the remains of a series of large cusps, arranged like the horseshoe cusps at Santarem but much larger. Above thedoor gable is a circular window of almost disproportionate size. It hastwelve trefoil-headed lights radiating from a small circle, andcuriously crossing a larger circle some distance from the smaller. Unfortunately the spaces between the trefoils and the outer mouldingshave been filled up with plaster and the lights themselves subdividedwith meaningless wood tracery to hold the horrible blue-and-red glassnow so popular in Portugal. Though Santa Maria dos Olivaes cannot benearly as old as has usually been believed, it is one of the earliestchurches built on the plan derived perhaps first from Braga Cathedral orfrom the Franciscan and Dominican churches in Galicia, of a woodenroofed basilica with or without transept, and with three or more apsesto the east; a form which to the end of the Gothic period was the mostcommon and which is found even in cathedrals as at Silves or at Funchalin Madeira. 

Dom Sancho II. , whose reign had begun with brilliant attacks on theMoors, had, because of his connection with Dona Mencia de Haro, thewidow of a Castilian nobleman, and his consequent inactivity, becomeextremely unpopular, so was supplanted in 1246 by his brother DomAffonso III. The first care of the new king was to carry on theconquest

[Sidenote: Silves. ]

of the Algarve, which his brother had given up when he fell under theevil influence of Dona Mencia, and by about 1260 he had overrun thewhole country. At first Alfonso x. , the Wise, king of Castile and Leon, was much displeased at this extension of Portuguese power, but on DomAffonso agreeing to marry his daughter Beatriz de Guzman, the Spanishking allowed his son-in-law to retain his conquests and to assume thetitle of King of the Algarve, a title which his descendants still bear. The countess of Boulogne, Affonso's first wife, was indeed still alive, but that seems to have troubled neither Dona Beatriz nor her father. AtSilves or Chelb, for so the Moorish capital had been called, a bishopricwas soon founded, but the cathedral, [61] though many of its details seemto proclaim an early origin, was probably not begun till the early, andcertainly not finished till near the later, years of the fourteenthcentury. It is a church of the same type as Santa Maria at Thomar butwith a transept. The west door, a smaller edition of that at Alcobaça, leads to a nave and aisles of four bays, with plain octagonal columns, whose bases exactly resemble the capitals reversed--an octagon broughtto a square by a curved chamfer. The nave has a wooden roof, transepts apointed barrel vault, and the crossing and chancel with its side chapelsa ribbed vault. Though some of the capitals at the east end look almostromanesque, the really late date is shown by the cusped fringing of thechancel arch, a feature very common at Batalha, which was begun at theend of the fourteenth century, and by the window tracery, where in thetwo-light windows the head is filled by a flat pierced slab. Outside, the chancel has good buttresses at the angles, and is crowned by thatcurious boat-like corbel table seen at Santarem and by a row ofpyramidal battlements. The church is only about 150 feet long, but withits two picturesque and dilapidated towers, and the wonderful deeppurple of its sandstone walls rising above the whitewashed houses andpalms of the older Silves and backed by the Moorish citadel, it makes amost picturesque and even striking centre to the town, which, standinghigh above the river, preserves the memory of its Moslem builders inits remarkable and many-towered city walls. [62] (Fig. 27. )

[Sidenote: Beja. ]

King Diniz the Labourer, so called for his energy in settling andreclaiming the land and in fixing the moving sands along the west coastby plantations of pine-trees, and the son of Dom Affonso and DonaBeatriz, was a more active builder than any of his immediatepredecessors. Of the many castles built by him the best preserved isthat of Beja, the second town of Alemtejo and the Pax Julia of Romantimes. The keep, built about 1310, is a great square tower over ahundred feet high. Some distance from the top it becomes octagonal, withthe square fortified by corbelled balconies projecting far out over thecorners. Inside are several stories of square halls finely vaulted withmassive octagonal vaults; below, the windows are little more than slits, but on one floor there are larger two-light pointed openings. [63]

[Sidenote: Leiria. ]

Far finer and larger has been the castle of Leiria, some fifty milessouth of Coimbra: it or the keep was begun by Dom Diniz in 1324. [64] Therock on which it stands, in steepness and in height recalls that ofEdinburgh Castle, but without the long slope of the old town leadingnearly to the summit: towering high above Leiria it is further defendedon the only accessible quarter by the river Lis which runs round twosides not far from the bottom of the steep descent. Unfortunately all isruined, only enough remaining to show that on the steepest edge of therock there stood a palace with large pointed windows looking out overthe town to the green wooded hills beyond. On the highest part standswhat is left of the keep, and a little lower the castle-church whosebell-tower, built over the gate, served to defend the only access to theinner fortification. This church, built about the same time, with a nowroofless nave which was never vaulted, is entered by a door on thesouth, and has a polygonal vaulted apse. The mouldings of the door aswell as the apse vault and its tall two-light windows show a greaterdelicacy and refinement than is seen in almost any earlier building, andsome of the carving has once been of great beauty, especially of theboss at the centre of the apse. [65]

But besides those two castles there is another building of this periodwhich had a greater and more lasting effect on the work of thisfourteenth century. In England the arrival of the Cistercians and thenew style introduced or rather developed by them seems almost more thananything else to have determined the direction of the change from whatis usually, perhaps wrongly, [66] called Norman to Early English, but inPortugal the great foundation of Alcobaça was apparently powerless tohave any such marked effect except in the one case of cloisters. Nowwith the exception of the anomalous and much later Claustro Real atBatalha, all cloisters in Portugal, before the renaissance, follow twotypes: one, which is clearly only a modification of the continuousromanesque arcades resting on coupled shafts, has usually a wooden roof, and consists of a row of coupled shafts bearing pointed arches, andsometimes interrupted at intervals by square piers; this form ofcloister is found at Santo Thyrso near Guimarães, at São Domingos inGuimarães itself, and in the Cemetery cloister built by Prince Henry theNavigator at Thomar in the fifteenth century. 

[Sidenote: Cloister, Cellas. ]

The most remarkable of all the cloisters of the first type is that ofthe nunnery of Cellas near Coimbra. Founded in 1210 by Dona Sancha, daughter of Sancho I. , the nunnery is now a blind asylum. The cloister, with round arches and coupled columns, seems thoroughly romanesque incharacter, as are also the capitals. It is only on looking closer thatthe real date is seen, for the figures on the capitals, which are carvedwith scenes such as the beheading of St. John the Baptist, are alldressed in the fashion that prevailed under Dom Diniz--about 1300--whilethe foliage on others, though still romanesque in arrangement, is muchlater in detail. More than half of the arcades were rebuilt in theseventeenth century, but enough remains to make the cloister of Cellasone of the most striking examples of the survival of old forms andmethods of building which in less remote countries had been given upmore than a hundred years before. 

The church, though small, is not without interest. It has a round naveof Dom Manoel's time with a nuns' choir to the west and a chancel to theeast, and is entered by a picturesque door of the later sixteenthcentury. 

[Sidenote: Cloister, Coimbra. ]

[Sidenote: Cloister, Alcobaça. ]

More interesting is the second type which was commonly used when acloister with a vault was wanted; and of it there are still examples tobe seen at the Sé Velha Coimbra, at Alcobaça, Lisbon Cathedral, Evora, and Oporto. None of these five examples are exactly alike, but theyresemble each other sufficiently to make it probable that they are all, ultimately at least, derived from one common source, and there can be nodoubt that that source was Cistercian. In France what was perhaps itsvery first beginnings may be seen in the Cistercian abbey of Fontenaynear Monbart, where in each bay there are two round arches enclosedunder one larger round arch. This was further developed at Fontfroidenear Narbonne, where an arcade of four small round arches under a largepointed arch carries a thin wall pierced by a large round circle. Of thedifferent Portuguese examples the oldest may very well be that atCoimbra which differs only from Fontfroide in having an arcade of twoarches in each bay instead of one of four, but even though it may be alittle older than the large cloister of Alcobaça, it must have been dueto Cistercian influence. The great Claustro do Silencio at Alcobaça was, as an inscription tells, begun in the year 1310, [67] when on April 13ththe first stone was laid by the abbot in the presence of the masterbuilder Domingo Domingues. [68] In this case each bay has an arcade oftwo or three pointed arches resting on coupled columns with strongbuttresses between each bay, but the enclosing arch is not pointed as atCoimbra or Fontfroide but segmental and springs from square jambs at thelevel of the top of the buttresses, and the circles have been all filledwith pierced slabs, some of which have ordinary quatrefoils and somemuch more intricate patterns, though in no case do they show the Moorishinfluence which is so noticeable at Evora. On the north side projectsthe lavatory, an apsidal building with two stories of windows and withwhat in France would be regarded as details of the thirteenth centuryand not, as is really the case, of the fourteenth. A few bays on thewest walk seem rather later than the rest, as the arches of the arcadeare trefoil-headed, while the upper part of a small projection on thesouth side which now contains a stair, as well as the upper cloister towhich it leads, were added by João de Castilho for Cardinal PrinceHenry, son of Dom Manoel, and commendator of the abbey in 1518. (Fig. 28. )

[Sidenote: Cloister, Lisbon. ]

In the cloister at Lisbon which seems to be of about the same date, andwhich, owing to the nature of the site, runs round the back of thechoir, there is no outer containing arch, and in some bays there are twolarge circles instead of one, but in every other respect, except thatsome of the round openings are adorned with a ring of dog-toothmoulding, the details are very similar, the capitals and bases being allof good thirteenth-century French form. [69] (Fig. 29. )

[Sidenote: Cloister, Oporto. ]

If the cloister at Evora, which was built in 1376 and has already beendescribed, is the one which departs furthest from the original type, retaining only the round opening, that of the cathedral of Oporto, builtin 1385, comes nearer to Fontfroide than any of the others. Here eachbay is designed exactly like the French example except that the smallarches are pointed, that the large openings are chamfered instead ofmoulded, and that there are buttresses between each bay. The capitalswhich are rather tall are carved with rather shallow leaves, but themost noticeable features are the huge square moulded abaci which are solarge as to be more like those of the romanesque cloisters at Moissac orof Sta. Maria del Sar at Santiago than any fourteenth-century work. 

[Sidenote: Sta. Clara, Coimbra. ]

The most important church of the time of Dom Diniz is, or rather was, that of the convent of Poor Clares founded at Coimbra by his wife St. Isabel. Although a good king, Diniz had not been a good husband, and thequeen's sorrows had been still further increased by the rebellion of

[Illustration: FIG 28. 

ALCOBAÇA. 

CLOISTER OF DOM DINIZ, OR DO SILENCIO. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 29. 

LISBON. 

CATHEDRAL CLOISTER. ]

her son, afterwards Affonso IV. , a rebellion to which Isabel was able toput an end by interposing between her husband and her son. When St. Isabel died in 1327, two years after her husband, the church was not yetquite finished, but it must have been so soon after. Unfortunately theannual floods of the Mondego and the sands which they bring down led tothe abandonment of the church in the seventeenth century, and have soburied it that the floor of the barn--for that is the use to which it isnow put--is almost level with the springing of the aisle arches, butenough is left to show what the church was like, and were not its datewell assured no one would believe it to be later than the end of thetwelfth century. The chancel, which was aisleless and lower than therest of the church, is gone, but the nave and its aisles are still in atolerable state of preservation, though outside all the detail has beendestroyed except one round window on the south side filled in with whitemarble tracery of a distinctly Italian type, and the corbel table of theboat-keel shape. The inside is most unusual for a church of thefourteenth century. The central aisle has a pointed barrel vaultspringing from a little above the aisle arches, while the aislesthemselves have an ordinary cross vault. All the capitals too lookearly, and the buttresses broad and rather shallow. (Fig. 30. )

[Sidenote: Leça do Balio. ]

A few miles north of Oporto on the banks of the clear stream of the Leçaa monastery for men and women had been founded in 986. In the course ofthe next hundred years it had several times fallen into decay and beenrestored, till about the year 1115 when it was handed over to theKnights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem and so became theirheadquarters in Portugal. The church had been rebuilt by Abbot Guntinosome years before the transfer took place, and had in time becomeruinous, so that in 1336 it was rebuilt by Dom Frei Estevão VasquesPimentel, the head of the Order. This church still stands but littlealtered since the fourteenth century, and though not a large or splendidbuilding it is the most complete and unaltered example of thatthoroughly national plan and style which, developed in the previouscentury, was seen at Thomar and will be seen again in many laterexamples. The church consists of a nave and aisles of four bays, transepts higher than the side but lower than the centre aisle of thenave, three vaulted apses to the east, and at the south-west corner asquare tower. Like many Portuguese buildings Sta. Maria de Leça do Baliolooks at first sight a good deal earlier than is really the case. Thewest and the south doors, which are almost exactly alike, except thatthe south door is surmounted by a gable, have three shafts on each sidewith early-looking capitals and plain moulded archivolts, and withinthese, jambs moulded at the angles bearing an inner order whose flatface is carved with a series of circles enclosing four and five-leavedflowers. Above the west door runs a projecting gallery whose parapet, like all the other parapets of the church, is defended by a close-setrow of pointed battlements. Above the gallery is a large rose-window inwhich twelve spokes radiate from a cusped circle in the middle to thecircumference, where the lights so formed are further enriched by cuspedsemicircles. The aisle and clerestory windows show an unusual attempt toinclude two lancets into one window by carrying on the outer framing ofthe window till it meets above the mullion in a kind of pendantarch. [70]

The square tower is exceedingly plain, without string course or buttressto mitigate its severity. Half-way up on the west side is a small windowwith a battlemented balcony in front projecting out on three greatcorbels; higher up are plain belfry windows. At the top, squarebalconies or bartizans project diagonally from the corners; the whole, though there are but three pyramidal battlements on each side, beingeven more strongly fortified than the rest of the church. Now in thefourteenth century such fortification of a church can hardly have beennecessary, and they were probably built rather to show that the churchbelonged to a military order than with any idea of defence. The insideis less interesting, the pointed arches are rather thin and the capitalspoor, the only thing much worthy of notice being the font, belonging tothe time of change from Gothic to Renaissance, and given in 1512. [71]

[Sidenote: Chancel, Sé, Lisbon. ]

Of the other buildings of the time of Dom Affonso IV. Who succeeded hisfather Diniz in 1328 the most important

[Illustration: FIG. 30. 

COIMBRA. 

STA. CLARA. ]

has been the choir of the cathedral at Lisbon; the church had been muchinjured by an earthquake in 1344 and the whole east end was at oncerebuilt on the French plan, otherwise unexampled in Portugal except bythe twelfth-century choir at Alcobaça. Unfortunately the later and moreterrible earthquake of 1755 so ruined the whole building that of DomAffonso's work only the surrounding aisle and its chapels remain. Theonly point which calls for notice is that the chapels are considerablylower than the aisle so as to admit of a window between the chapel archand the aisle vault. All the chapels have good vaulting and simpletwo-light windows, and capitals well carved with naturalistic foliage. In one chapel, that of SS. Cosmo and Damião, screened off by a very goodearly wrought-iron grill, are the tombs of Lopo Fernandes Pacheco and ofhis second wife Maria Rodrigues. Dona Maria, lying on a stonesarcophagus, which stands on four short columns, and whose sides areadorned with four shields with the arms of her father, Ruy di VillaLobos, has her head protected by a carved canopy and holds up in herhands an open book which, from her position, she could scarcely hope toread. [72]

[Sidenote: Royal tombs, Alcobaça. (Fig. 31. )]

Far more interesting both historically and artistically than thesememorials at Lisbon are the royal tombs in the small chapel opening offthe south transepts of the abbey church at Alcobaça. This vaultedchapel, two bays deep and three wide, was probably built about the sametime as the cloister, and has good clustered piers and well-carvedcapitals. On the floor stand three large royal tombs and two smaller forroyal children, and in deep recesses in the north and south walls, fourothers. Only the three larger standing clear of the walls call fornotice; and of these one is that of Dona Beatriz, the wife of DomAffonso III. , who died in 1279, the same lady who married Dom Affonsowhile his wife the countess of Boulogne was still alive. Her tomb, whichstands high above the ground on square columns with circular ringedshafts at the corners, was clearly not made for Dona Beatriz herself, but for some one else at least a hundred years before. It is of a whitemarble, sadly mutilated at one corner by French treasure-seekers, andhas on each side a romanesque arcade with an apostle, in quite archaicstyle, seated under each arch; at the ends are large groups of seatedfigures, and on the sloping lid Dona Beatriz herself, in very shallowrelief, evidently carved out of the old roof-shaped cover, which notbeing very thick did not admit of any deep cutting. Far richer, indeedmore elaborate than almost any other fourteenth-century tombs, are thoseof Dom Pedro I. Who died in 1367, and of Inez de Castro who was murderedin 1355. When only sixteen years old Dom Pedro, to strengthen his fatherAffonso the Fourth's alliance with Castile, had been married to DonaCostança, daughter of the duke of Penafiel. In her train there came as alady-in-waiting Dona Inez de Castro, the daughter of the highchamberlain of Castile, and with her Dom Pedro soon fell in love. Aslong as his wife, who was the mother of King Fernando, lived no onethought much of his connection with Dona Inez, or of that with DonaThereza Lourenço, whose son afterwards became the great liberator, KingJoão I. , but after Dona Costança's death it was soon seen that he lovedDona Inez more than any one had imagined, and he was believed even tohave married her. This, and his refusal to accept any of the royalprincesses chosen by his father, so enraged Dom Affonso that hedetermined to have Dona Inez killed, and this was done by three knightson 7th January 1355 in the Quinta das Lagrimas--that is, the Garden ofTears--near Coimbra. Dom Pedro, who was away hunting in the south, wouldhave rebelled against his father, but was persuaded by the queen tosubmit after he had devastated all the province of Minho. Two yearslater Dom Affonso died, and after Dom Pedro had caught and tortured todeath two of the murderers--the third escaped to Castile--he in 1361 hadDona Inez's body removed from its grave, dressed in the royal robes andcrowned, and swearing that he had really married her, he compelled allthe court to pay her homage and to kiss her hand: then the body wasplaced on a bier and carried by night to the place prepared for it atAlcobaça, some seventy miles away. When six years later, in 1367, hecame to die himself he left directions that they should be buried withtheir feet towards one another, that at the resurrection the first thinghe should see should be Dona Inez rising from her tomb. Unfortunatelythe French soldiers in 1810 broke open both tombs, smashing away muchfine carved work and scattering their bones. [73] The two tombs are muchalike in design and differ only in detail; both rest on four lions; thesides, above a narrow border of sunk quatrefoils, are divided by tinybuttresses rising from behind the gables of small niches into six parts, each of which has an arch under a gable whose tympanum is filled withthe most minute tracery. Each of these arches is cusped and foliateddifferently according to the nature of the figure subject it contains. Behind the tops of the gables and pinnacles of the buttresses runs asmall arcade with beautiful little figures only a few inches high: abovethis a still more delicate arcade runs round the whole tomb, interruptedat regular intervals by shields, charged on Dom Pedro's tomb with thearms of Portugal and on that of Dona Inez with the same and with thoseof the Castros alternately. At the foot of Dom Pedro's is representedthe Crucifixion, and facing it on that of Dona Inez the Last Judgment. Nothing can exceed the delicacy and beauty of the figure sculpture, thedrapery is all good, and the smallest heads and hands are worked with acare not to be surpassed in any country. (Fig. 32. )

On the top of one lies King Pedro with his head to the north, on theother Dona Inez with hers to the south; both are life size and are aswell wrought as are the smaller details below. Both have on each sidethree angels who seem to be just about to lift them from where they lieor to have just laid them down. These angels, especially those near DomPedro's head, are perhaps the finest parts of either tomb, with theirbeautiful drapery, their well-modelled wings, and above all with theoutstretching of their arms towards the king and Dona Inez. There seemsto be no record as to who worked or designed these tombs, but there canbe little or no doubt that he was a Frenchman, the whole feeling, alikeof the architectural detail and the figures themselves, is absolutelyFrench; there had been no previous figure sculpture in the country inany way good enough to lead up to the skill in design and in executionhere shown, nor, with regard to the mere architectural detail, hadGothic tracery and ornament yet been sufficiently developed for a nativeworkman to have invented the elaborate cuspings, mouldings, and otherenrichments which make both tombs so pre-eminent above all that camebefore them. [74] These tombs, as indeed the whole church, as well as theneighbouring convent of Batalha, are constructed of a wonderfully finelimestone, which seems to be practically the same as Caen Stone, andwhich, soft and easy to cut when first quarried, grows harder withexposure and in time, when not in a too shady or damp position, where itgets black, takes on a most beautiful rich yellow colour. 

These tombs, beautiful as they are, do not seem to have any very directinfluence on the work of the next century: it is true that a distinctadvance was made in modelling the effigies of those who lay below, butapart from that the decoration of these high tombs is in no case evenremotely related to that of the later monuments at Batalha; nor, exceptthat the national method of church planning was more firmly establishedthan ever, and that some occasional features such as the cuspings on thearch-mould of the door of São Francisco Santarem, which are copied on anarchaistic door at Batalha, are found in later work, is there much topoint to the great advance that was soon to be made alike in detail andin construction. 

[Illustration: FIG. 31. 

ALCOBAÇA. 

CHAPEL WITH ROYAL TOMBS. 

(DOM PEDRO AND DONA BEATRIZ. )]

[Illustration: FIG. 32. 

ALCOBAÇA. 

TOMB OF DOM PEDRO I. ]

CHAPTER IV

BATALHA AND THE DELIVERANCE OF PORTUGAL

Towards the end of the fourteenth century came the most important andcritical years that Portugal had yet known. Dom Pedro, dying after areign of only ten years, was succeeded by his only legitimate son, Fernando, in 1367. Unfortunately the new king at his sister's weddingsaw and fell in love with the wife of a northern nobleman, and soonopenly married this Dona Leonor Telles de Menezes, though he was himselfalready betrothed to a Castilian princess, and though her own husbandwas still alive. At the first court or Beja Manos held by Dona Leonor atLeça near Oporto, all the Portuguese nobility except Dom Diniz, theking's half-brother and a son of Inez de Castro, acknowledged her asqueen. But soon the evil influence she exercised over the king and thestories of her cruelty made her extremely unpopular and even hated bythe whole nation. The memory of the vengeance she took on her ownsister, Dona Maria Telles, is preserved by an interesting old house inCoimbra which has indeed been rebuilt since, in the early sixteenthcentury, but is still called the House of the Telles. To the dislikeQueen Leonor felt for the sons of Inez de Castro, owing to Dom Diniz'srefusal to kiss her hand, was added the hatred she had borne her sister, who was married to Dom João, another son of Dona Inez, ever since thissister Dona Maria had warned her to have nothing to do with the king;she was also jealous because Dona Maria had had a son while her own twoeldest children had died. So plotting to be rid of them both, she atlast persuaded Dom João that his wife was not faithful to him, and senthim full of anger to that house at Coimbra where Dona Maria was livingand where, without even giving his wife time to speak, he stabbed her todeath. Soon after Dona Leonor came in and laughed at him for havingbelieved her lies so as to kill his own wife. Failing to kill the queen, Dom João fled to Castile. 

When Dom Fernando himself died in 1383 he left his widow as regent ofthe kingdom on behalf of their only daughter, Dona Brites, whom they hadmarried to Don Juan I. Of Castile. It was of course bad enough for thenation to find itself under the regency of such a woman, but to beabsorbed by Castile and Leon was more than could be endured. So a greatCortes was held at Coimbra, and Dom João, grand master of the Order ofAviz, and the son of Dom Pedro and Dona Thereza Lourenço, was electedking. The new king at once led his people against the invaders, andafter twice defeating them met them for the final struggle atAljubarrota, near Alcobaça, on 14th August 1385. The battle raged allday till at last the Castilian king fled with all his army, leaving histent with its rich furniture and all his baggage. Before the enemy hadbeen driven from the little town of Aljubarrota, the wife of the villagebaker made herself famous by killing nine Spaniards with her woodenbaking shovel--a shovel which may still be seen on the town arms. Whenall was over Dom João dedicated the spoil he had taken in the Castilianking's tent to Our Lady of the Olive Tree at Guimarães where may stillbe seen, with many other treasures, a large silver-gilt triptych of theNativity and one of the silver angels from off the royal altar. [75]Besides this, he had promised if victorious to rebuild the church atGuimarães and to found where the victory had been won a monastery as athankoffering for his success. 

[Sidenote: Batalha. ]

This vow was fulfilled two years later in 1387 by building the greatconvent of Sta. Maria da Victoria or Batalha, that is Battle, at a placethen called Pinhal[76] in a narrow valley some nine or ten miles northof Aljubarrota and seven south of Leiria. Meanwhile John of Gaunt hadlanded in Galicia with a large army to try and win Castile and Leon, which he claimed for his wife Constance, elder daughter of Pedro theCruel; marching through Galicia he met Dom João at Oporto in February1387, and then the Treaty of Windsor, which had been signed the yearbefore and which had declared the closest union of friendship andalliance to exist between England and Portugal, was further strengthenedby the marriage of King João to Philippa, the daughter of John of Gauntand of his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster. Soon after, the peace ofthe Peninsula was assured by the marriage of Catherine, the only childof John of Gaunt and of Constance of Castile, to Enrique, Prince of theAsturias and heir to the throne of Castile. 

[Illustration: PLAN OF BATALHA]

But it is time now to turn from the history of the foundation of Batalhato the buildings themselves, and surely no more puzzling building thanthe church is to be found anywhere. The plan, indeed, of the church, omitting the Capella do Fundador and the great Capellas Imperfeitas, presents no difficulty as it is only a repetition of the alreadywell-known and national arrangement of nave with aisles, an aislelesstransept, with in this case five apsidal chapels to the east. Now in allthis there is nothing the least unusual or different from what might beexpected, except perhaps that the nave, of eight bays, is rather longerthan in any previous example. But the church was built to commemorate agreat national deliverance, and by a king who had just won immense bootyfrom his defeated enemy, and so was naturally built on a great andimposing scale. [77]

The first architect, Affonso Domingues, perhaps a grandson of theDomingo Domingues who built the cloister at Alcobaça, is said to havebeen born at Lisbon and so, as might have been expected, his plan showsno trace at all of foreign influence. And yet even this ordinary planhas been compared by a German writer to that of the nave and transeptsof Canterbury Cathedral, a most unlikely model to be followed, asChillenden, who there carried out the transformation of Lanfranc's nave, did not become prior till 1390, three years after Batalha had beenbegun. [78] But though it is easy enough to show that the plan is notEnglish but quite national and Portuguese, it is not so easy to say whatthe building itself is. Affonso Domingues died in 1402, and wassucceeded by a man whose name is spelt in a great variety of ways, Ouguet, Huguet, or Huet, and to whom most of the building apart from theplan must have been due. His name sounds more French than anything else, but the building is not at all French except in a few details. Altogether it is not at all easy to say whence those peculiarities oftracery and detail which make Batalha so strange and unusual a buildingwere derived, except that there had been in Portugal nothing to lead upto such tracery or to such elaboration of detail, or to the constructiveskill needed to build the high groined vaults of the nave or theenormous span required to cover the chapter-house. Perhaps it may bebetter to describe the church first outside and then in, and then see ifit is possible to discover from the details themselves whence they canhave come. 

The five eastern apses, of which the largest in the centre is also twiceas high as the other four, are probably the oldest part of the building, but all, except the two outer apses and the upper part of the central, have been concealed by the Pateo built by Dom Manoel to unite thechurch with the Capellas Imperfeitas, or unfinished chapels, beyond. Here there is nothing very unusual: the smaller chapels all end inthree-sided apses, at whose angles are buttresses, remarkable only forthe great number of string courses, five in all, which divide themhorizontally; these buttresses are finished by two offsets just below aplain corbel table which is now crowned by an elaborately pierced andcusped parapet which may well have been added later. Each side of theapse has one tall narrow single-light window which, filled at some laterdate from top to bottom with elaborate stone tracery, has two thinshafts at each side and a rather bluntly-pointed head. The central apsehas been much the same but with five sides, and two stories of similarwindows one above the other. So far there is nothing unexpected or whatcould not easily have been developed from already existing buildings, such as the church at Thomar or the Franciscan and Dominican churches nofurther away than Pontevedra in Galicia. 

Coming to the south transept, there is a large doorway below under acrocketed gable flanked by a tall pinnacle on either side. This doorwith its thirteenth-century mouldings is one of the most curious andunexpected features of the whole building. Excepting that the capitalsare well carved with leaves, it is a close copy of the west door of SãoFrancisco at Santarem. Here the horseshoe cuspings are on the out-mostof the five orders of mouldings, and the chevron on the fourth, whilethere is also a series of pointed cusps on the second. Only theinnermost betrays its really late origin by the curious crossing andinterpenetrating of the mouldings of its large trefoiled head. All thisis thoroughly Portuguese and clearly derived from what had gone before;but the same cannot be said for the crockets or for the pinnacles withtheir square and gabled spirelets. These crockets are of the commonvine-leaf shape such as was used in England and also in France early inthe fourteenth century, while the two-storied pinnacles with shallowtraceried panels on each face, and still more the square spirelets withrather large crockets and a large bunchy finial, are not at all French, but a not bad imitation of contemporary English work. On the gable abovethe door are two square panels, each containing a coat-of-arms set in acusped quatrefoil, while the vine-leaves which fill in the surfacebetween the quatrefoils and the outer mouldings of the square, as alsothose on the crowns which surmount the coats, are also quite English. The elaborate many-sided canopies above are not so much so in formthough they might well have been evolved from English detail. Above thegable comes another English feature, a very large three-light windowrunning up to the very vault; at the top the mullions of each light arecarried up so as to intersect, with cusped circles filling in eachspace, while the whole window to the top is filled with a veil of smallreticulated tracery. Above the top of the large window there is a bandof reticulated panelling whose shafts run down till they reach thecrocketed hood-mould of the window: and above this an elaboratelypierced and foliated parapet between the square pinnacles of the anglebuttresses, which like these of the apses are remarkable for theextraordinary number (ten) of offsets and string courses. 

The next five bays of the nave as well as the whole north side (whichhas no buttresses) above the cloister are all practically alike; thebuttresses, pinnacles and parapet are just the same as those of thetransept: the windows tall, standing pretty high above the ground, areall of three lights with tracery evidently founded on that of the largetransept window, but set very far back in the wall with as many as threeshafts on each side, and with each light now filled in with horrid woodor plaster work. The clerestory windows, also of three lights withsomewhat similar tracery, are separated by narrow buttresses bearingsquare pinnacles, between which runs on a pointed corbel table the usualpierced parapet, and by strong flying buttresses, which at least in thewestern bays are doubly cusped, and are, between the arch and thestraight part, pierced with a large foliated circle and other tracery. The last three bays on the south side are taken up by the Founder'sChapel (Capella do Fundador), in which are buried King João, QueenPhilippa, and four of their sons. This chapel, which must have beenbegun a good deal later than the church, as the church was finished in1415 when the queen died and was temporarily buried before the highaltar, while the chapel was not yet ready when Dom João made his will in1426, though it was so in 1434 when he and the queen were there buried, is an exact square of about 80 feet externally, within which an octagonof about 38 feet in diameter rises above the flat roof of the square, rather higher than to the top of the aisles. Each exposed side of thesquare is divided into three bays, one wider in the centre with onenarrower on each side. The buttresses, pinnacles and corbel table aremuch the same as before, but the parapet is much more elaborate and morelike French flamboyant. Of the windows the smaller are of four lightswith very elaborate and unusual flowing tracery in their heads; smallparts of which, such as the tracery at the top of the smaller lights, iscuriously English, while the whole is neither English nor French norbelonging to any other national school. The same may be said of thelarger eight-light window in the central bay, but that there the traceryis even more elaborate and extravagant. The octagon above has buttresseswith ordinary pinnacles at each corner, a parapet like that below, andflying buttresses, all pierced, cusped and crocketed like those at thewest front. On each face is a tall two-light window with flowing tracerypacked in rather tightly at the top. 

As for the west front itself, which has actually been compared to thatof York Minster, the ends of the aisles are much like the sides, withsimilar buttresses, pinnacles and parapet, but with the windows not setback quite so far. On each side of the large central door are squarebuttresses, running up to above the level of the aisle roof in sixstories, the four upper of which are panelled with what looks likeEnglish decorated tracery, and ending in large square crocketed andgabled pinnacles. The door itself between these buttresses is anotherstrange mixture. In general design and in size it is entirely French: oneither side six large statues stand on corbels and under elaboratemany-sided canopies, while on the arches themselves is the usual Frencharrangement of different canopied figures: the tympanum is upheld by arichly cusped segmental arch, and has on it a curiously archaisticcarving of Our Lord under a canopy surrounded by the four Evangelists. Above, the crocketed drip-mould is carried up in an ogee leaving roomfor the coronation of the Virgin over the apex of the arch. So far allmight be French, but on examining the detail, a great deal of it isfound to be not French but English: the half octagonal corbels withtheir panelled and traceried sides, and still more the strips ofpanelling on the jambs with their arched heads, are quite English andmight be found in almost any early perpendicular reredos or tomb, norare the larger canopies quite French. (Fig. 33. )

Above the finial of the ogee runs a corbel table supporting a piercedand crested parapet, a little different in design from the rest. 

Above this parapeted gallery is a large window lighting the upper partof the nave, a window which for extravagance and exuberance of traceryexceeds all others here or elsewhere. The lower part is evidentlyfounded on the larger windows of the Capella do Fundador. Like them ithas two larger pointed lights under a big ogee which reaches to the apexof a pointed arch spanning the whole window, the space between this ogeeand the enclosing arch being filled in with more or less ordinaryflowing tracery. These two main lights are again much subdivided: at thetop is a circle with spiral tracery; below it an arch enclosing an ogeeexactly similar to the larger one above, springing from two sub-lightswhich are again subdivided in exactly the same manner, into circle, sub-arch, ogee and two small lights, so that the whole lower part of thewindow is really built up from the one motive repeated three times. Thespace between the large arch and the window head is taken up by a largecircle completely filled with minute spiral tracery and two vesicae alsofilled in with smaller vesicae and circles. Now such a window could nothave been designed in England, in France, or anywhere else; not only isit ill arranged, but it is entirely covered from top to bottom withtracery, which shows that an attempt was being made to adapt formssuitable in a northern climate to the brilliant summer sun of Portugal, a sun which a native builder would rather try to keep out than to letin. Above the window is a band of reticulated tracery like that below, and the front is finished with a straight line of parapet pierced andfoliated like that below, joining the picturesque clusters of cornerpinnacles. The only other part of the church which calls for notice isthe bell-tower which stands at the north end of a very thick wallseparating the sacristy from the cloister; it is now an octagonspringing strangely from the square below, with a rich parapet, insidewhich stands a tall spire; this spire, which has a sort of coronetrather more than half-way up, consists of eight massive crocketed ribsending in a huge finial, and with the space between filled in with veryfine pierced work. [79] From such of the original detail which has

[Illustration: FIG. 33. 

BATALHA. 

WEST FRONT OF CHURCH. 

_From a photograph by E. Biel & Co. , Oporto. _]

survived the beautiful alterations of Dom Manoel, the details of thecloister must have been very like those of the church. The refectory tothe west of the cloister is a plain room roofed with a pointedbarrel-vault; but the chapter-house is constructively the mostremarkable part of the whole convent. It is a great room over sixty feetsquare, opening off the east cloister walk by a large pointed door witha two-light window each side. This great space is covered by an immensevault, upheld by no central shaft; arches are thrown across the cornersbringing the square to an octagon, and though not very high, it is oneof the boldest Gothic vaults ever attempted; there is nowhere else aroom of such a size vaulted without supporting piers, and probably nonewhere the buttresses outside, with their small projection, look sounequal to the work they have to do, yet this vault has successfullywithstood more than one earthquake. 

The inside of the church is in singular contrast to the floridness ofthe outside. The clustered piers are exceptionally large and tall; thereis no triforium, and the side windows are set so far back as to bescarcely seen. The capitals have elaborate Gothic foliage, but are sosquare as to look at a distance almost romanesque. In front of each piertriple vaulting shafts run up, but instead of the side shafts carryingthe diagonal ribs as they should have done, all three carry boldtransverse arches, leaving the vaulting ribs to spring as best they can. Each bay has horizontal ridge ribs, though their effect is lost by thetoo great strength of the transverse arches. The chancel, a little lowerthan the nave and transepts, is entered by an acutely pointed and richlycusped arch, and has a regular Welsh groined vault, with awell-developed ridge rib. Unfortunately almost all the church furniturewas destroyed during the French retreat, and of the stained glass onlythat in the windows of the main apse survives, save in the three-lightwindow of the chapter-house, a window which can be exactly dated as itdisplays the arms of Portugal and Castile quartered. This could onlyhave been done during the life of Dom Manoel's first wife, Isabel, eldest daughter and heir of Ferdinand and Isabella. Dom Manoel marriedher in 1497, and she died in 1498 leaving a son who, had he lived, wouldhave inherited the whole Peninsula and so saved Spain from the fatalconnection with the Netherlands inherited by Charles V. From his ownfather. (Fig. 34. )

The most elaborate part of the interior is not unnaturally the Capellado Fundador: though even there, the four beautiful carved and paintedaltars and retables on the east side, and the elaborate carved presseson the west, have all vanished from their places, burned for firewood bythe invaders in 1810. In the centre under the lantern, lie King João whodied in 1433, and on the right Queen Philippa of Lancaster who diedseventeen years before. The high tomb itself is a plain square block ofstone from which on each side there project four lions: at the head arethe royal arms surrounded by the Garter, and on the sides longinscriptions in honour of the king and queen. The figures of the kingand queen lie side by side with very elaborate canopies at their heads. King João is in armour, holding a sword in his left hand and with hisother clasping the queen's right hand. The figures are not nearly sowell carved as are those of Dom Pedro and Inez de Castro at Alcobaça, nor is the tomb nearly as elaborate. On the south wall are the recessedtombs of four of their younger sons. The eldest, Dom Duarte, intended tobe buried in the great unfinished chapel at the east, but still lieswith his wife before the high altar. Each recess has a pointed archrichly moulded, and with broad bands of very unusual leaves, while aboveit rises a tall ogee canopy, crocketed and ending in a large finial. Thespace between arch and canopy and the sills of the windows is coveredwith reticulated panelling like that on the west front, and the tombsare divided by tall pinnacles. The four sons here buried are, beginningat the west: first, Dom Pedro, duke of Coimbra; next him Dom Henrique, duke of Vizeu and master of the Order of Christ, famous as Prince Henrythe Navigator; then Dom João, Constable of Portugal; and last, DomFernando, master of the Order of Aviz, who died an unhappy captive inMorocco. During the reign of his brother Dom Duarte he had taken part inan expedition to that country, and being taken prisoner was offered hisfreedom if the Portuguese would give up Ceuta, captured by King João inthe year in which Queen Philippa died. These terms he indignantlyrefused and died after some years of misery. On the front of each tombis a large panel on which are two or three shields--one on that of DomHenrique being surrounded with the Garter--while all the surface iscovered with beautifully carved foliage. Dom Henrique alone has an

[Illustration: FIG. 34. 

CHURCH, BATALHA. 

INTERIOR. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 35. 

BATALHA. 

CAPELLA DO FUNDADOR AND TOMB OF DOM JOÃO I AND DONA FILIPPA. ]

effigy, the others having only covers raised and panelled, while theback of the Constable's monument has on it scenes from the Passion. 

The eight piers of the lantern are made up of a great number of shaftswith a moulded angle between each. The capitals are covered with twotiers of conventional vine-leaves and have octagonal, not as in thechurch square abaci, while the arches are highly stilted and areenriched with most elaborate cusping, each cusp ending in a squarevine-leaf. (Fig. 35. )

Such then are the main features of the church, the design of which, according to most writers, was brought straight from England by theEnglish queen, an opinion which no one who knows English contemporarybuildings can hold for a moment. 

First, to take the entirely native features. The plan is only anelaboration of that of many already existing churches. The southtransept door is a copy of a door at Santarem. The heavy transversearches and the curious way the diagonal vaulting ribs are left to takecare of themselves have been seen no further away than at Alcobaça; theflat-paved terraced roofs, whose origin the Visconde di Condeixa in hismonograph on the convent, sought even as far off as in Cyprus, existedalready at Evora and elsewhere. 

Secondly, from France might have come the general design of the westdoor, and the great height of the nave, though the proportion betweenthe aisle arcade and the clerestory, and the entire absence of any kindof triforium, is not at all French. 

Thirdly, several details, as has been seen, appear to be more Englishthan anything else, but they are none of them very important; the ridgeribs in the nave, the Welsh groining of the chancel vault, the generallook of the pinnacles, a few pieces of stone panelling on buttresses ordoor, a small part of a few of the windows, the moulding of thechapter-house door, the leaves on the capitals of the Capella doFundador, and the shape of the vine-leaves at the ends of the cuspingsof the arches. From a distance the appearance of the church is certainlymore English than anything else, but that is due chiefly to the flatroof--a thoroughly Portuguese feature--and to the upstanding pinnacles, which suggest a long perpendicular building such as one of the collegechapels at Oxford. 

Lastly, if the open-work spire is a real copy of that destroyed in1755, and if there ever was another like it on the Capella doFundador, [80] they suggest German influence, although the earliestSpanish examples of such German work were not begun at Burgos till 1442, by which time the church here must have been nearly if not quitefinished. 

It is then not difficult to assign a great many details, with perhaps acertain amount of truth, to the influence of several foreign countries, yet as a whole the church is unlike any building existing in any ofthese countries or even in Spain, and it remains as difficult, or indeedas impossible, to discover whence these characteristics came. So farthere had been scarcely any development of window tracery to lead up tothe elaborate and curious examples which are found here; still less hadany such constructive skill been shown in former buildings as to make sogreat a vault as that of the chapter-house at all likely, for such avault is to be found perhaps nowhere else. 

Probably the plan of the church, and perhaps the eastern chapel andlower part of the transept, are the work of Affonso Domingues, and allthe peculiarities, the strange windows, the cusped arches, theEnglish-looking pinnacles, as well as all the constructive skill, aredue to Huguet his successor, who may perhaps have travelled in Franceand England, and had come back to Portugal with increased knowledge ofhow to build, but with a rather confused idea of the ornamental detailhe had seen abroad. 

When Dom João died in 1433 his eldest son, Dom Duarte or Edward, determined to build for himself a more splendid tomb-house than hisfather's, and so was begun the great octagon to the east. 

Unfortunately Dom Duarte's reign was short; he died in 1438, partly itis said of distress at the ill success of his expedition to Morocco andat the captivity there of his youngest brother, so that he had no timeto finish his chapel, and his son Affonso V. , the African, was too muchengaged in campaigning against the Moors to be able to give either moneyor attention to his father's work; and it was still quite unfinishedwhen Dom Manoel came to the throne in 1495, and though he did muchtowards carrying on the work it was unfinished when he died in 1521 andso remains to the present day. It is in designing this chapel thatHuguet showed his greatest originality and constructive daring: a fewfeet behind the central apse he planned a great octagon aboutseventy-two feet in diameter, surrounded by seven apsidal chapels, oneon each side except that next the church, while between these chapelsare small low chambers where were to be the tombs themselves. There isnothing to show how this chapel was to be united to the church, as thegreat doorway and vaulted hall were added by Dom Manoel some seventyyears later. When Dom Duarte died in 1438, or when Huguet himself diednot long after, [81] the work had only been carried out as far as thetops of the surrounding chapels, and so remained all through his son'sand his grandson's reigns, although in his will the king had speciallyasked that the building should be carried on. In all this original partof the Capellas Imperfeitas there is little that differs from Huguet'swork in the church. The buttresses and corbel table are very similar(the pinnacles and parapets have been added since 1834), and the apsesquite like those of the church. (Fig. 36. )

The tracery of the chief windows too is not unlike that of the lanternwindows of the founder's chapel except that there is a well-markedtransome half-way up--a feature which has been attributed to Englishinfluence--while the single windows of the tomb chambers are completelyfilled with geometric tracery. Inside, the capitals of the chapel archesas well as their rich cuspings are very like those of the founder'schapel; the capitals having octagonal abaci and stiff vine-leaves, andthe trefoiled cusps ending in square vine-leaves, while the archmouldings are, as in King João's chapel, more English than French insection. There is nothing now to show how the great central octagon wasto be roofed--for the eight great piers which now rise high above thechapel were not built till the time of Dom Manoel--but it seems likelythat the vault was meant to be low, and not to rise much above thechapel roofs, finishing, as everywhere else in the church, in a flat, paved terrace. 

The only important addition made during the reigns of Dom Affonso V. Andof Dom João II. Was that of a second cloister, north of the ClaustroReal, and still called the Cloister of Affonso. This cloister is asplain and wanting in ornament as everything else about the monastery isrich and elaborate, and it was probably built under the direction ofFernão d'Evora, who succeeded his uncle Martim Vasques as master of theworks before 1448, and held that position for nearly thirty years. Unlike the great cloister, whose large openings must, from the first, have been meant for tracery, the cloister of Affonso V. Is so very plainand simple, that if its date were not known it would readily beattributed to a period older even than the foundation of the monastery. On each side are seven square bays separated by perfectly plainbuttresses, each bay consisting of two very plain pointed arches restingon the moulded capitals of coupled shafts. Except for the buttresses andthe vault the cloister differs in no marked way from those at Guimarãesand elsewhere whose continuous pointed arcades show so little advancefrom the usual romanesque manner of cloister-building. Above is a secondstory of later date, in which the tiled roof rests on short columnsplaced rather far apart, and with no regard to the spacing of the baysbelow. Round this are the kitchens and various domestic offices of theconvent, and behind it lay another cloister, now utterly gone, havingbeen burned by the French in 1810. Such are the church and monastery ofBatalha as planned by Dom João and added to by his son and grandson, andthough it is not possible to say whence Huguet drew his inspiration, itremains, with all the peculiarities of tracery and detail which make itseem strange and ungrammatical--if one may so speak--to eyes accustomedto northern Gothic, one of the most remarkable examples of originalplanning and daring construction to be found anywhere. Of the lateradditions which give character to the cloister and to the CapellasImperfeitas nothing can be said till the time of Dom Manoel is reached. 

[Illustration: FIG. 36. 

BATALHA. 

CAPELLAS IMPERFEITAS. 

_From a photograph by E. Biel & Co. , Oporto. _]

CHAPTER V

THE EARLIER FIFTEENTH CENTURY

[Sidenote: Guimarães. ]

Besides building Batalha, King João dedicated the spoils he had taken atAljubarrota to the church of Nossa Senhora da Oliviera at Guimarães, which he rebuilt from the designs of Juan Garcia of Toledo. The mostimportant of these spoils is the silver-gilt reredos taken in theSpanish king's travelling chapel. It is in the shape of a triptych aboutfour feet high. In the centre is represented the Virgin with the InfantChrist on a bed, with Joseph seated and leaning wearily on his staff atthe foot, the figures being about fourteen inches high; above two angelsswing censers, and the heads of an ox and an ass appear feeding from amanger. All the background is richly diapered, and above are four cuspedarches, separated by angels under canopies, while above the arches tothe top there rises a rich mass of tabernacle work, with the window-likespaces filled in with red or green enamel. At the top are twohalf-angels holding the arms of Portugal, added when the reredos wasdedicated to Our Lady by Dom João. The two leaves, each about twentyinches wide, are divided into two equal stories, each of which has twocusped and canopied arches enclosing, those on the left above, theAnnunciation, and below the Presentation, and those on the right, theAngel appearing to the Shepherds above, and the Wise Men below. All thetabernacle work is most beautifully wrought in silver, but the figuresare less good, that of the Virgin Mary being distinctly too large. [82](Fig. 37. )

Of the other things taken from the defeated king's tent, only one silverangel now remains of the twelve which were sent to Guimarães. 

Of the church rebuilt in commemoration of this great victory, only thewest front has escaped a terrible transformation carried out not so longago, and which has made it impossible to see what the inside was oncelike. If the builder was a Spaniard, as his name, Juan Garcia de Toledo, seems to imply, there is nothing Spanish about his design. The door islike many another door of about the same period, with simple mouldingsornamented with small bosses, but the deeply recessed window above ismost unusual. The tracery is gone, but the framing of the windowremains, and is far more like that of a French door than of a window. Oneither jamb are two stories of three canopied niches, containingfigures, while the arches are covered with small figures under canopies;all is rather rude, but the whole is most picturesque and original. 

To the left rises the tower, standing forward from the church front: itis of three stories, with cable moulding at the corners, a picturesquecornice and battlements at the top; a bell gable in front, and a lowoctagonal spire. On the ground floor are two large windows defended bysimple but good iron grilles, and in the upper part are large belfrywindows. This is not the original tower, for that was pulled down in1515, when the present one was built in its stead by Pedro EstevesCogominho. Though of so late a date it is quite uninfluenced, not onlyby those numerous buildings of Dom Manoel's time, which are noted fortheir fantastic detail, but by the early renaissance which had alreadybegun to show itself here and there, and it is one of the mostpicturesque church towers in the country. 

A few feet to the west of the church there is a small open shrine orchapel, a square vault resting on four pointed arches which are wellmoulded, enriched with dog-tooth and surmounted by gables. This chapelwas built soon after 1342 to commemorate the miracle to which the churchowes its name. Early in the fourteenth century there grew at SãoTorquato, a few miles off, an olive-tree which provided the oil for thatsaint's lamp. It was transported to Guimarães to fulfil a like officethere for the altar of Our Lady. It naturally died, and so remained formany years till 1342, when one Pedro Esteves placed on it a cross whichhis brother had bought in Normandy. This was the 8th of September, andthree days after the dead olive-tree broke into leaf, a miracle

[Illustration: FIG. 37. 

CAPELLA OF D. JUAN OF CASTILLE. 

TAKEN AT THE BATTLE OF ALJUBARROTA BY JOÃO I, 1385, AND NOW IN THETREASURY OF N. S. DA OLIVEIRA GUIMARÃES. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 38. 

GUARDA. 

N. SIDE OF CATHEDRAL. ]

greatly to the advantage and wealth of the church and of the town. Fromthat day the church was called Our Lady of the Olive Tree. 

[Sidenote: Guarda. ]

Far more interesting than this church, because much better preserved andbecause it is clearly derived, in part at least, from Batalha, is thecathedral of Guarda, begun by João I. Guarda is a small town, not farfrom the Spanish border, built on a hill rising high above the bleaksurrounding tableland to a height of nearly four thousand feet, and wasfounded by Dom Sancho I. In 1197 to guard his frontier against theSpaniards and the Moors. Begun by João I. The plan and general design ofthe whole church must belong to the beginning of the fifteenth century, though the finishing of the nave, and the insertion of larger transeptwindows, were carried out under Dom Manoel, and though the great reredosis of the time of Dom João III. Yet the few chapels between the navebuttresses are almost the only real additions made to the church. Thoughof but moderate dimensions, it is one of the largest of Portuguesecathedrals, being 175 feet long by 70 feet wide and 110 feet across thetransepts. It is also unique among the aisled and vaulted churches incopying Batalha by having a well-developed clerestory and flyingbuttresses. 

[Illustration: CATHEDRAL. GUARDA. ]

The plan consists of a nave and aisles of five bays, a transeptprojecting one bay beyond the aisles, and three apses to the east. Atthe crossing the vault is slightly raised so as to admit of four smallround windows opening above the flat roofs of the central aisle andtransepts. The only peculiarity about the plan lies in the two westerntowers, which near the ground are squares set diagonally to the front ofthe church and higher up change to octagons, and so rise a few feetabove the flat roof. About the end of the fifteenth century two smallchapels were added to the north of the nave, and later still the spacesbetween the buttresses were filled in with shallow altar recesses. 

The likeness to Batalha is best seen in the Capella Mor. As the apse hasonly three instead of five sides, the windows are rather wider, andthere are none below, but otherwise the resemblance is as great as maybe, when the model is of fine limestone and the copy of granite. Thebuttresses have offset string courses, and square crocketed pinnaclesjust as at Batalha; there has even been an attempt to copy the parapet, though only the trefoil corbel table is really like the model, for theparapet itself is solid with a cresting of rather clumsy fleurs-de-lis. These pinnacles and this crested parapet are found everywhere all roundthe church, though the pinnacles on the aisle walls from which the plainflying buttresses spring are quite different, being of a Manoelinodesign. Again the north transept door has evidently been inspired by therichness of Batalha. Here the door itself is plain, but well moulded, with above it an elaborately crocketed ogee drip-mould, which ends in alarge finial; above this rises to a considerable height some arcadedpanelling, ending at the top in a straight band of quatrefoil, andinterrupted by a steep gable. (Fig. 38. )

No other part of the outside calls for much notice except the boat-keelcorbels of the smaller apses, the straight gable-less ends to transeptand nave which show that the roofs are flat and paved, and the westerntowers. These are of three stories. The lowest is square at the bottomand octagonal above, the change being effected by a curved offset at twocorners, while at the third or western corner the curve has been cutdown so as to leave room for an eighteenth-century window, lighting thesmall polygonal chapel inside, a chapel originally lit by two narrowround-headed windows on the diagonal sides. In the second story thereare again windows on the same diagonal sides, but they have been builtup: while on the third or highest division--where the octagon iscomplete on all sides--are four belfry windows. The whole is finished bya crested parapet. The west front between these towers is very plain. Atthe top a cresting, simpler than that elsewhere, below a round windowwithout tracery, lower still two picturesque square rococo windows, andat the bottom a rather elaborate Manoelino doorway, built not manyyears ago to replace one of the same date as the windows above. 

Throughout the clerestory windows are not large. They are round-headedof two lights, with simple tracery, and deep splays both inside and out. The large transept windows with half octagonal heads under a largetrefoil were inserted about the beginning of the sixteenth century. 

Inside the resemblance to Batalha is less noticeable. The ribs of thechancel vault are well moulded, as are the arches of the lantern, but inthe nave, which cannot have been finished till the end of the fifteenthcentury, the design is quite different. The piers are all a hollowsquare set diagonally with a large round shaft at each corner. In theaisle arches the hollows of the diagonal sides are carried round withoutcapitals, with which the round shafts alone are provided; while theshaft in front runs up to a round Manoelino capital with octagonalabacus from which springs the vaulting at a level higher than the sillsof the clerestory windows. [83] The most unusual part of the nave is thevaulting of all three aisles, where all the ribs, diagonal as well astransverse, are of exactly the same section and size as is the roundshaft from which they spring, even the wall rib being of the same shapethough a little smaller. At the crossing there are triple shafts on eachside, those of the nave being twisted, which is another Manoelinofeature. The nave then must be about a hundred years later than theeastern parts of the church, where the capitals are rather long and arecarved with foliage and have square abaci, while those of the nave areall of the time of King João II. Or of King Manoel. At about the sametime some small and picturesque windows were inserted above the smallerapses on the east side of the transept, and rather later was built thechapel to the north-east of the nave, which is entered through asegmental arch whose jambs and head are well carved with earlyrenaissance foliage and figures, and which contains the simple tomb of abishop. The pulpits, organs, and stalls, both in the chancel and in thewestern choir gallery, are fantastic and late, but the great reredoswhich rises in three divisions to the springing of the vault is thelargest and one of the finest in the country, but belonging as it doesto a totally different period and school must be left for anotherchapter. 

[Sidenote: Nossa Senhora do Vencimento do Monte do Carmo, Lisbon. ]

Much need not be said about the Carmo at Lisbon, another church of thesame date, as it has been almost entirely wrecked by the earthquake of1755. The victory of Aljubarrota was due perhaps even more to the grandConstable of Portugal, Dom Nuno Alvares Pereira, than to the kinghimself, and, like the king, the Constable commemorated the victory byfounding a monastery, a great Carmelite house in Lisbon. The church ofNossa Senhora do Vencimento do Monte do Carmo stands high up above thecentral valley of Lisbon on the very verge of the steep hill. Begun inJuly 1389 the foundations twice gave way, and it was only after theConstable had dismissed his first master and called in three men of thesame name, Affonso, Gonçalo, and Rodrigo Eannes, that a real beginningcould be made, and it was not finished till 1423, when it wasconsecrated; at the same time the founder assumed the habit of aCarmelite and entered his own monastery to die eight years later, and tobecome an object of veneration to the whole people. In plan the churchwas almost exactly like that of Batalha, though with a shorter nave ofonly five bays. [84] To the east of the transept are still fiveapses--the best preserved part of the whole building--having windows andbuttresses like those at Batalha. The only other part of the churchwhich has escaped destruction is the west door, a large simple openingof six moulded arches springing from twelve shafts whose capitals arecarved with foliage. From what is left it seems that the church was morelike what Batalha was planned to be, rather than what it became underthe direction of Huguet: but the downfall of the nave has been socomplete that it is only possible to make out that there must have beena well-developed clerestory and a high vaulted central aisle. What makesthis destruction all the more regrettable is the fact that the churchwas full of splendid tombs, especially that of the Holy Constablehimself: a magnificent piece of carving in alabaster sent from Flandersby Dom João's daughter, Isabel, duchess of Flanders. [85]

After this catastrophe an attempt was made to rebuild the church, butlittle was done, and it still remains a complete ruin, having been usedsince the suppression of all monasteries in 1834 as an ArchæologicalMuseum where many tombs and other architectural fragments may still beseen. 

[Sidenote: Villar de Frades. ]

Towards the end of King João's reign a man named João Vicente, notingthe corruption into which the religious orders were falling, determinedto do what he could by preaching and example to bring back a betterstate of things. He first began his work in Lisbon, but was driven fromthere by the bishop to find a refuge at Braga. There he so impressed thearchbishop that he was given the decayed and ruined monastery of Villarde Frades in 1425. Soon he had gathered round him a considerable body offollowers, to whom he gave a set of rules and who, after receiving thepapal sanction, were known as the Canons Secular of St. John theEvangelist or, popularly, Loyos, because their first settlement inLisbon was in a monastery formerly dedicated to St. Eloy. The church atVillar, which is of considerable size, was probably long of building, asthe elliptical-headed west door with its naturalistic treelike posts hasdetails which did not become common till at least the very end of thecentury. Inside the church consists of a nave of five bays, flanked withchapels but not aisles, transepts which are really only enlargedchapels, and a chancel like the nave but without chapels. The chieffeature of the inside is the very elaborate vaulting, which with thenumber and intricacy of its ribs, is not at all unlike an EnglishPerpendicular vault, and indeed would need but little change to developinto a fan vault. Here then there has been a considerable advance fromthe imperfect vaulting of the central aisle at Batalha, where thediagonal ribs had to be squeezed in wherever they could go, althoughthere are at Villar no side aisles so that the construction ofsupporting buttresses was of course easier than at Batalha: and it iswell worth noticing how from so imperfect a beginning as the nave atBatalha the Portuguese masters soon learned to build elaborate and evenwide vaults, without, as a rule, covering them with innumerable andmeaningless twisting ribs as was usually done in Spain. In thenorth-westernmost chapel stands the font, an elaborate work of the earlyrenaissance; an octagonal bowl with twisted sides resting on a shorttwisted base. 

[Sidenote: Matriz, Alvito. ]

Not unlike the vaulting at Villar is that of the Matriz or mother churchof Alvito, a small town in the Alemtejo, nor can it be very much laterin date. Outside it is only remarkable for its west door, an interestingexample of an attempt to use the details of the early Frenchrenaissance, without understanding how to do so--as in the pediment allthe entablature except the architrave has been left out--and for theshort twisted pinnacles which somehow give to it, as to many otherbuildings in the Alemtejo, so Oriental a look, and which are seen againat Belem. Inside, the aisles are divided from the nave by roundchamfered arches springing from rather short octagonal piers, which havepicturesque octagonal capitals and a moulded band half-way up. Only isthe easternmost bay, opening to large transeptal chapels, pointed andmoulded. The vaulting springs from corbels, and although the ribs arebut simply chamfered they are well developed. Curiously, though thecentral is so much higher than the side aisles, there is no clerestory, nor any signs of there ever having been one, while the whole wallsurface is entirely covered with those beautiful tiles which came to beso much used during the seventeenth century. 

In the year 1415 her five sons had sailed straight from the deathbed ofQueen Philippa to the coast of Morocco and had there captured the townof Ceuta, a town which remained in the hands of the Portuguese tillafter their ill-fated union with Spain; for in 1668 it was ceded toSpain in return for an acknowledgment of Portuguese independence, thuswon after twenty-seven years' more or less continuous fighting. This wasthe first time any attempt had been made to carry the Portuguese armsacross the Straits, and to attack their old enemies the Moors in theirown land, where some hundred and seventy years later King João'sdescendant, Dom Sebastião, was to lose his life and his country'sfreedom. 

[Sidenote: Tomb in Graça, Santarem. ]

The first governor of Ceuta was Dom Pedro de Menezes, count of Viana. There he died in 1437, after having for twenty-two years bravelydefended and governed the city--then, as is inscribed on his tomb, theonly place in Africa possessed by Christians. This tomb, which was madeat the command of his daughter Dona Leonor, stands in the church of theGraça at Santarem, a church which had been founded by his grandfatherthe count of Ourem in 1376 for canons regular of St. Augustine. Insidethe church itself is not very remarkable, [86] having a nave and aisleswith transepts and three vaulted chapels to the east, built very much inthe same style as is the church at Leça do Balio, except that it has afine west front, to be mentioned later, that the roof of the nave wasknocked down by the Devil in 1548 in anger at the extreme piety of FreyMartinho de Santarem, one of the canons, and that many famous people, including Pedro Alvares Cabral, the discoverer of Brazil, are thereinburied. 

In general outline the tomb of the count of Viana is not unlike that ofhis master Dom João, but it is much more highly decorated. On eightcrouching lions rests a large altar-tomb. It has a well-moulded andcarved base and an elaborately carved cornice, rich with deeply undercutfoliage, while on the top lie Pedro de Menezes and his wife Dona BeatrizCoutinho, with elaborately carved canopies at their heads, and pedestalscovered with figures and foliage at their feet. Beneath the cornice oneach of the longer sides is cut in Gothic letters a long inscriptiontelling of Dom Pedro's life, and lower down and on all four sides thereis in the middle a shield, now much damaged, with the Menezes arms. Oneach side of these shields are carved spreading branches, knotted rounda circle in the centre in which is cut the word 'Aleo. ' Once, whenplaying with King João at a game in which some kind of club or malletwas used, the news came that the Moors were collecting in great numbersto attack Ceuta. The king, turning to Dom Pedro, asked him whatreinforcements he would need to withstand the attack; the governoranswered: 'This "Aleo, " or club, will be enough, ' and in fact, returningat once to his command, he was able without further help to drive backthe enemy. So this word has been carved on his tomb to recall how wellhe did his duty. [87] (Fig. 39. )

[Sidenote: Tomb in São João de Alporão. ]

Not far from the Graça church is that of São João de Alporão, of whichsomething has already been said, and in it now stands the tomb ofanother Menezes, who a generation later also died in Africa, fighting tosave the life of his king, Dom Affonso V. , grandson of King João. Notwithstanding the ill-success of the expedition of his father, DomDuarte, to Tangier, Dom Affonso, after having got rid of his uncle theduke of Coimbra, who had governed the country during his minority, andwho fell in battle defending himself against the charge of treason, ledseveral expeditions to Morocco, taking first Alcazar es Seghir orAlcacer Seguer, and later Tangier and Arzilla, thereby uselesslyexhausting the strength of the people, and hindering the spread ofmaritime exploration which Dom Henrique had done so much to extend. 

This Dom Duarte de Menezes, third count of Viana, was, as an inscriptiontells, first governor of Alcacer Seguer, which with five hundredsoldiers he successfully defended against a hundred thousand Moors, dying at last in the mountains of Bonacofú in defence of his king in1464. [88]

The monument was built by his widow, Dona Isabel de Castro, but soterribly had Dom Duarte been cut to pieces by the Moors, that only onefinger could be found to be buried there. [89] Though much moreelaborate, the tomb is not altogether unlike those of the royal princesat Batalha. The count lies, armed, with a sword drawn in his right hand, on an altar-tomb on whose front, between richly traceried panels, arecarved an inscription above, upheld by small figures, and below, in themiddle a flaming cresset, probably a memorial of his watchfulness inAfrica, and on each side a shield. 

Surmounting the altar-tomb is a deeply moulded ogee arch subdivided intotwo hanging arches which spring from a pendant in the middle, while thespace between these sub-arches and the ogee above is filled with acanopied carving of the Crucifixion. At about the level of the pendantthe open space is crossed by a cusped segmental arch supportingelaborate flowing tracery. The outer sides of the ogee, which ends in alarge finial, are enriched with large vine-leaf crockets. On either sideof the arch is a square pier, moulded at the angles, and with each facecovered with elaborate tracery. Each pier, which ends in a squarecrocketed and gabled pinnacle, has half-way

[Illustration: FIG. 39. 

SANTAREM. 

CHURCH OF THE GRAÇA. 

TOMB OF D. PEDRO DE MENEZES. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 40. 

SANTAREM. 

TOMB OF DOM DUARTE DE MENEZES IN S. JOÃO DE ALPORÃO. ]

up a small figure standing on an octagonal corbel under an elaboratecanopy. The whole at the top is finished with a cornice running straightacross from pier to pier, and crested with interlacing and cuspedsemicircles, while the flat field below the cornice and above the outermoulding of the great arch is covered with flaming cressets. (Fig. 40. )

This is perhaps one of the finest of the tombs of the fifteenth century, and like those at Alcobaça is made of that very fine limestone which isfound in more than one place in Portugal. 

[Sidenote: At Abrantes. ]

Farther up the Tagus at Abrantes, in the church of Santa Maria doCastello, are some more tombs of the same date, more than one of whichis an almost exact copy of the princes' tombs at Batalha, though thereis one whose arch is fringed with curious reversed cusping, almostMoorish in appearance. 

[Sidenote: Cloister at Thomar. ]

Before turning to the many churches built towards the end of thefifteenth century, one of the cloisters of the great convent at Thomarmust be mentioned. It is that called 'do Cemiterio, ' and was built byPrince Henry the Navigator, duke of Vizeu, during his grandmastership ofthe Order of Christ about the year 1440. Unlike those at Alcobaça or atLisbon, which were derived from a Cistercian plan, and were alwaysintended to be vaulted, this small cloister followed the plan, handeddown from romanesque times, where on each side there is a continuousarcade resting on coupled shafts. Such cloisters, differing only fromthe romanesque in having pointed arches and capitals carved withfourteenth-century foliage, may still be seen at Santo Thyrso and at SãoDomingos, Guimarães, in the north. Here at Thomar the only difference isthat the arches are very much wider, there being but five on each side, and that the bell-shaped capitals are covered with finely carvedconventional vine-leaves arranged in two rows round the bells. As in theolder cloisters one long abacus unites the two capitals, but the archesare different, each being moulded as one deep arch instead of twosimilar arches set side by side. 

CHAPTER VI

LATER GOTHIC

During the last ten or fifteen years of the fifteenth century there wasgreat activity in building throughout almost the whole country, but itnow becomes almost impossible to take the different buildings inchronological order, because at this time so many different schoolsbegan to struggle for supremacy. There was first the Gothic schoolwhich, though increasing in elaboration of detail, went on in someplaces almost uninfluenced by any breath of the renaissance, as forinstance in the porch and chancel of Braga Cathedral, not built tillabout 1532. Elsewhere this Gothic was affected partly by Spanish andpartly by Moorish influence, and gradually grew into that most curiousand characteristic of styles, commonly called Manoelino, from Dom Manoelunder whom Portugal reached the summit of its prosperity. In otherplaces, again, Gothic forms and renaissance details came gradually to beused together, as at Belem. 

To take then first those buildings in which Gothic detail was but littleinfluenced by the approaching renaissance. 

[Sidenote: Graça, Santarem. ]

One of the earliest of these is the west front, added towards the end ofthe fifteenth century to that Augustinian church of the Graça atSantarem whose roof the Devil knocked down in 1548. Here the ends of theside aisles are, now at any rate, quite plain, but in the centre thereis a very elaborate doorway with a large rose-window above. It is easyto see that this doorway has not been uninfluenced by Batalha. Fromwell-moulded jambs, each of which has four shafts, there springs a largepointed arch, richly fringed with cusping on its inner side. Two of itsmany mouldings are enriched with smaller cuspings, and one, theoutermost, with a line of wavy tracery, while the whole ends in acrocketed ogee. Above the arch is a strip of shallow panelling, enclosed, as is the whole doorway, in a square moulded frame. May itnot be that this square frame is due to the almost universal Moorishhabit of setting an archway in a square frame, as may be seen at Cordobaand in the palace windows at Cintra? The rest of the gable is perfectlyplain but for the round window, filled with elaborate spiral flowingtracery. Here, though the details are more French than national, thereis a good example of the excellent result so often reached by laterPortuguese--and Spanish--builders, who concentrated all their elaborateornament on one part of the building while leaving the rest absolutelyplain--often as here plastered and whitewashed. 

[Sidenote: São João Baptista, Thomar. ]

Not long after this front was built, Dom Manoel in 1494 began a newparish church at Thomar, that of São João Baptista. The plan of thischurch is that which has already become so familiar: a nave and aisleswith wooden roof and vaulted chancel and chapels to the east, with here, the addition of a tower and spire to the north of the west front. Theinside calls for little notice: the arches are pointed, and the capitalscarved with not very good foliage, but the west front is far moreinteresting. As at the Graça it is plastered and whitewashed, but endsnot in a gable but in a straight line of cresting like Batalha, thoughhere there is no flat terrace behind, but a sloping tile roof. At thebottom is a large ogee doorway whose tympanum is pierced with traceryand whose mouldings are covered with most beautiful and deeply undercutfoliage. The outside of the arch is crocketed, and ends in a tall finialthrust through the horizontal and crested moulding which, as at theGraça, sets the whole in a square frame. There are also doorways in thesame style half-way along the north and south sides of the church. Theonly other openings on the west front are a plain untraceried circleabove the door, and a simple ogee-headed window at the end of eachaisle. 

The tower, which is not whitewashed, rises as a plain unadorned squareto a little above the aisle roof, then turns to an octagon with, at thetop, a plain belfry window on each face. Above these runs a corbelledgallery within which springs an octagonal spire cut into three by twobands of ornament, and ending in a large armillary sphere, that emblemof all the discoveries made during his reign, which Dom Manoel put on toevery building with which he had anything to do. 

Inside the chapels are as usual overloaded with huge reredoses ofheavily carved and gilt wood, but the original pulpit still survives, amost beautiful example of the finest late Gothic carving. It consists offour sides of an octagon, and stands on ribs which curve outwards from acentral shaft. Round the bottom runs a band of foliage most marvellouslyundercut, above this are panels separated the one from the other byslender pinnacles, and the whole ends in a cornice even more delicatelycarved than is the base. At the top of each panel is some intricatetabernacle work, below which there is on one the Cross of the Order ofChrist, on another the royal arms, with a coronet above which stands outquite clear of the panel, and on a third there has been the armillarysphere, now unfortunately quite broken off. But even more interestingthan this pulpit itself is the comparison between its details and thoseof the nave or Coro added about the same time to the Templar church onthe hill behind. Here all is purely Gothic, there there is a mixture ofGothic and renaissance details, and towards the west front an exuberanceof carving which cannot be called either Gothic or anything else, sostrange and unusual is it. 

[Sidenote: Villa do Conde. ]

Another church of almost exactly the same date is that of São JoãoBaptista, the Matriz of Villa do Conde. The plan shows a nave and aislesof five bays, large transeptal chapels, and an apsidal chancelprojecting beyond the two square chapels by which it is flanked. Asusual the nave and aisles have a wooden roof, only the chancel andchapels being vaulted. There is also a later tower at the west end ofthe north aisle, and a choir gallery across the west end of the church. Throughout the original windows are very narrow and round-headed, andthere is in the north-western bay a pointed door, differing only fromthose of about a hundred years earlier in having twisted shafts. Onecurious feature is the parapet of the central aisle, which is like a rowof small classical pedestals, each bearing a stumpy obelisk. By far thefinest feature of the outside is the great west door. On each side areclusters of square pinnacles ending in square crocketed spirelets, andrunning up to a horizontal moulding which, as so often, gives the wholedesign a rectangular form. Within comes the doorway itself; a largetrefoiled arch of many mouldings of which the outermost, richlycrocketed, turns up as an ogee, to pierce the horizontal line above withits finial. Every moulding is filled with foliage, most elaborately andfinely cut, considering that it is worked in granite. Across thetrefoil at its springing there runs a horizontal moulding resting on theflat elliptical arch of the door itself. On the tympanum is a figure ofSt. John under a very elaborate canopy with, on his right, a queercarving of a naked man, and on his left a dragon. The space between thearch and the top moulding is filled with intricate but shallowpanelling, among which, between two armillary spheres, are set, on theright, a blank shield crowned--probably prepared for the royal arms--andon the left the town arms--a galley with all sails set. Lastly, as acresting to the horizontal moulding, there is a row of urnlike objects, the only renaissance features about the whole door. (Fig. 41. )

[Illustration: SÃO JOÃO BAPTISTA VILLA DO CONDE

S^TA MARIA DOS ANJOS CAMINHA]

Inside, all the piers are octagonal with a slender shaft at each angle;these shafts alone having small capitals, while their bases stand on, and interpenetrate with, the base of the whole pier. All the arches areround--as are those leading to the chancel and transept chapels--and aremoulded exactly as are the piers. All the vaults have a network ofwell-moulded ribs. 

The tower has been added some fifty years later and is verypicturesque. It is of four stories: of these the lowest has rusticatedmasonry; the second, on its western face, a square-headed window openingbeneath a small curly and broken pediment on to a balcony with very finebalusters all upheld by three large corbels. The third story has only aclock, and the fourth two plain round-headed belfry windows on eachface. The whole--above a shallow cornice which is no bigger than themouldings dividing the different stories--ends in a low stone dome, witha bell gable in front, square below, and arched above, holding twobells. 

[Sidenote: Azurara. ]

Scarcely a mile away, across the river Ave, lies Azurara, which was madea separate parish in 1457 and whose church was built by Dom Manoel in1498. 

In plan it is almost exactly the same as Villa do Conde, except thatthere are no transept chapels nor any flanking the chancel. Outsidealmost the only difference lies in the parapet which is of the usualshape with regular merlons; and in the west door which is an interestingexample of the change to the early renaissance. The door itself isround-headed, and has Gothic mouldings separated by a broad band coveredwith shallow renaissance carving. On each side are twisted shafts whichrun up some way above the door to a sort of horizontal entablature, whose frieze is well carved, and which is cut into by a curious ogeemoulding springing from the door arch. Above this entablature the shaftsare carried up square for some way, and end in Gothic pinnacles. Betweenthem is a niche surmounted by a large half-Gothic canopy and united tothe side shafts by a broken and twisted treelike moulding. What adds tothe strangeness of this door is that the blank spaces are plastered andwhitewashed, while all the rest of the church is of grey granite. Higherup there is a round window--heavily moulded--and the whole gable ends ina queer little round pediment set between two armillary spheres. 

Inside the piers are eight-sided with octagonal bases and caps, and witha band of ornament half-way up the shaft. The arches are simplychamfered but are each crossed by three carved voussoirs. 

The tower is exactly like that at Villa do Conde except that the bottomstory is not rusticated, and that instead of a dome there is anoctagonal spire covered with yellow and white tiles. 

[Illustration: FIG. 41. 

VILLA DO CONDE. SÃO JOÃO BAPTISTA. ]

[Sidenote: Caminha. ]

As at Azurara, the parish church of Santa Maria dos Anjos at Caminha isin plan very like the Matriz at Villa do Conde. Caminha lies on thePortuguese side of the estuary of the Minho, close to its mouth, and thechurch was begun in 1488, but was not finished till the next century, the tower indeed not being built till 1556. Like the others, the planshows a nave and rather narrow aisles of five bays, and two squarevaulted chapels with an apsidal chancel between to the east. Three largevaulted chapels and the tower have been added, opening from the northaisle. Probably the oldest part is the chancel with its flankingchapels, which are very much more elaborate than any portion of thechurches already described. There are at the angles deep squarebuttresses which end in groups of square spire-capped pinnacles allelaborately crocketed, and not at all unlike those at Batalha. Betweenthese, in the chancel are narrow round-headed windows, whose mouldingsare enriched with large four-leaved flowers, and on all the walls frombuttress to buttress there runs a rich projecting cornice crowned by awonderfully pierced and crested parapet; also not unlike those atBatalha, but more wonderful in that it is made of granite instead offine limestone. The rest of the outside is much plainer, except for thetwo doorways, and two tall buttresses at the west end. These twodoorways--which are among the most interesting in the country--must be agood deal later than the rest of the church, indeed could not have beendesigned till after the work of that foreign school of renaissancecarvers at Coimbra had become well known, and so really belong to alater chapter. 

Inside the columns are round, with caps and bases partly round andpartly eight-sided, the hollow octagons interpenetrating with thecircular mouldings. The arches of the arcade are also round, thoughthose of the chancel and eastern chapels are pointed. Attached to one ofthe piers is a small eight-sided pulpit, at whose angles are Gothicpinnacles, but whose sides and base are covered with cherubs' heads, vases, and foliage of early renaissance. 

But the chief glory of the interior are the splendid tiles with whichits walls are entirely covered, and still more the wonderful woodenroof, one of the finest examples of Moorish carpentry to be foundanywhere, and which, like the doorways, can now only be merelymentioned. 

The tower, added by Diogo Eannes in 1556, is quite plain with onebelfry opening in each face close to the top and just below the lowparapet which, resting on corbels, ends in a row of curious half-classicbattlements. [90]

[Sidenote: Funchal. ]

This plan was not confined only to parish churches, for about 1514 wefind it used by Dom Manoel at Funchal for the cathedral of the newlyfounded diocese of Madeira. The only difference of importance is thatthere is a well-developed transept entered by arches of the same heightas that of the chancel. Here the piers are clustered, and with ratherpoorly carved capitals, the arches pointed and moulded, but rather thin. As in the other churches of this date, the round-headed clerestorywindows come over the piers, not over the arches. The chancel, which israther deeper than usual, is entered by a wide foliated arch, and likethe apsidal chapels is vaulted. As at Caminha, the nave roof is ofMoorish design, but of even greater interest are the reredos and thechoir-stalls. This reredos is three divisions in height and five inwidth--each division, except the two lower in the centre where there isa niche for the image of the Virgin, containing a large picture. 

The divisions are separated perpendicularly by a series of Gothicpinnacles, and horizontally by a band of Gothic tabernacle work at thebottom, and above by beautifully carved early renaissance friezes. Thewhole ends in a projecting canopy, divided into five bays, each bayenriched with vaulting ribs, and in front with very delicately carvedhanging tracery. Above the horizontal cornice is a most elaboratecresting of interlacing trefoils and leaves having in the middle theroyal arms with on each side an armillary sphere. Some of the detail ofthe cresting is not all unlike that of the great reredos in the Sé Velhaat Coimbra, and like it has a Flemish look, so that it may have beenmade perhaps, if not by Master Vlimer, who finished his work at Coimbrain 1508, at any rate by one of his pupils. The stalls, which at the backare separated by Gothic pilasters and pinnacles, have also a continuouscanopy, and a high and splendid cresting, which though Gothic in generalappearance, is quite renaissance in detail. 

Outside, the smaller eastern chapels have an elaborate cresting, andtall twisted pinnacles. The large plain tower which rises east of thenorth transept has a top crowned with battlements, within which stands asquare tile-covered spire. 

[Sidenote: Sé, Lamego. ]

Before going on to discuss the long-continued influence of the Moors, three buildings in which Gothic finally came to an end must bediscussed. These are the west front of Lamego, the cathedral of Vizeu, and the porch and chancel of the Sé at Braga. Except for its romanesquetower and its west front the cathedral of Lamego has been entirelyrebuilt; and of the west front only the lower part remains uninjured. This front is divided by rather elaborate buttresses into three nearlyequal parts--for the side aisles are nearly as wide as the central. Ineach of these is a large pointed doorway, that in the centre being atonce wider and considerably higher than those of the aisles. The centraldoor has six moulded shafts on either side, all with elaborately carvedcapitals and with deeply undercut foliage in the hollows between, thisfoliage being carried round the whole arch between the mouldings. Abovethe top of the arch runs a band of flat, early renaissance carving witha rich Gothic cresting above. 

The side-doors are exactly similar, except that they have fewer shafts, four instead of six, and that in the hollows between the mouldings thecarving is early renaissance in character and is also flatter than inthe central door. Above runs the same band of carving--but lowerdown--and a similar but simpler cresting. 

[Sidenote: Sé, Vizeu. ]

Unlike Lamego, while the cathedral of Vizeu has been but little alteredwithin, scarcely any of the original work is to be seen outside. Thepresent cathedral was built by Bishop Dom Diego Ortiz de Vilhegas aboutthe year 1513, and his arms as well as those of Dom Manoel and of two ofhis sons are found on the vault. The church is not large, having a naveand aisles of four bays measuring about 105 feet by 62; square transeptchapels, and a seventeenth-century chancel with flanking chapels. To thewest are two towers, built between the years 1641 and 1671, and on thesouth a very fine renaissance cloister of two stories, the lower havingbeen built, it is said, in 1524, [91] and the upper about 1730. A choirgallery too, with an elaborate Gothic vault below and a fine renaissancebalustrade, crosses the whole west end and extends over the porchbetween the two western towers. But if the cathedral in its plan followsthe ordinary type, in design and in construction it is quite unique. Instead of there being a wooden roof as is usual in churches of thisperiod, the whole is vaulted, and that too in a very unusual andoriginal manner. Throughout the piers consist of twelve rounded shaftsset together. Of these the five towards the central aisle are severalfeet higher than the other seven from which spring the aisle arches aswell as the ribs of the aisle vault. Consequently the vault of thecentral aisle is considerably lower at the sides than it is in themiddle, and in this ingenious way its thrust is counteracted by thevaults of the side aisles; and at the same time these side vaults arenot highly stilted as they would of necessity have been, had the threeaisles been of exactly the same height. All the ribs are of considerableprojection and well moulded, and of all, except the diagonal ribs, thelowest moulding is twisted like a rope. This rope-moulding is repeatedon all the ridge ribs, and in each it is tied in a knot half-way along, a knot which is so much admired that the whole vault is called 'aabobada dos nós' or vault of the knots. 

The capitals are more curious than beautiful; the lower have clumsy, early-looking foliage and a large and curious abacus. First each capitalhas a square abacus of some depth, then comes a large flat circle, onefor each three caps, and at the top a star-shaped moulding of hollowcurves, the points projecting beyond the middle of the square abacibelow. The higher capitals are better. They are carved with moreelaborate foliage and gilt, and the abaci follow more exactly the lineof the caps below and are carved and gilded in the same way. (Fig. 42. )

Perhaps, however, the chief interest of the cathedral is found in thesacristy, a fine large room opening from the north transept chapel. Onits tiled walls there hang several large and some smaller paintings, ofwhich the finest is that of St. Peter. Other pictures are found in thechapter-house, and a fine one of the crucifixion in the Jesus Chapelbelow it; but this is not the place to enter into the very difficultquestion of Portuguese painting, a question on which popular traditionthrows only a misleading light by attributing everything to a more orless mythical painter, Grão Vasco, and on which all authorities differ, agreeing only in considering this St. Peter one of the finest paintingsin the country. 

[Sidenote: Sé, Braga. ]

Perhaps the chancel of the cathedral at Braga ought rather

[Illustration: FIG. 42. 

SÉ, VIZEU. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 43. 

BRAGA. W. PORCH OF CATHEDRAL. ]

to be left to a chapter dealing with what is usually called theManoelino style--that strange last development of Gothic which is foundonly in Portugal--but it is in many respects so like the choir chapelsof the church at Caminha, and has so little of the usual Manoelinopeculiarities, that it were better to describe it now. Whatever may bethought of the chancel, there is no doubt about the large western porch, which is quite free of any Manoelino fantasies. 

Both porch and chancel were built by Archbishop Dom Diego de Souza aboutthe year 1530--a most remarkable date when the purely Gothic work hereis compared with buildings further south, where Manoelino had alreadybeen succeeded by various forms of the classic renaissance. The porchstretches right across the west end of the church, and is of three bays. That in the centre, considerably wider than those at the side, isentered from the west by a round-headed arch, while the arches of theothers are pointed. The bays are separated by buttresses of considerableprojection, and all the arches, which have good late mouldings, areenriched with a fine feathering of cusps, which stands out well againstthe dark interior. Unfortunately the original parapet is gone, only theelaborate canopies of the niches, of which there are two to each bay, rise above the level of the flat paved roof. Inside there is a goodvault with many well-moulded ribs, but the finest feature of it all isthe wrought-iron railing which crosses each opening. This, almost theonly piece of wrought-iron work worthy of notice in the whole country, is very like contemporary screens in Spain. It is made of upright bars, some larger, twisted from top to bottom, some smaller twisted at thetop, and plain below, alternating with others plain above and twistedbelow. At the top runs a frieze of most elaborate hammered and piercedwork--early renaissance in detail in the centre, Gothic in the sidearches, above which comes in the centre a wonderful cresting. In themiddle, over the gate which rises as high as the top of the cresting, isa large trefoil made of a flat hammered band intertwined with a similarband after the manner of a Manoelino doorway. [92] (Fig. 43. )

Of the chancel little has been left inside but the vault and the tombsof Dona Theresa (the first independent ruler of Portugal) and of herhusband Count Henry of Burgundy--very poor work of about the same dateas the chancel. The outside, however, has been unaltered. Below it issquare in plan, becoming at about twenty feet from the ground ahalf-octagon having the eastern a good deal wider than the diagonalsides. On the angles of the lower square stand tall clusteredbuttresses, rising independently of the wall as far as the projectingcornice, across which their highest pinnacles cut, and united to thechancel at about a third of the height, by small but elaborate flyingbuttresses. On the eastern face there is a simple pointed window, andthere is nothing else to relieve the perfectly plain walls below excepttwo string courses, and the elaborate side buttresses with their tallpinnacles and twisted shafts. But if the walling is plain the cornice ismost elaborate. It is of great depth and of considerable projection, thehollows of the mouldings being filled with square flowers below andintricate carving above. On this stands a high parapet of traceriedquatrefoils, bearing a horizontal moulding from which springs anelaborate cresting; all being almost exactly like the cornice andparapet at Caminha, but larger and richer, and like it, a marvellousexample of carving in granite. At the angles are tall pinnacles, and thepinnacles of the corner buttresses are united to the parapet by acurious contorted moulding. 

[Sidenote: Conceiçao, Braga. ]

Opposite the east end of the cathedral there stands a small tower builtin 1512 by Archdeacon João de Coimbra as a chapel. It is of two stories, with a vaulted chapel below and a belfrey above, lit by round-headedwindows, only one of which retains its tracery. Just above the stringwhich divides the two stories are statues[93] under canopies, oneprojecting on a corbel from each corner, and one from the middle, whileabove a cornice, on which stand short pinnacles, six to each side, thetower ends in a low square tile roof. The chapel on the ground floor isentered by a porch, whose flat lintel rests on moulded piers at theangles and on two tall round columns in the centre, while its threeopenings are filled with plain iron screens, the upper part of whichblossoms out into large iron flowers and leaves. Inside there is on theeast wall a reredos of early renaissance date, and on the south a largehalf-classical arch flanked by pilasters under which there is alife-size group of the Entombment made seemingly of terra cotta andpainted. 

So, rather later than in most other lands, and many years after therenaissance had made itself felt in other parts of the country, Gothiccomes to an end, curiously enough not far from where the oldestChristian buildings are found. 

CHAPTER VII

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MOORS

It is now time to turn back for a century and a half and to speak of thetraces left by the Moors of their long occupation of the country. Although they held what is now the northern half of Portugal for over ahundred years, and part of the south for about five hundred, there ishardly a single building anywhere of which we can be sure that it wasbuilt by them before the Christian re-conquest of the country. Perhapsalmost the only exceptions are the fortifications at Cintra, known asthe Castello dos Mouros, the city walls at Silves, and possibly thechurch at Mertola. In Spain very many of their buildings still exist, such as the small mosque, now the church of Christo de la Luz, and thecity walls at Toledo, and of course the mosque at Cordoba and theAlcazar at Seville, not to speak of the Alhambra. Yet it must not beforgotten that, while Portugal reached its furthest limits by thecapture of the Algarve under Affonso III. About the middle of thethirteenth century, in Spain the progress was slower. Toledo indeed fellin 1085, but Cordoba and Seville were only taken a few years before thecapture of the Algarve, and Granada was able to hold out till 1492. Besides, in what is now Portugal there had been no great capital likeCordoba. And yet, though this is so, hardly a town or a village existsin which some slight trace of their art cannot be found, even if it bebut a tile-lining to the walls of church or house. In such towns asToledo, Moorish builders were employed not only in the many parishchurches but even in the cathedral, and in Portugal we find Moors atThomar even as late as the beginning of the sixteenth century, when suchnames as Omar, Mafamedi, Bugimaa, and Bebedim occur in the list ofworkmen. 

It is chiefly in three directions that Moorish influence made itselffelt, in actual design, in carpentry, and in tiling, and of these thelast two, and especially tiling, are the most general, and long survivedthe disappearance of Arab detail. 

[Sidenote: Cintra. ]

Some eighteen miles from Lisbon, several sharp granite peaks rise highabove an undulating tableland. Two of these are encircled by the oldMoorish fortification which climbs up and down over huge graniteboulders, and on a projecting spur near their foot, and to the north, there stands the old palace of Cintra. As long as the Walis ruled atLisbon, it was to Cintra that they came in summer for hunting and coolair, and some part at least of their palace seems to have survived tillto-day. 

Cintra was first taken by Alfonso VI. Of Castile and Leon in 1093--to besoon lost and retaken by Count Henry of Burgundy sixteen years later, but was not permanently held by the Christians till Affonso Henriquesexpelled the Moors in 1147. The Palace of the Walis was soon granted byhim to Gualdim Paes, the famous grand master of the Templars, and washeld by his successors till it was given to Dom Diniz's queen, St. Isabel. She died in 1336, when the palace returned to the Order ofChrist--which had meanwhile been formed out of the suppressed Order ofthe Temple--only to be granted to Dona Beatriz, the wife of D. AffonsoIV. , in exchange for her possessions at Ega and at Torre de Murta. DomJoão I. Granted the palace in 1385 to Dom Henrique de Vilhena, but hesoon sided with the Spaniards, for he was of Spanish birth, hispossessions were confiscated and Cintra returned to the Crown. Some ofthe previous kings may have done something to the palace, but it wasKing João who first made it one of the chief royal residences, and whobuilt a very large part of it. 

A few of the walls have been examined by taking off the plaster, andhave been found to be built in the usual Arab manner, courses of rubblebonded at intervals with bands of thin bricks two or three courses deep. Such are the back wall of the entrance hall and a thick wall near thekitchen. Outside all the walls are plastered, all the older windows, ofone or two lights, are enclosed in square frames--for the later windowsof Dom Manoel's time are far more elaborate and fantastic--and most ofthe walls end in typical Moorish battlements. High above the dark tileroofs there tower the two strange kitchen chimneys, huge conical spiresending in round funnels, now all plastered, but once covered with apattern of green and white tiles. 

[Illustration:

1. _Entrance Court. _2. _Sala dos Cysnes. _3. _Central Pateo. _4. _Sala das Pegas. _5. " " _Sereias. _5ª. " _do Conselho. _6. _Sala da Jantar. _7. _Servery. _8. _Sala dos Arabes. _9. _Chapel. _10. _Kitchen. _11. _Sala dos Brazões. _12. _Pateo de Diana. _13. _Wing or Dom Manoel. _

PLAN OF PAÇO, CINTRA]

The whole is so extremely complicated that without a plan it would bealmost useless to attempt a description. Speaking roughly, all that liesto the west of the Porte Cochère which leads from the entrance courtthrough to the kitchen court and stables beyond is, with certainalterations and additions, the work of Dom João, and all that lies tothe east is the work of Dom Manoel, added during the first years of thesixteenth century. Entering through a pointed gateway, one finds oneselfin a long and irregular courtyard, having on the right hand a long lowbuilding in which live the various lesser palace officials, and on theleft, first a comparatively modern projecting building in which live theladies-in-waiting, then somewhat further back the rooms of thecontroller of the palace and his office. From the front wall of thisoffice, which itself juts out some feet into the courtyard, there runseastwards a high balustraded terrace reaching as far as another slightlyprojecting wing, and approached by a great flight of steps at itswestern end. Not far beyond the east end of the terrace an inclined roadleads to the Porte Cochère, and beyond it are the large additions madeby Dom Manoel. (Fig. 44. )

On this terrace stands the main front of the palace. Below are fourlarge pointed arches, and above five beautiful windows lighting thegreat Sala dos Cysnes or Swan Hall. Originally these four arches wereopen and led into a large vaulted hall; now they are all builtup--perhaps by Dona Maria I. After the great earthquake--three havingsmall two-light windows, and one a large door, the chief entrance to thepalace. In the back wall of this hall may still be seen three windowswhich must have existed before it was built, for what is now their innerside was evidently at first their outer; and this wall is one of thosefound to be built in the Arab manner, so that clearly Dom João's hallwas built in front of a part of the Walis' palace, a part which hasquite disappeared except for this wall. 

From the east end of this lower hall a straight stair, which looks as ifit had once been an outside stair, leads up to a winding stair by whichanother hall is reached, whose floor lies at a level of about 26 feetabove the terrace. [94] From this hall, which may be of later date thanDom João's time, a door leads down to the central pateo or courtyard, orelse going up a few steps the way goes through a smaller square room, once an open verandah, through a wide doorway inserted by Dom Manoelinto the great Swan Hall. This hall, the largest room in the palace, measuring about 80 feet long by 25 wide, is so called from the swanspainted in the eight-sided panels of its wonderful roof. The story isthat while the palace was still building ambassadors came to the kingfrom the duke of Burgundy asking for the hand of his daughter Isabel. Among other presents they brought some swans, which so pleased the youngprincess that she made them collars of red velvet and persuaded herfather to build for them a long narrow tank in the central court justunder the north windows of this hall. Here she used to feed them tillshe went away to Flanders, and from love of his daughter King João hadthe swans with their collars painted on the ceiling of the hall. Theswans may still be seen, but not those painted for Dom João, for all themouldings clearly show that the present ceiling was reconstructed somecenturies later. The hall is lit by five windows looking south acrossthe entrance court to the Moorish castle on the hill beyond, and bythree looking over the swan tank into the central pateo. 

These windows, and indeed all those in Dom João's part of the palace, are very like each other. They are nearly all of two lights--never ofmore--and are made of white marble. In every case there is asquare-headed moulded frame enclosing the whole window, the outermouldings of this frame resting on small semicircular corbels, andhaving Gothic bases. Inside this framework stand three slender shafts, with simple bases and carved capitals. These capitals are not at allunlike French capitals of the thirteenth century, but are really of acommon Moorish pattern often found elsewhere, as in the Alhambra. Onthem, moulded at the ends, but not in front or behind, rest abaci, fromwhich spring stilted arches. (Fig. 45. )

Each arch is delicately moulded and elaborately cusped, but, though insome cases--for the shape varies in almost every window--each individualcusp may have the look of a Gothic trefoil, the arrangement is notGothic at all. There are far more than are ever found in a Gothicwindow, sometimes as many as eleven, and they usually begin at thebottom with a whole instead of a half cusp. From the centre of eachabacus, cutting across the arch mouldings, another moulding runs up, which being returned across the top encloses the upper part of eachlight in a smaller square frame. It is this square frame which more thananything else gives these windows their Eastern look, and it has beenshown how often, and indeed almost universally a square framing was putround doorways all through the last Gothic

[Illustration: FIG. 44. 

PALACE, CINTRA. 

ENTRANCE COURT. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 45. 

PALACE, CINTRA. 

WINDOW OF SALA DAS SEREIAS. ]

period. In only one instance are the shafts anything but plain, and thatis in the central window overlooking the entrance court, where they areelaborately twisted, and where also they start at the level of the floorwithin instead of standing on a low parapet. 

In the room itself the walls up to a certain height are covered withtiles, diamonds of white and a beautiful olive green which are muchlater than Dom João's time. There is also near the west end of the northside a large fireplace projecting slightly from the wall; at either endstands a shaft with cap and base like those of the windows, bearing along flat moulded lintel, while on the hearth there rest two very finewrought-iron Gothic fire-dogs. 

East of the fireplace a door having a wide flat ogee head leads into asmall porch built in the corner of the pateo to protect the passage tothe Sala das Pegas, the first of the rooms to the south of this pateo. 

In the angle formed by the end wall of the Sala dos Cysnes and the sideof the Sala das Pegas there is a small low room now called the Sala deDom Sebastião or do Conselho. It is entered from the west end of theSwan Hall through a door, which was at first a window just like all therest. This Hall of Dom Sebastião or of the Council is so called from thetradition that it was there that in 1578 that unhappy king held thecouncil in which it was decided to invade Morocco, an expedition whichcost the king his life and his country her independence. In reality thefinal solemn council was held in Lisbon, but some informal meeting maywell have been held there. Now the room is low and rather dark, beinglit only by two small windows opening above the roof of the controller'soffice. It is divided into two unequal parts by an arcade of threearches, the smaller part between the arches and the south wall beingraised a step above the rest. When first built by Dom João this raisedpart formed a covered verandah, the rest being, till about the time ofMaria I. , open to the sky and forming a charming and cool retreat duringthe heat of summer. The floor is of tiles and marble, and all along thesouth wall runs a bench entirely covered with beautiful tiles. At theeastern end is a large seat, rather higher than the bench and providedwith arms, doubtless for the king, and tiled like the rest. 

Passing again from the Swan Hall the way leads through the porch intothe Sala das Pegas or of the magpies. The door from the porch to theroom is one of the most beautiful parts of Dom João's work. It is framedas are the windows, and has shafts, capitals, abaci, and bases just likethose already described; but the arch is different. It is beautifullymoulded, but is--if one may so speak--made up of nine reversed cusps, whose convex sides form the arch: the inner square moulding too isenriched with ball ornament. Inside the walls are covered to half theirheight with exquisite tiles of Moorish pattern, blue, green and brown ona white ground. 

On the north wall is a great white marble chimney-piece, once a presentfrom Pope Leo X. To Dom Manoel and brought by the great Marques dePombal from the ruined palace of Almeirim opposite Santarem. Two otherdoors, with simple pointed heads, lead one into the dining-room, and oneinto the Sala das Sereias. The Sala das Pegas, like the Swan Hall, iscalled after its ceiling, for on it are painted in 136 triangularcompartments, 136 magpies, each holding in one foot a red rose and inits beak a scroll inscribed 'Por Bem. ' Possibly this ceiling, which oneach side slopes up to a flat parallelogram, is more like that paintedfor Dom João than is that of the Swan Hall, but even here some of themouldings are clearly renaissance, and the painting has been touched up, but anyhow it was already called Camera das Pegas in the time of DomDuarte; further, tradition tells that the magpies were painted there byDom João's orders, and why. It seems that once during the hour of themidday siesta the king, wandering about his unfinished house, found inthis room one of the maids of honour. Her he kissed, when another maidimmediately went and told the queen, Philippa of Lancaster. She wasangry, but Dom João only said 'Por bem, ' meaning much what his queen'sgrandfather had meant when he said 'Honi soit qui mal y pense, ' and toremind the maids of honour, whose waiting-room this was, that they mustnot tell tales, he had the magpies painted on the ceiling. 

The two windows, one looking west and one into the pateo, are exactlylike those already described. 

From the Sala das Pegas one door leads up a few steps into the Sala dasSereias, and another to the dining-room. This Sala das Sereias, socalled from the mermaids painted on the ceiling, is a small room someeighteen feet square. It is lit by a two-light window opening towardsthe courtyard, a window just like those of the Sala das Pegas and of theSala dos Cysnes. Some of its walls, especially that between it and theSala das Pegas, are very thick and seem to be older than the time of DomJoão. As usual, the walls are partly covered with beautiful tiles, mostly embossed with green vine-leaves, but round the door leading tothe long narrow room, used as a servery, is an interlacing pattern ofgreen and blue tiles, while the spandrils between this and the pointeddoorhead are filled with a true Arabesque pattern, dark on a lightground, which is said to belong to the Palace of the Walis. There arealtogether four doors, one leading to the servery, one to the Sala dasPegas, one to a spiral stair in the corner of the pateo, and one to thedining-room. 

This dining-room projects somewhat to the west so as to leave space fora window looking south to the mountains, and one looking north across asmall court, as well as one looking west. Of these, the two which looksouth and west are like each other, and like the other of Dom João'stime except that the arches are not cusped; that the outer frame isomitted and that the abaci are moulded in front as well as at the ends;but the third window looking north is rather different. The framing hasregular late Gothic bases, the capitals of the shafts are quite unlikethe rest, having one large curly leaf at each angle, and the mouldingrunning up the centre between the arches--which are not cusped--isplaited instead of being plain. Altogether it looks as if it were laterthan Dom João's time, for it is the only window where the capitals arenot of the usual Arab form, and they are not at all like some in thecastle of Sempre Noiva built about the beginning of the sixteenthcentury. 

The wall-tiles of the dining-room are like those of the Sala dasSereias, but end in a splendid cresting. The ceiling is modern anduninteresting. 

Next to the north comes the servery, a room without interest but for itswindow which looks west, and is like the two older dining-room windows. 

Returning to the Sala das Sereias, a spiral stair leads down to thecentral pateo, which can also be reached from the porch in thesouth-west corner. All along the south side runs the tank made by DomJoão for his daughter's swans, and on three sides are beautiful whitemarble windows. At the east end of the north side three open arches leadto the bathroom. As is the case with the windows, the three arches areenclosed in a square frame. The capitals, however, are different, havingan eight-sided bell on which rests a square block with a bud carved ateach angle, and above an abacus, moulded all round. The arches arecusped like the windows, but are stilted and segmental. Inside is arecess framed in an arch of Dom Manoel's time, and from all over thetiled walls and the ceiling jets of water squirt out, so that the wholebecomes a great shower-bath, delightful and cooling on a hot day butrather public. In the middle of the pateo there stands a curiouscolumn--not at all unlike the 'pelourinho'[95] of Cintra--which standsin a basin just before the entrance gate. This column is formed of threetwisted shafts on whose capitals sit a group of boys holding threeshields charged with the royal arms. All round the court is a dado ofwhite and green tiles arranged in an Arab pattern. 

In the north-west corner and reached by the same spiral stair, but at ahigher level than the Sala das Sereias, is the Sala dos Arabes, socalled because it is commonly believed to be a part of the originalbuilding. The walls may be so, but of the rest, nothing, but perhaps theshallow round fountain basin in the middle and the square of tiles whichsurrounds it, now so worn that little of their glazed surface is left. The walls half-way up are lined with tiles, squares and parallelograms, blue, white and green. The doors are framed in different tiles, and allare finished with an elaborate cresting. The most interesting thing inthe room is the circular basin in the middle--a basin which gives it atruly Eastern look. Inside a round shallow hollow there stands amany-sided block of marble about six inches high. The sides are concaveas in a small section of a Doric column, and within it is hollowed intoa beautiful cup, shaped somewhat like a flower of many petals. In themiddle there now is a strange object of gilt metal through which thewater once poured. On a short stem stands a carefully modelled dish onwhich rest first leaves, like long acanthus leaves, then between thembirds on whose backs sit small figures of boys. Between the boys andabove the leaves are more figures exactly like seated Indian gods, andthe whole ends in a cone. It is so completely Indian in appearance thatthere can be little doubt but that it is really of Indian origin, andperhaps it is not too much to see in it part of the spoils brought toDom Manoel by Vasco da Gama after he had in 1498 made his way roundAfrica to Calicut and back. 

Returning to the Sala das Sereias and passing through the servery andanother room an open court is reached called the Pateo de Diana, from afountain over which Diana presides, and on to which one of thedining-room windows looks. A beautifully tiled stair--these tiles areembossed like those of the dining-room, but besides vine-leaves somehave on them bunches of grapes--goes down from the Court of Diana to theCourt of the Lion, the Pateo do Leão, where a lion spouts into a longtank. But the chief beauty of these two courts is a small window whichoverlooks them. This window is only of one light, and like thedining-room window near it its framing has Gothic bases. The capitalsare smaller than in the other windows, and the framing partly covers theouter moulding of the window arch, making it look like a segment of acircle. But the cusps are the most curious part. They form four more orless trefoiled spaces with wavy outlines, and two of them--not theremaining one at the top--end in large well-carved vine-leaves, verylike those at the ends of the cusps on the arches in the Capella doFundador at Batalha. To add to the charm of the window, the spacebetween the top of the arch and the framing is filled in with thosebeautiful tiles embossed with vine-leaves. 

Going up again to the Sala dos Arabes, a door in the northern wall leadsto a passage running northwards to the chapel. About half-way along thepassage another branches off to the right towards the great kitchen. 

The chapel stands at the northern edge of the palace buildings, havingbeyond it a terrace called the Terreiro da Meca or of Mecca; partly fromthis name, and partly from the tiles which still cover the middle of thefloor it is believed that the chapel stands exactly on the site of theWalis' private mosque, with perhaps the chancel added. 

The middle of the nave--the chapel consists of a nave and chancel, twosmall transeptal recesses, and two galleries one above the other at thewest end--is paved with tiles once glazed and of varying colours, butnow nearly all worn down till the natural red shows through. The patternhas been elaborate; a broad border of diagonal checks surrounding anarrow oblong in which the checks are crossed by darker lines so as toform octagons, and between the outer border and the octagons a band oflighter ground down which in the middle runs a coloured line having oneach side cones of the common Arab pattern exactly like the palacebattlements. 

Now the walls are bare and white, but were once covered with frescoes ofthe fifteenth century; the reredos is a clumsy addition of theeighteenth century. 

The cornice and the long pilasters at the entrance to the chancel seemto have been added at the same time, but the windows and ceiling arestill those of Dom João's time. The windows--there are now three, afourth in the chancel having been turned into a royal pew--are of two orthree lights, have commonplace tracery, and are only interesting asbeing one of the few wholly Gothic features in the palace. 

Far more interesting is the ceiling, which is entirely Arab inconstruction and in design. In the nave it is an irregular polygon insection, and in the chancel is nearly a semicircle, having nine equalsides. The whole of the boarded surface is entirely covered with anintricate design formed of strips of wood crossing each other in everydirection so as to form stars, triangles, octagons, and figures of everyconceivable shape. The whole still retains its original colouring. Atthe centres of the main figures are gilt bosses--the one over the highaltar being a shield with the royal arms--the wooden strips are blackwith a white groove down the centre of each, and the ground is eitherdark red or light blue. (Fig. 46. )

The whole is of great interest not only for its own sake, but because itis the only ceiling in the palace which has remained unchanged since theend of the fourteenth century, and because it is, as it were, the parentof the splendid roofs in the Sala dos Cysnes and of the still morewonderful one in the Sala dos Escudos. 

The kitchen lies at the back of the chapel and at right angles to it. Itis a building about 58 feet long by 25 wide, and is divided into twoequal parts by a large arch. Each of these two parts is covered by ahuge conical chimney so that the inside is more like the nave of St. Ours at Loches than anything else, while outside these chimneys risehigh above all the rest of the palace. It is lit by small two-lightGothic windows, and has lately been lined with white tiles. Now the

[Illustration: FIG. 46. 

PALACE CHAPEL ROOF. 

CINTRA. ]

chimneys serve only as ventilators, as ordinary iron ranges have beenput in. There seems to be nothing in the country at all like thesechimneys--for the kitchen at Alcobaça, although it has a stream runningthrough it, is but a poor affair compared with this one, nor is itschimney in any way remarkable outside. [96]

The rest of the palace towards the west, between the west end of thechapel and the great square tower in which is the Sala dos Escudos, wasprobably also built about the time of Dom João I. , but except for a fewwindows there is little of interest left which belongs to his time. 

The great tower of the Sala dos Escudos was built by Dom Manoel on thetop of an older building then called the Casa da Meca, in which AffonsoV. Was born in 1432--the year before his grandfather Dom João died--andwhere he himself died forty-nine years later. In another room on ahigher floor--where his feet, as he walked up and down day after day, have quite worn away the tiles--Affonso VI. Was imprisoned. Affonso hadby his wildness proved himself quite unable to govern, and had also madehimself hated by his queen, a French princess. She fell in love with hisbrother, so Affonso was deposed, divorced, and banished to the Azores. After some years it was found that he was there trying to form a party, so he was brought to Cintra and imprisoned in this room from 1674 tillhis death in 1683. These worn-out tiles are worthy of notice for theirown sake since tiles with Moorish patterns, as are these here and thosein the chapel, are very seldom used for flooring, and they are probablyamong the oldest in the palace. 

[Sidenote: Castles, Guimarães and Barcellos. ]

Such was the palace from the time of João I. To that of Dom Manoel, abuilding thoroughly Eastern in plan as in detail, and absolutely unlikesuch contemporary buildings as the palaces of the dukes of Braganza atGuimarães or at Barcellos, or the castle at Villa da Feira betweenOporto and Aveiro. The Braganza palaces are both in ruins, but theirdetails are all such as might be found almost anywhere in ChristianEurope. Large pointed doors, traceried windows and tall chimneys--theselast round and of brick--differ only from similar features foundelsewhere, as one dialect may differ from another, whereas Cintra is, asit were, built in a

[Sidenote: Villa da Feira. ]

totally different language. The castle at Villa da Feira is even moreunlike anything at Cintra. A huge keep of granite, the square turretsprojecting slightly from the corners give it the look of a Normancastle, for the curious spires of brick now on those turrets were addedlater, perhaps under Dom Manoel. Inside there is now but one vast hallwith pointed barrel roof, for all the wooden floors are gone, leavingonly the beam holes in the walls, the Gothic fireplaces, and the smallwindows to show where they once were. 

It is then no wonder that Cintra has been called the Alhambra ofPortugal, and it is curious that the same names are found given todifferent parts of the two buildings. The Alhambra has a Mirador deLindaraxa, Cintra a Jardim de Lindaraya; the Alhambra a Torre de las dosHermanas, Cintra a Sala das Irmãs or of the Sisters--the part under theSala dos Escudos where Affonso V. Was born; while both at the Alhambraand here there is a garden called de las or das Damas. 

CHAPTER VIII

OTHER MOORISH BUILDINGS

The old palace at Cintra is perhaps the only complete building to thenorth of the Tagus designed and carried out by Moorish workmen scarcely, if at all, influenced by what the conquering Christians were doing roundthem. Further south in the province of Alemtejo Moorish buildings aremore common, and there are many in which, though the design and plan aswell as most of the detail may be Western, yet there is something, thewhitewashed walls, the round conical pinnacles, or the flat roofs whichgive them an Eastern look. 

And this is natural. Alemtejo was conquered after the country north ofthe Tagus had been for some time Christian, and no large immigration ofChristians ever came to take the place of the Moors, so that those fewwho remained continued for long in their own Eastern ways of buildingand of agriculture. 

It is especially in and about the town of Evora that this is seen, andthat too although the cathedral built at the end of the twelfth centuryis, except for a few unimportant details, a Western building. 

[Sidenote: Alvito. ]

But more completely Eastern than any one building at Evora is the castleat Alvito, a small town some thirty or forty miles to the south-west. The town stands at the end of a long low hill and looks south over anendless plain across to Beja, one of the most extensive and, in its way, beautiful views in the country. 

At one end of the town on the slope of the hill stands the castle, andnot far off in one of the streets is the town hall whose tower is toocharacteristic of the Alemtejo not to be noticed. The building iswhitewashed and perfectly plain, with ordinary square windows. Anoutside stair leads to the upper story, and behind it rises the tower. It, like the building, is absolutely plain with semicircular openingsnear the top irregularly divided by a square pier. Close above theseopenings is a simple cornice on which stand rather high and narrowbattlements; within them rises a short eight-sided spire, and at eachcorner a short round turret capped by a conical roof. The whole from topto bottom is plastered and whitewashed, and it is this glaring whitenessmore than anything else which gives to the whole so Eastern a look. 

As to the castle, Haupt in his most interesting book, _Die Baukunst derRenaissance in Portugal_, says that, though he had never seen it, yetfrom descriptions of its plan he had come to the conclusion that it wasthe castle which, according to Vasari, was built by Andrea da Sansovinofor Dom João II. Now it is well known that Sansovino was for nine yearsin Portugal and did much work there, but none of it can now be foundexcept perhaps a beautiful Italian door in the palace at Cintra; Vasarialso states that he did some work in the heavy and native style whichthe king liked. Is it possible that the castle of Alvito is one of hisworks in this native style?

Vasari says that Sansovino built for Dom João a beautiful palace withfour towers, and that part of it was decorated by him with paintings, and it was because Haupt believed that this castle was built round anarcaded court--a regular Italian feature, but one quite unknown inPortugal--that he thought it must be Sansovino's lost palace. 

As a matter of fact the court is not arcaded--there is only a row ofrough plastered arches along one side; there are five and not fourtowers; there is no trace now of any fine painted decoration inside;and, in short, it is inconceivable that, even to please a king, anarchitect of the Italian renaissance could ever have designed such abuilding. 

The plan of the castle is roughly square with a round tower at three ofthe corners, and at the fourth or southern corner a much larger tower, rounded in front and projecting further from the walls. The main frontis turned to the south-west, and on that side, as well as on thesouth-eastern, are the habitable parts of the castle. Farm buildings runalong inside and outside the north-western, while the north-eastern sideis bounded only by a high wall. 

Half-way along the main front is the entrance gate, a plain pointed archsurmounted by two shields, that on the right charged with the royalarms, and that on the left with those of the Barão d'Alvito, to whosedescendant, the Marques d'Alvito, the castle still belongs. There isalso an inscription stating that the castle, begun in 1494 by the ordersof Dom João II. And finished in the time of Dom Manoel, was built by DomDiogo Lobo, Barão d'Alvito. [97]

In the court a stair, carried on arches, goes up to the third floorwhere are the chief rooms in the house. None of them, which open onefrom the other or from a passage leading to the chapel in thewesternmost corner, are in any way remarkable except for their windows. The ceilings of the principal rooms are of wood and panelled, but areclearly of much later date than the building and are not to be comparedwith those at Cintra. Most of the original windows--for those on themain front have been replaced by plain square openings--are even moreEastern than those at Cintra. They are nearly all of two lights--thereis one of a single light in the passage--but are without the squareframing. Each window has three very slender white marble shafts, withcapitals and with abaci moulded on each side. On some of the capitalsare carved twisted ropes, while others, as in a window in the largesouthern tower, are like those at Cintra. As the shafts stand a littleway back from the face of the wall the arches are of two orders, ofwhich only the inner comes down to the central shaft. (Fig. 47. )

These arches, all horseshoe in shape, are built of red brick with verywide mortar joints, and each brick, in both orders, is beautifullymoulded or cut at the ends so as to form a series of small trefoiledcusps, each arch having as many as twenty-seven or more. The wholebuilding is plastered and washed yellow, so that the contrast betweenthe bare walls and the elaborate red arches and white shafts issingularly pleasing. All the outer walls are fortified, but the spacebetween each embrasure is far longer than usual; the four corner towersrise a good deal above the rest of the buildings, but in none, exceptthe southern, are there windows above the main roof. It has one, shapedlike the rest, but now all plastered and framed in an ogee moulding. Half-way along the north-west wall, outside it, stands the keep, whichcuriously is not Arab at all. It is a large square tower of no greatheight, absolutely plain, and built of unplastered stone or marble. Ithas scarcely any windows, and walls of great thickness which, like thoseof the smaller round towers, have a slight batter. It seems to be olderthan the rest, and now its chief ornament is a large fig-tree growingnear the top on the south side. [98]

[Sidenote: Evora. ]

[Sidenote: Paços Reaes. ]

Of all the towns in the Alemtejo Evora is the one where Easterninfluence is most strongly marked. Indeed the Roman temple and thecathedral are perhaps the only old buildings which seem to be distinctlyWestern, and even the cathedral has some trace of the East in its twowestern spires, one round and tiled, and the other eight-sided andplastered. For long Evora was one of the chief towns of the kingdom, andwas one of those oftenest visited by the kings. Their palace stood closeto the church of São Francisco, and must once have been a beautifulbuilding. 

Unfortunately most of it has disappeared, and what is left, a large hallpartly of the time of Dom Manoel, has been so horribly restored in orderto turn it into a museum as to have lost all character. 

A porch still stands at the south end, but scraped and pointed out ofall beauty. It has in front four square stone piers bearing largehorseshoe brick arches, and these arches are moulded and cusped exactlylike those at Alvito. 

[Sidenote: Morgado de Cordovis. ]

There are no other examples of Moorish brickwork in the town, but thereis more than one marble window resembling those at Alvito in shape. Ofthese the most charming are found in the garden of a house belonging toa 'morgado' or entailed estate called Cordovis. These windows form twosides of a small square summer-house; their shafts have capitals likethose of the dining-room windows at Cintra, and the horseshoe archesare, as usual, cusped. A new feature, showing how the pure Arab detailswere being gradually combined with Gothic, is an ogee moulding which, uniting the two arches, ends in a large Gothic finial; other mouldingsrun up the cornice at the angles, and the whole, crowned withbattlements, ends in a short round whitewashed spire. 

Some miles from Evora among the mountains, Affonso of

[Illustration: FIG. 47. 

CASTLE, ALVITO. 

COURTYARD. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 48. 

EVORA. 

CHAPTER HOUSE DOOR OF SÃO JOÃO, EVANGELISTA. ]

[Sidenote: Sempre Noiva. ]

Portugal, archbishop of Evora, built himself a small country house whichhe called Sempre Noiva, or 'Ever New, ' about the beginning of thesixteenth century. It is now a ruin having lost all its woodwork, butthe walls are still well preserved. The plan is simple; a rectangle witha chapel projecting from the eastern side, and a small wing from thewest end of the south side. All the ground floor is vaulted, as is thechapel, but the main rooms on the first floor had wooden roofs, exceptthe one next the chapel which forms the middle floor of a three-storiedtower, which, rising above the rest of the building, has a battlementedflat roof reached by a spiral stair. This stair, like the roundbuttresses of the chapel, is capped by a high conical plastered roof. Asusual the whole, except the windows and the angles, is plastered and hasa sgraffito frieze running round under the cornice. There is a largeporch on the north side covering a stair leading to the upper floor, where most of the windows are of two lights and very like those of thepavilion at Evora. Two like them have the ogee moulding, and at thesides a rounded moulding carried on corbels and finished above thewindow with a carved finial. The capitals are again carved with leaves, but the horseshoe arches have no cusps, and the mouldings, like thecapitals, are entirely Gothic; the union between the two styles, Gothicand Arab, was already becoming closer. 

Naturally Moorish details are more often found in secular than inreligious buildings: yet there are churches where such details existeven if the general plan and design is Christian. 

[Sidenote: São João Evangelista, Evora. ]

Just to the north of the cathedral of Evora, Rodrigo Affonso de Mello, count of Olivença, in 1485 founded a monastery for the Loyos, or CanonsSecular of St. John the Evangelist. The church itself is in no waynotable; the large west door opening under a flat arched porch is one ofthese with plain moulded arches and simple shafts which are so commonover all the country, and is only interesting for its late date. At theleft side is a small monument to the founder's memory; on a corbelstands a short column bearing an inscribed slab, and above the slab is ashield under a carved curtain. Inside are some tombs--two of them beingFlemish brasses--and great tile pictures covering the walls. These givethe life of São Lorenzo Giustiniani, patriarch of Venice, and canon ofSan Giorgio in Alga, where the founder of the Loyos had been kindlyreceived and whence he drew the rules of his order, and are interestingas being signed and dated 'Antonius ab oliva fecit 1711. '

The cloisters are also Gothic with vine-covered capitals, but theentrance to the chapter-house and refectory is quite different. Ingeneral design it is like the windows at Sempre Noiva, two horseshoearches springing from the capitals of thin marble shafts and an ogeemoulding above. The three shafts are twisted, the capitals are verystrange; they are round with several mouldings, some fluted, some carvedwith leaves, some like pieces of rope: the moulded abaci also have fourcurious corbels on two sides. The capitals are carried across the jambsand the outer moulding, which is of granite, as is the whole except thethree shafts and their caps, and between the shafts and this mouldingthere is a broad band of carved foliage. The ogee and the side finialsor pinnacles, which are of the same section as the outer moulding fromwhich they spring, are made of a bundle of small rolls held together bya broad twisted ribbon. Lastly, between the arches and the ogee there isa flat marble disk on which is carved a curious representation of astockaded enclosure, supposed to be memorial of the gallant attack madeby Affonso de Mello on Azila in Morocco. [99] The whole is a very curiouspiece of work, the capitals and bases being, with the exception of somedetails at Thomar and at Batalha, the most strange of the details ofthat period, though, were the small corbels left out, they would differbut little from other Manoelino capitals, while the bases may be only anattempt of a Moorish workman to copy the interpenetration of lateGothic. (Fig. 48. )

[Sidenote: São Francisco, Evora. ]

Not much need be said here of the church of São Francisco or of thechapel of São Braz, both begun at about the same time. São Francisco waslong in building, for it was begun by Affonso V. In 1460 and notfinished till 1501. It is a large church close to the ruins of thepalace at Evora, and has a wide nave without aisles, six chapels on eachside, larger transept chapels, and a chancel narrower than the nave. Itis, like most of Evora, built of granite, has a pointed barrel vault cutinto by small groins at the sides and scarcely any windows, for theouter walls of the side chapels are carried up so as to leave a narrowspace between them and the nave wall. This was probably done to supportthe main vault, but the result is that almost the only window is alarge one over the west porch. It is this porch that most strongly showsthe hand of Moorish workmen. It is five bays long and one deep, and mostof the five arches in front, separated by Gothic buttresses andspringing from late Gothic capitals, are horseshoe in shape. The whitemarble doorway has two arches springing from a thin central shaft, whichlike the arches and the two heavy mouldings, which forming the outerpart of the jambs are curved over them, is made of a number of smallrounds partly straight and partly twisted. At the corners of the churchare large round spiral pinnacles with a continuous row of battlementsbetween; these battlements interspersed with round pinnacles are evenset all along the ridge of the vault. The reredos and the stalls made byOlivel of Ghent in 1508 are gone; so are Francisco Henriques' stainedwindows, but there are still some good tiles, and in a large squareopening looking into the chancel there is a shaft with a beautiful earlyrenaissance capital. 

[Sidenote: São Braz, Evora. ]

São Braz stands outside the town near the railway station. It was builtas a pilgrimage chapel soon after 1482, when the saint had been invokedto stay a terrible plague. It is not large, has an aisleless nave offour bays, a large porch with three wide pointed arches at the west, anda sort of domed chancel. Most of the details are indeed Gothic, butthere is little detail, and the whole is entirely Eastern in aspect. Itis all plastered, the buttresses are great rounded projections cappedwith conical plastered roofs; there are battlements on the west gableand on the three sides of the porch, which also has great roundconical-topped buttresses or turrets at the angles. 

Inside there are still fine tiles, but the sgraffito frieze has nearlydisappeared from the outer cornice. 

There is also an interesting church somewhat in the same style as SãoBraz, but with aisles and brick flying buttresses at Vianna d'Alemtejonear Alvito. 

CHAPTER IX

MOORISH CARPENTRY

If it was only in the south that Moorish masons built in stone or brick, their carpenters had a much wider range. The wooden ceilings of as lateas the middle of the seventeenth century may show no Eastern detail, yetin the method of their construction they are all ultimately descendedfrom Moorish models. Such ceilings are found all over the country, butcuriously enough the finest examples of truly Eastern work are found inthe far north at Caminha and in the island of Madeira at Funchal. 

[Sidenote: Aguas Santas. ]

The old romanesque church at Aguas Santas near Oporto has a roof, simpleand unadorned, the tie-beams of which are coupled in the Moorish manner. The two beams about a foot apart are joined in the centre by four shortpieces of wood set diagonally so as to form a kind of knot. This is verycommon in Moorish roofs, and may be seen at Seville and elsewhere. Therest of the roof is boarded inside, boards being also fastened to theunderside of the collar beams. 

[Sidenote: Azurara. ]

At Azurara the ties are single, but the whole is boarded as at AguasSantas, and this is also the case at Villa do Conde and elsewhere. 

In the palace chapel at Cintra, already described, the boarding iscovered with a pattern of interlacing strips, but later on panelling wasused, usually with simple mouldings. Such is the roof in the nave of thechurch of Nossa Senhora do Olival at Thomar, probably of the seventeenthcentury, and in many houses, as for instance in the largest hall in thecastle at Alvito. From such simple panelled ceilings the splendidelaboration of those in the palace at Cintra was derived. 

[Sidenote: Caminha. ]

The roofs at Caminha and at Funchal are rather different. At Caminha theroof is divided into bays of such a size that each of the threedivisions, the two sloping sides and the flat centre under the collarties, is cut into squares. In the sloping sides these squares aredivided from each other by a strip of boarding covering the spaceoccupied by three rafters. On this boarding are two bands of ornamentseparated by a carved chain, while one band, with the chain, is returnedround the top and bottom of the square. Between each strip of boardingare six exposed rafters, and these are united alternately by small knotsin the middle and at the ends, and by larger and more elaborate knots atthe ends. In the flat centre under the collar ties each square is againsurrounded by the band of ornament and by the chains, but here band andchain are also carried across the corners, leaving a large octagon inthe centre with four triangles in the angles. Each octagon has a plainborder about a foot wide, and within it a plain moulding surrounding aneight-sided hollow space. All these spaces are of some depth; each hasin the centre a pendant, and in each the opening is fringed with traceryor foliation. In some are elaborate Gothic cuspings, in others longcarved leaves curved at the ends; and in one which happens to comeexactly over an iron tie-rod--for the rods are placed quiteirregularly--the pendant is much longer and is joined to the tie by asmall iron bar. At the sides the roof starts from a cornice of somedepth whose mouldings and ornamentation are more classic than Gothic. (Fig. 49. )

In the side aisles the cornice is similar, but of greater projection, and the rafters are joined to each other in much the same way, but moresimply. 

[Sidenote: Funchal. ]

At Funchal the roof is on a larger scale: there is no division intosquares, but the rafters are knotted together with much greaterelaboration, and the flat part is like the chapel roof at Cintra, entirely covered with interlacing strips forming an intricate patternround hollow octagons. 

[Sidenote: Sala dos Cysnes, Cintra. ]

The simple boarding of the earlier roofs may well have led to the twowonderful ceilings at Cintra, those in the Sala dos Cysnes, and in theSala dos Brazões or dos Escudos, but the idea of the many octagons inthe Sala dos Cysnes may have come from some such roof as that atCaminha, when the octagons are so important a feature of the design. Inthat hall swans may have first been painted for Dom João, but the roofhas clearly been remade since then, possibly under Dom Manoel. The giltornament on the mouldings seem even later, but may of course have beenadded afterwards, though it is not very unlike some of the carving onthe roof at Caminha, an undoubted work of Dom Manoel's time. 

This great roof in the Swan Hall has a deep and projecting classicalcornice; it is divided into three equal parts, two sloping and one flat, with the slopes returned at the ends. The whole is made up oftwenty-three large octagons and of four other rather distorted ones inthe corners, all surrounded with elaborate mouldings, carved and giltlike the cornice. From the square or three-sided spaces left between theoctagons there project from among acanthus leaves richly carved and giltpendants. 

In each of the twenty-seven octagons there is painted on a flat-boardedground a large swan, each wearing on its neck the red velvet and goldcollar made by Dona Isabel for the real swans in the tank outside. Thesepaintings, which are very well done, certainly seem to belong to theseventeenth century, for the trees and water are not at all like thework of an artist of Dom Manoel's time. (Fig. 50. )

[Sidenote: Sala dos Escudos, Cintra. ]

Even more remarkable is the roof of the Sala dos Brazões or dosEscudos--that is 'of the shields'--also built by Dom Manoel, and alsoretouched at the same time as that in the Sala dos Cysnes. This otherhall is a large room over forty feet square. The cornice begins abouttwelve feet from the ground, the walls being covered with hunting sceneson blue and white tiles of about the end of the seventeenth century. Thecornice, about three feet deep and of considerable projection, is, likeall the mouldings, painted blue and enriched with elaborate giltcarving. On the frieze is the following inscription in large giltletters:

 Pois com esforços leais Serviços foram ganhadas Com estas e outras tais Devem de ser comservadas. [100]

The inscription is interrupted by brackets, round which the cornice isreturned, and on which rest round arches thrown across the four corners, bringing the whole to an equal-sided

[Illustration: FIG. 49. 

CAMINHA. ROOF OF MATRIZ. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 50. 

PALACE, CINTRA. SALA DOS CYSNES. ]

[Illustration: CINTRA. 

Portugal. 

Old Palace. 

Sala dos Brazões. ]

octagon. These triangular spaces are roofed with elaborate woodenvaults, with carved and gilt ribs leaving spaces painted blue andcovered with gilt ornament. Above the cornice the panelling risesperpendicularly for about eleven feet; there being on each cardinal sideeight panels, in two rows of four, one above the other, and over eacharch four more--forty-eight panels in all. Above this begins anoctagonal dome with elaborately carved and gilt mouldings, like thoseround the panels, in each angle and round the large octagon which comesin the middle of each side. The next stage is similar, but set at adifferent angle, and with smaller and unequal-sided octagons, while thedome ends in one large flat eight-sided panel forty-five feet above thefloor. All the space between the mouldings and the octagons is filledwith most elaborate gilt carving on a blue ground. Nor does thedecoration stop here, for the whole is a veritable Heralds' College forall the noblest families of Portugal in the early years of the sixteenthcentury. The large flat panel at the top is filled with the royal armscarved and painted, with a crown above and rich gilt mantling all round. In the eight panels below are the arms of Dom Manoel's eight children, and in the eight large octagons lower down are painted large stags withscrolls between their horns; lastly, in each of the forty-eight panelsat the bottom, and of the six spaces which occur under each of thevaults in the four corners; in each of these seventy-two panels orspaces there is painted a stag. Every stag has round its neck a shieldcharged with the arms of a noble family, between its horns a crest, andbehind it a scroll on which is written the name of the family. [101]

The whole of this is of wood, and for beauty and originality of design, as well as for richness of colour, cannot be surpassed anywhere. In anynorthern country the seven small windows would not let in enough light, and the whole dome would be in darkness, but the sky and air of Portugalare clear enough for every detail to be seen, and for the gold on everymoulding and piece of carving to gleam brightly from the bluebackground. 

None of the ceilings of later date are in any way to be compared inbeauty or richness with those of these two halls, for in all others themouldings are shallower and the panels flatter. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra Misericordia. ]

In Coimbra there are two, both good examples of a simpler form of suchceilings. They are, one in the Misericordia--the headquarters of acorporation which owns and looks after all the hospitals, asylums andorphanages in the town--and one in the great hall of the University. TheMisericordia, built by bishop Affonso de Castello Branco about the endof the sixteenth century, has a good cloister of the later renaissance, and opening off it two rooms of considerable size with panelledceilings, of which only one has its original painting. A cornice of somesize, with brackets projecting from the frieze to carry the uppermouldings, goes round the room, and is carried across the corners sothat at the ends of the room the ceiling has one longer and two quiteshort sides. The lower sloping part of the ceiling all round is dividedinto square panels with three-sided panels next the squares on the shortcanted sides; the upper slope is divided in exactly the same way so thatthe flat centre-piece consists of three squares set diagonally and offour triangles. All the panels are painted with a variety of emblems, but the colours are dark and the ceiling now looks rather dingy. 

[Sidenote: Sala dos Capellos University. ]

The great hall of the University built by the rector, Manoel deSaldanha, in 1655 is a very much larger and finer room. A raised seatruns round the whole room, the lower part of the walls are covered withtiles, and the upper with red silk brocade on which hang portraits ofall the kings of Portugal, many doubtless as authentic as the earlykings of Scotland at Holyrood. Here only the upper part of the corniceis carried across the corners, and the three sides at either end areequal, each being two panels wide. 

As in the Misericordia the section of the roof is five-sided, each twopanels wide. All the panels are square except at the half-octagonal endswhere they diminish in breadth towards the top: they are separated by alarge cable moulding and are painted alternately red and blue with anelaborate design in darker colour on each. (Fig. 51. )

The effect is surprisingly good, for each panel with its beautifuldesign of curling and twisting acanthus, of birds, of mermaids and ofvases has almost the look of beautiful old brocade, for the blues andreds have grown soft with age. 

[Sidenote: Santa Clara, Villa do Conde. ]

Before finally leaving wood ceilings it were better to speak of anotherform or style which was sometimes used for their decoration althoughthey are even freer from Moorish detail than are those at Coimbra, though probably like them ultimately derived from the same source. Oneof the finest of these ceilings is found in the upper Nuns' Choir in thechurch of Santa Clara at Villa do Conde. The church consists of a shortnave with transepts and chancel all roofed with panelled woodenceilings, painted grey as is often the case, and in no way remarkable. The church was founded in 1318, but the ceilings and stalls of bothNuns' Choirs, which, [Sidenote: Convent, Aveiro. ]

one above the other take up much the greater part of the nave, cannot beearlier than the first half of the seventeenth century. Like the otherceilings it is polygonal in section, but unlike all Moorish ones is notreturned round the ends. Above a finely carved cornice with elaboratefrieze, the whole ceiling is divided into deeply set panels, large andsmall squares with narrow rectangles between: all alike covered withelaborate carving, as are also the mouldings and the flat surfaces ofthe dividing bands. Here the wood is left in its natural colour, but inthe nave of the church of a large convent at Aveiro, where the generaldesign of the ceiling is almost the same, pictures are painted in thelarger panels, and all the rest is heavily gilt, making the whole mostgorgeous. 

As time went on wooden roofs became less common, stone barrel vaultstaking their place, but where they were used they were designed with amass of meaningless ornament, lavished over the whole surface, which wasusually gilt. One of the most remarkable examples of such a roof isfound in the chancel of that same church at Aveiro. It is semicircularin shape and is all covered with greater and smaller carved and giltcircles, from the smallest of which in the middle large pendants hangdown. 

These circles are so arranged as to make the roof almost like that ofHenry VII. Chapel, though the two really only resemble each other intheir extreme richness and elaboration. This same extravagance ofgilding and of carving also overtook altar and reredos. Now almost everychurch is full of huge masses of gilt wood, in which hardly one squareinch has been left uncarved; sometimes, if there is nothing else, andthe whole church--walls and ceiling alike--is a mass of gilding andpainting, the effect is not bad, but sometimes the contrast is terriblebetween the plain grey walls of some old and simple building and theexuberance behind the high altar. 

[Illustration: FIG. 51. 

COIMBRA. HALL OF UNIVERSITY. ]

CHAPTER X

EARLY MANOELINO

Affonso V. , the African, had died and been succeeded by his son João II. In 1487. João tried, not without success, to play the part of Louis XI. Of France and by a judicious choice of victims (he had the duke ofBraganza, the richest noble in the country, arrested by a Cortes atEvora and executed, and he murdered his cousin the duke of Vizeu withhis own hand) he destroyed the power of the feudal nobility. Enriched bythe confiscation of his victims' possessions, the king was enabled to dowithout the help of the Cortes, and so to establish himself as adespotic ruler. Yet he governed for the benefit of the people at large, and reversing the policy of his father Affonso directed the energies ofhis people towards maritime commerce and exploration instead of wastingthem in quarrelling with Castile or in attempting the conquest ofMorocco. It was he who, following the example of his grand-uncle PrinceHenry, sent out ship after ship to find a way to India round thecontinent of Africa. Much had already been done, for in 1471 Fernando Pohad reached the mouth of the Niger, and all the coast southward fromMorocco was well known and visited annually, for slaves used tocultivate the vast estates in the Alemtejo; but it was not till 1484that Diogo Cão, sent out by the king, discovered the mouth of the Congo, or till 1486 that Bartholomeu Diaz doubled the Cabo Tormentoso, anill-omened name which Dom João changed to Good Hope. 

Dom João II. Did not live to greet Vasco da Gama on his return fromIndia, for he died in 1495, but he had already done so much that DomManoel had only to reap the reward of his predecessor's labours. The onegreat mistake he made was that in 1493 he dismissed Columbus as adreamer, and so left the glory of the discovery of America to Ferdinandand Isabella. Besides doing so much for the trade of his country, DomJoão did what he could to promote literature and art. Andrea daSansovino worked for him for nine years from 1491 to 1499, and althoughscarcely anything done by him can now be found, he here too set anexample to Dom Manoel, who summoned so many foreign artists to thecountry and who sent so many of his own people to study in Italy and inFlanders. 

Four years before Dom João died, his only son Affonso, riding down fromAlmerim to the Tagus to meet his father, who had been bathing, fell fromhis horse and was killed. In 1495 he himself died, and was succeeded byhis cousin, Manoel the Fortunate. Dom Manoel indeed deserved the name of'Venturoso. ' He succeeded his cousin just in time to see Vasco da Gamastart on his great voyage which ended in 1497 at Calicut. Three yearslater Pedro Alvares Cabral landed in Brazil, and before the king died, Gôa--the great Portuguese capital of the East--had become the centre ofa vast trade with India, Ormuz[102] in the Persian Gulf of trade withPersia, while all the spices[103] of the East flowed into Lisbon andeven Pekin[104] had been reached. 

From all these lands, from Africa, from Brazil, and from the East, endless wealth poured into Lisbon, nearly all of it into the royaltreasury, so that Dom Manoel became the richest sovereign of his time. 

In some other ways he was less happy. To please the Catholic Kings, forhe wished to marry their daughter Isabel, widow of the young PrinceAffonso, he expelled the Jews and many Moors from the country. As theywent they cursed him and his house, and Miguel, the only child born tohim and Queen Isabel, and heir not only to Portugal but to all theSpains, died when a baby. Isabel had died at her son's birth, andManoel, still anxious that the whole peninsula should be united underhis descendants, married her sister Maria. His wish was realised--butnot as he had hoped--for his daughter Isabel married her cousin CharlesV. And so was the mother of Philip II. , who, when Cardinal King Henrydied in 1580, was strong enough to usurp the throne of Portugal. 

Being so immensely rich, Dom Manoel was able to cover the whole landwith buildings. Damião de Goes, who died in 1570, gives a list ofsixty-two works paid for by him. These include cathedrals, monasteries, churches, palaces, town walls, fortifications, bridges, arsenals, andthe draining of marshes, and this long list does not take in nearly allthat Dom Manoel is known to have built. 

Nearly all these churches and palaces were built or added to in thatpeculiar style now called Manoelino. Some have seen in Manoelino only adevelopment of the latest phase of Spanish Gothic, but that is notlikely, for in Spain that latest phase lasted for but a short time, andthe two were really almost contemporaneous. 

Manoelino does not always show the same characteristics. Sometimes it isexuberant Gothic mixed with something else, something peculiar, and thisphase seems to have grown out of a union of late Gothic and Moorish. Sometimes it is frankly naturalistic, and this seems to have beendeveloped out of the first; and sometimes Gothic and renaissance areused together. In this phase, the composition is still always Gothic, though the details may be renaissance. At times, of course, all phasesare found together, but those which most distinctly deserve the name, Manoelino, are the first and second. 

The shape of the arches, whether of window or of door, is one of themost characteristic features of Manoelino. After it had been wellestablished they were rarely pointed. Some are round, some trefoils;some have a long line of wavy curves, others a line of sharp angles andcurves together. [105] In others, like the door to the Sala das Pegas atCintra, and so probably derived from Moorish sources, the arch is madeof three or more convex curves, and in others again the arch is half ofa straight-sided polygon, while in many of the more elaborate all ormany of these may be used together to make one complicated whole ofinterlacing mouldings and hanging cusps. 

The capitals too are different from any that have come before. Some areround, but they are more commonly eight-sided, or have at least aneight-sided abacus, often with the sides hollow forming a star. Ifornamented with leaves, the leaves do not grow out of the bell but arelaid round it like a wreath. But leaf carving is not common; usuallythe caps are merely moulded, one or two of the mouldings being oftenlike a rope; or branches may be set round them sometimes bound togetherwith a broad ribbon like a bent faggot. The bases too are usuallyoctagonal with an ogee section. 

Another feature common to all phases is the use of round mouldings, either one by itself--often forming a kind of twisting brokenhood-mould--or of several together, when they usually form a spiral. Such a round moulding has already been seen forming an ogee over thewindows at Sempre Noiva and over the chapter-house door at São JoãoEvangelista, Evora, and there are at Evora two windows side by side, inone of which this round moulding forms a simple ogee, while in the otherit forms a series of reversed curves after the true Manoelino manner. 

[Sidenote: House of Resende, Evora. ]

They are in the house of Garcia de Resende, a man of manyaccomplishments whose services were much valued both by Dom João and byDom Manoel. He seems too to have been an architect of some distinction, if, as is said, he designed the Torre de São Vicente at Belem. 

This second window in his house is one of the best examples of thecomplete union between Gothic and Moorish. It has three shafts, one (inthe centre) with a Moorish capital, and two whose caps are bound roundwith a piece of rope. The semicircular arches consist of one roundmoulding with round cusps. A hollow mould runs down the two jambs andover the two arches, turning up as an ogee at the top. Beyond thishollow are two tall round shafts ending in large crocketed finials, while tied to them with carved cords is a curious hood-mould, formingthree reversed cusps ending in large finials, one in the centre and oneover each of the arches, and at the two ends curling across the hollowlike a cut-off branch. 

Here then we have an example not only of the use of the round moulding, but also of naturalistic treatment which was afterwards sometimescarried to excess. 

Probably this window may be rather later in date than at least thefoundation of the churches of Nossa Senhora do Popolo at Caldas daRainha or of the Jesus Convent at Setubal; but it is in itself so goodan example of the change from the simple ogee to the round brokenmoulding and of the use of naturalistic features, that it has been takenfirst. 

In 1485 Queen Leonor, wife of Dom João II. , began a

[Sidenote: Caldas da Rainha. ]

hospital for poor bathers at the place now called after her, Caldas daRainha, or Queen's hot baths. Beside the hospital was built a smallchurch, now a good deal altered, with simple round-headed windows, and acurious cresting. Attached to it is a tower, interesting as being theonly Manoelino church tower now existing. The lower part is square andplain, but the upper is very curious. On one side are two belfrywindows, with depressed trefoil heads--that is the top of the trefoilhas a double curve, exactly like the end of a clover leaf. On the outerside of each window is a twisted shaft with another between them, andfrom the top of these shafts grow round branches forming an arch overeach window, and twining up above them in interlacing curves. The windowon the east side has a very fantastic head of broken curves and straightlines. A short way above the windows the square is changed to an octagonby curved offsets. There are clock faces under small gables on eachcardinal side, and at the top of it all rises a short eight-sided spire. 

Probably this was the last part of the church to be built, and so wouldnot be finished till about the year 1502, when the whole was dedicated. 

[Sidenote: Jesus, Setubal. ]

More interesting than this is the Jesus College at Setubal. Founded byJusta Rodrigues, Dom Manoel's nurse, in 1487 or 1488 and designed by oneBoutaca or Boitaca, [106] it was probably finished sooner than the churchat Caldas, and is the best example in the country of a late Gothicchurch modified by the addition of certain Manoelino details. Unfortunately it was a good deal injured by the great earthquake in1755, when it lost all pinnacles and parapets. The church consists of anave and aisles of three and a half bays and of a square chancel. Inside, the side aisles are vaulted with a half barrel and the centralwith a simple vault having large plain chamfered ribs. The columns, trefoils in section, are twisted, and have simple moulded caps. Thechancel which is higher than the nave is entered by a large pointedarch, which like its jambs has one of its mouldings twisted. The chancelvault has many ribs, most of which are also twisted. All the piers andjambs as well as the windows are built of Arrabida marble, a red brecciafound in the mountains to the west of Setubal; the rest is allwhitewashed except the arches and vaulting ribs which are painted inimitation of the marble piers. 

Outside, the main door, also of Arrabida marble, is large and pointed, with many mouldings and two empty niches on each side. It has littletrace of Manoelino except in the bent curves of the upturned drip-mould, and in the broken lines of the two smaller doors which open under theplain tympanum. The nave window is of two lights with simple tracery, but in the chancel, which was ready by 1495, the window shows moreManoelino tendencies. It is of three lights, with flowing tracery at thehead, and with small cusped and crocketed arches thrown across eachlight at varying levels. There are niches on the jambs, and the outermoulding is carried round the window head in broken curves, after themanner of Resende's house at Evora. Though the chancel is square inside, the corners outside are cut off by a very broad chamfer, and a verycurious ogee curve unites the two. 

The cloisters to the north are more usual. The arches are round orslightly pointed, and like the short round columns with their mouldedeight-sided caps and sides, are of Arrabida marble. Half-way along eachwalk two of the columns are set more closely together, and between themis a small round arch, with below it a Manoelino trefoil; there is tooin the north-west corner a lavatory with a good flat vault. 

[Sidenote: Beja, Conceição. ]

At Beja the church of the Conceição, founded by Dom Manoel's father, hasbeen very much pulled about, but the cornice and parapet with Gothicdetails, rope mouldings, and twisted pinnacles still show that it alsowas built when the new Manoelino style was first coming into use. 

[Sidenote: Castle. ]

In the ruins of the Castle there is a very picturesque window where twohorseshoe arches are set so close together that the arches meet in sucha way that the cusps at their meeting form a pendant, while anotherwindow in the Rua dos Mercadores, though very like the one in Resende'shouse in Evora, is more naturalistic. The outer shafts of the jambs arecarved like tree trunks, and the hood moulding like a thick branch isbent and interlaced with other branches. 

[Sidenote: Paço, Cintra. ]

The additions made to the palace at Cintra by Dom Manoel are a completetreasury of Manoelino detail in its earlier phases. 

The works were already begun in 1508, and in January of the previousyear André Gonsalves, who was in charge, bought two notebooks for 240reis in which to set down expenses, as well as paper for his office andfour bottles of ink. From these books we learn what wages the differentworkmen received. Pero de Carnide, the head mason, got 50 reis or abouttwopence-halfpenny a day, and his helper only 35 reis. The chiefcarpenter, Johan Cordeiro, had 60 reis a day, and so had Gonçalo Gomes, the head painter. All the workmen are recorded from Pero de Torres, whowas paid 3500 reis, about 14 shillings, for each of the windows hecarved and set up, down to the man who got 35 reis a day for diggingholes for planting orange-trees and for clearing out the place where therabbits were kept. André Gonsalves also speaks of a Boitaca, mastermason. He was doubtless the Boitaca or Boutaca of the Jesus Church atSetubal and afterwards at Belem, though none of his work at Setubal inany way resembles anything he may have done here. 

The carriage entry which runs under the palace between Dom Manoel'saddition and the earlier part of the palace, has in it some verycharacteristic capitals, two which support the entrance arch, while onebelongs to the central column of an arcade which forms a sort of aisleon the west side. They are all round, though one belongs to an octagonalshaft. They have no abacus proper, but instead two branches are bentround, bound together by a wide ribbon. Below these branches are severalshort pieces of rope turned in just above the neck-mould, and betweenthem carved balls, something like two artichokes stuck together face toface. 

On the east side of the entry a large doorway leads into the newer partof the palace, in which are now the queen-dowager's private rooms. Thisdoorhead is most typical of the style. In the centre two flat convexcurves meet at an obtuse angle. At the end of about two feet on eitherside of the centre the moulding forming these curves is bent sharplydown for a few inches to a point, and is then united to the jambs by acurve rather longer than a semicircle. Outside the round mouldingforming these curves and bends is a hollow following the same lines andfilled with branch-work, curved, twisted, and intertwined. Outside thehollow are shafts, resting on octagonal and interpenetrating bases. 

These shafts are half-octagon in section with hollow--not as usualrounded--sides, ornamented with four-leafed flowers, and are twisted. Their capitals are formed by three carved wreaths, from which the shaftsrise to curious half-Gothic pinnacles; they are also curved over to forma hood-mould. Above the central curves this moulding is broken andturned up to end in most curious cone-shaped horns, while from themiddle there grows a large and elaborate finial. 

In the front of the new part overlooking the entrance court there aresix windows, three in each floor. They are all, except for a slightvariation in detail, exactly alike, and are evidently derived from theMoorish windows in the other parts of the palace. Like them each has tworound-headed lights, and a framing standing on corbelled-out bases atthe sides. The capitals are various, most are mere wreaths of foliage, but one belonging to the centre shaft of the middle window on the lowerfloor has twisted round it two branches out of which grow the cusps. While at the sides there is no distinct abacus, in the centre it isalways square and moulded. The cusps end in knobs like thistle-heads, and are themselves rather branchlike. In the hollow between the shaftsand the framing there are sometimes square or round flowers, sometimestwisting branches. Branches too form the framing of all, they areintertwined up the sides, and form above the arches a straight-toppedmass of interlacing twigs, out of which grow three large finials. 

Originally the three windows of the upper floor belonged to a large hallwhose ceiling was like that of the Sala dos Cysnes. Unfortunately theceiling was destroyed, and the hall cut up into small rooms some timeago. (Fig. 52. )

Inside are several Manoelino doorways. One at the end of a passage has ahalf-octagonal head, with curved sides. Beyond a hollow mouldingenriched with square flowers are thick twisted shafts, which are carriedup to form a hood-mould following the curves of the opening below, andhaving at each angle a large radiating finial. 

Besides these additions Dom Manoel made not a few changes in the olderpart of the palace. The main door leading into the Sala dos Cysnes is ofhis time, as is too a window in the upper passage leading to the chapelgallery. Though the walls of the Sala das Duas Irmãs are probably older, he altered it inside and built the two rows of columns and arches whichsupport the floor of the Sala dos Brazões above. The arches are roundand unmoulded. The thin columns are also round, but the bases areeight-sided; so are the capitals, but with a round abacus of boughs andtwisted ribbons. The great hall above is also Dom Manoel's work, thoughthe ceiling may probably have been retouched since. His also are thetwo-light windows, with slender shafts and heads more or less trefoil inshape, but with many small convex curves in the middle. The lower partof the outer cornice too is interesting, and made of brick plastered. Atthe bottom is a large rope moulding, then three courses of tilelikebricks set diagonally. Above them is a broad frieze divided into squaresby a round moulding; there are two rows of these squares, and in each isan opening with a triangular head like a pigeon-hole, which has givenrise to the belief that it was added by the Marquez de Pombal after thegreat earthquake. Pombal means 'dovecot, ' and so it is supposed that themarquis added a pigeon-house wherever he could. He may have built theupper part of the cornice, which might belong to the eighteenth century, but the lower part is certainly older. 

The white marble door leading to the Sala dos Brazões from the upperpassage is part of Dom Manoel's work. It has a flat ogee head with roundprojections which give it a roughly trefoil shape, and is framed in ropemouldings of great size, which end above in three curious finials. 

[Sidenote: Gollegã. ]

There are not very many churches built entirely in this style, though tomany a door or a window may have been added or even a nave, as was doneto the church of the Order of Christ at Thomar and perhaps to thecathedral of Guarda. Santa Cruz at Coimbra is entirely Manoelino, but istoo large and too full of the work of the foreigners who brought in themost beautiful features of the French renaissance to be spoken of now. Another is the church at Gollegã, not far from the Tagus and abouthalf-way between Santarem and Thomar. It is a small church, with naveand aisles of five bays and a square chancel. The piers consist of fourhalf-round shafts round a square. In front the capitals are round nextthe neck moulding and square next the moulded abacus, while at the sidesthey become eight-sided. The arches are of two orders and onlychamfered. The bases are curious, as each part belonging to a differentmember of the pier begins at a different level. That of the shaft atthe side begins highest, and of the shaft in front lowest, and bothbecoming eight-sided, envelop the base of the square centre. Theseeight-sided bases interpenetrate with the mouldings of a lower roundbase, and all stand on a large splayed octagon, formed from a square bycurious ogee curves at the corners. The nave is roofed in wood, but thechancel is vaulted, having ribs enriched like the chancel arch withcable moulding. The west front has a plain tower at the end of the southaisle, buttresses with Gothic pinnacles, a large door below and a roundwindow above. The doorhead is a depressed trefoil, or quatrefoil, as thecentral leaf is of two curves. Between the inner and outer roundmoulding is as usual a hollow filled with branches. The outer moulding, on its upper side, throws out the most fantastic curves and cusps, whichwith their finials nearly encircle two little round windows, and then inwilder curves push up through the square framing at the top to a finialjust below the window. At the sides two large twisted shafts standing onvery elaborate bases end in twisted pinnacles. The round window issurrounded by large rope moulding, out of which grow two little arms, tosupport armillary spheres. 

[Sidenote: Sé, Elvas. ]

Dom Manoel also built the cathedral at Elvas, but it has been very muchpulled about. Only the nave--in part at least--and an earlier west towersurvive. Outside the buttresses are square below and three-corneredabove; all the walls are battlemented; the aisle windows are tall andround-headed. On the north side a good trefoil-headed door leads to theinterior, where the arches are round, the piers clustered withcable-moulded capitals and starry eight-sided abaci. There is a goodvault springing from corbels, but the clerestory windows have beenreplaced by large semicircles. 

[Sidenote: Marvilla, Santarem. ]

All the body of the church of Santa Maria da Marvilla at Santarem isbuilt in the style of Dom João III. , that is, the nave arcade has tallIonic columns and round arches. The rebuilding of the church was orderedby Dom Manoel, but the style called after him is only found in thechancel and in the west door. The chancel, square and vaulted, isentered by a wide and high arch, consisting, like the door to the Saladas Pegas at Cintra, of a series of moulded convex curves. The west dooris not unlike that at Gollegã. It has a trefoiled head; with a roundmoulding at the angle resting on the

[Illustration: FIG. 52. 

PALACE, CINTRA. PARTS ADDED BY D. MANOEL. ]

capitals of thin shafts. Beyond a broad hollow over which straggles avery realistic and thick-stemmed plant is a large round mouldingspringing from larger shafts and concentric with the inner. As atGollegã from the outer side of this moulding large cusps project, one oneach side, while in the middle it rises up in two curves forming anirregular pentagon with curved sides. Each outward projection of thisround moulding ends in a large finial, so that there are five in all, one to each cusp and three to the pentagon. Beyond this moulding a plainflat band runs up the jambs and round the top cutting across the base ofthe cusps and of the pentagon. The bases of the shafts rest on a mouldedplinth and are eight-sided, as are the capitals round which run smallwreaths of leaves. Here the upright shafts at the sides are not twistedbut run up in three divisions to Gothic pinnacles. (Fig. 53. )

[Sidenote: Madre de Deus. ]

Almost exactly the same is a door in the Franciscan nunnery called Madrede Deus, founded to the east of Lisbon in 1509 by Dona Leonor, the widowof Dom João II. And sister of Dom Manoel. The only difference is thatthe shafts at the sides are both twisted, that the pentagon at the topis a good deal larger and has in it the royal arms, and that at thesides are shields, one on the right with the arms of Lisbon--the shipguided by ravens in which St. Vincent's body floated from the east ofSpain to the cape called after him--and one on the left with a pelicanvulning her breast. [107]

The proportions of this door are rather better than those of the door atSantarem, and it looks less clumsy, but it is impossible to admireeither the design or the execution. The fat round outer moulding withits projecting curves and cusps is very unpleasing, the shafts at thesides are singularly purposeless, and the carving is coarse. At Gollegãthe design was even more outrageous, but there it was pulled togetherand made into a not displeasing whole by the square framing. 

[Sidenote: University Chapel, Coimbra. ]

What has been since 1540 the university at Coimbra was originally theroyal palace, and the master of the works there till the time of hisdeath in 1524 was Marcos Pires, who also planned and carried out most ofthe great church of Santa Cruz. Probably the university chapel is hiswork, for the windows are not at all unlike those at Santa Cruz. Thedoor in many ways resembles the three last described, but the detail issmaller and all the proportions better. The door is double with a tripleshaft in the middle; the two openings have very flat trefoil heads witha small ogee curve to the central leaf. The jambs have on each side twoslender shafts between which there is a delicate twisted branch, andbeyond them is a band of finely carved foliage and then another shaft. From these side shafts there springs a large trefoil, encompassing bothopenings. It is crocketed on the outside and has the two usual ogeecusps or projections on the outer side; but, instead of a large curvedpentagon in the middle, the mouldings of the projections and of thetrefoil then intertwine and rise up to some height forming a kind ofwide-spreading cross with hollow curves between the arms. The arms ofthe cross end in finials, as do the ogee projections; there is a shieldon each side below the cross arms, another crowned and charged with theroyal arms above the central shaft, and on one side of it the Cross ofthe Order of Christ, and on the other an armillary sphere. On eitherside, as usual, on an octagonal base are tall twisted shafts, with acrown round the base of the twisted pinnacles which rise just to thelevel of the spreading arms of the cross. Like the door at Santarem thewhole would be sprawling and ill-composed but that here the white-washof the wall comes down only to the arms of the cross, so as to giveit--built as it is of grey limestone--a simple square outline, brokenonly by the upper arm and finial of the cross. 

The heads of the two windows, one on either side of the door, arehalf-irregular octagons with convex sides. They are surrounded by abroad hollow splay framed by thin shafts resting on corbels and bearinga head, a flat ogee in shape, but broken by two hanging points; one ofthe most common shapes for a Manoelino window. (Fig. 54. )

One more doorway before ending this chapter, already too long. 

[Sidenote: São Julião, Setubal. ]

The parish church of São Julião at Setubal was built during the earlyyears of the sixteenth century, but was so shattered by the greatearthquake of 1755 that only two of the doorways survive of the originalbuilding. The western is not of much interest, but that on thenorth--probably the work of João Fenacho who is mentioned as being awell-known carver working at Setubal in 1513--is one of the mostelaborate doorways of that period. 

The northern side of the church is now a featureless expanse

[Illustration: FIG. 53. 

SANTAREM. W. DOOR, MARVILLA. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 54. 

COIMBRA. UNIVERSITY CHAPEL. ]

of whitewashed plaster, scarcely relieved by a few simple square windowsup near the cornice; but near the west end, in almost incongruouscontrast, the plainness of the plaster is emphasised by the exuberantmouldings and carving of the door. Though in some features related tothe doors at Santarem or the Madre de Deus the door here is much moreelaborate and even barbaric, but at the same time, being containedwithin a simple gable-shaped moulding under a plain round arch, with nosprawling projections, the whole design--as is the case with theuniversity chapel at Coimbra--is much more pleasing, and if the largeouter twisted shafts with their ogee trefoiled head had been omitted, would even have been really beautiful. 

The opening of the door itself has a trefoiled head, whose hollowmoulding is enriched with small well-carved roses and flowers. Thistrefoiled head opens under a round arch, springing from delicate roundshafts, shafts and arch-mould being alike enriched with several finelycarved rings, while from ring to ring the rounded surface is beautifullywrought with wonderful minutely carved spirals. The bases and caps ofthese, as of the other larger shafts, are of the usual Manoelino type, round with a hollow eight-sided abacus. Beyond these shafts and theirarch, rather larger shafts, ringed in the same way and carved with adelicate diaper, support a larger arch, half-octagonal in shape and withconvex sides, all ornamented like its supports, while all round this andoutside it there runs a broad band of foliage, half Gothic, halfrenaissance in character. Beyond these again are the large shafts withtheir ogee trefoiled arch, which though they spoil the beauty of thedesign, at the same time do more than all the rest to give that strangecharacter which it possesses. These shafts are much larger than theothers, indeed they are made up of several round mouldings twistedtogether each of the same size as the shaft next them. Base and capitalare of course also much larger, and there is only one ring ornament, above which the twisting is reversed. All the mouldings are carved, somewith spirals, some with bundles of leaves bound round by a rope, withbunches of grape-like fruit between. The twisted mouldings are carriedup beyond the capitals to form a huge trefoil turning up at the top to alarge and rather clumsy finial. In this case the upright shafts at thesides are not twisted as in the other doors; they are square in plan, interrupted by a moulding at the level of the capitals, below which theyare carved on each face with large square flowers, while above they havea round moulding at the angles. At the top are plain Gothic pinnacles;behind which rises the enclosing arch, due doubtless to the restorationafter the earthquake. The gable-shaped moulding runs from the base ofthese pinnacles to the top of the ogee, and forms the boundary betweenthe stonework and the plaster. 

Such then is the Manoelino in its earlier forms, and there can be littledoubt that it was gradually evolved from a union of late Gothic andMoorish, owing some peculiarities such as twisted shafts, roundedmouldings, and coupled windows to Moorish, and to Gothic others such asits flowery finials. The curious outlines of its openings may have beenderived, the simpler from Gothic, the more complex from Moorish. Stepsare wanting to show whence came the sudden growth of naturalism, but ittoo probably came from late Gothic, which had already provided crockets, finials and carved bands of foliage so that it needed but little changeto connect these into one growing plant. Sometimes these Manoelinodesigns, as in the palace at Cintra, are really beautiful when the partsare small and do not straggle all over the surface, but sometimes as inthe Marvilla door at Santarem, or in that of the convent of the Madre deDeus at Lisbon, the mouldings are so clumsy and the design so sprawlingand ill-connected, that they can only be looked on as curiosities ofarchitectural aberration. 

CHAPTER XI

THOMAR AND THE CONQUEST OF INDIA

Vasco da Gama set sail from Lisbon in July 1497 with a small fleet totry and make his way to India by sea, and he arrived at Calicut on theMalabar coast nearly a year later, in May 1598. He and his men were wellreceived by the zamorim or ruler of the town--then the most importanttrade centre in India--and were much helped in their intercourse by arenegade native of Seville who acted as interpreter. After a stay ofabout two months he started for home with his ships laden with spices, and with a letter to Dom Manoel in which the zamorim said:--

'Vasco da Gama, a nobleman of thy household, has visited my kingdom, andhas given me great pleasure. In my kingdom is abundance of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, and precious stones; what I seek from thycountry is gold, silver, coral and scarlet. '[108]

Arriving at Lisbon in July 1499, Vasco da Gama met with a splendidreception from king and people; was given 20, 000 gold cruzados, apension of 500 cruzados a year, and the title of Dom; while provisionwas also made for the families of those who had perished during thevoyage; for out of one hundred and forty-eight who started two yearsearlier only ninety-six lived to see Lisbon again. 

So valuable were spices in those days that the profit to the king onthis expedition, after all expenses had been paid and all lossesdeducted, was reckoned as being in the proportion of sixty to one. 

No wonder then that another expedition was immediately organised by DomManoel. This armada--in which the largest ship was of no more than fourhundred tons--sailed from Lisbon under the command of Pedro AlvaresCabral on March 9, 1500. Being driven out of his course, Cabral aftermany days saw a high mountain which he took to be an island, but sailingon found that it was part of a great continent. He landed, erected across, and took possession of it in the name of his king, thus securingBrazil for Portugal. One ship was sent back to Lisbon with the news, andthe rest turned eastwards to make for the Cape of Good Hope. Four weresunk by a great gale, but the rest arrived at Calicut on September 13th. 

Here he too was well received by the zamorim and built a factory, butthis excited the anger of the Arab traders, who burned it, killing fiftyPortuguese. Cabral retorted by burning part of the town and sailed southto Cochin, whose ruler, a vassal of the zamorim, was glad to receive thestrangers and to accept their help against his superior. Thence he soonsailed homewards with the three ships which remained out of his fleet ofthirteen. 

In 1502 Dom Manoel received from the Pope Alexander VI. The title of'Lord of Navigation, conquests and trade of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, ' and sent out another great expedition under Vasco da Gama, who, however, with his lieutenant, Vicente Sodre, found legitimate tradeless profitable than the capture of pilgrim ships going to and fromMecca, which they rifled and sank with all on board. From the first thustreated they took 12, 000 ducats in money and 10, 000 ducats' worth ingoods, and then blew up the ship with 240 men besides women andchildren. 

Reaching Calicut, the town was again bombarded and sacked, since thezamorim would not or could not expel all the Arab merchants, the richestof his people. 

Other expeditions followed every year till in 1509 a great Mohammedanfleet led by the 'Mirocem, the Grand Captain of the Sultan of GrandCairo and of Babylon, ' was defeated off the island of Diu, and next yearthe second viceroy, Affonso de Albuquerque, moved the seat of thegovernment from Cochin to Gôa, which, captured and held with somedifficulty, soon became one of the richest and most splendid cities ofthe East. 

Ormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and the great depot of Persiantrade had been captured in 1509, and it was not long before thePortuguese had penetrated to the Straits of Malacca and even to Chinaand Japan. 

So within twelve years from the time of Vasco da Gama's voyage thefoundations of the Portuguese empire in the East had been firmlylaid--an empire which, however, existed merely as a great tradingconcern in which Dom Manoel was practically sole partner and so soonbecame the richest sovereign of his time. 

Seeing therefore how close the intercourse was between Lisbon andIndia, [109] it is perhaps no wonder that, in his very interesting bookon the Renaissance Architecture of Portugal, Albrecht Haupt, struck bythe very strange forms used at Thomar and to a lesser degree in thelater additions to Batalha, propounded a theory that this strangenesswas directly due to the importation of Indian details. That thediscovery of a sea route to India had a great influence on thearchitecture of Portugal cannot be denied, for the direct result of thisdiscovery was to fill the coffers of a splendour-loving king with whatwas, for the time, untold wealth, and so to enable him to cover thecountry with innumerable buildings; but tempting as it would be toaccept Haupt's theory, it is surely more reasonable to look nearer homefor the origin of these peculiar features, and to see in them only theculmination of the Manoelino style and the product of an even moreexuberant fancy than that possessed by any other contemporary builder. Of course, when looking for parallels with such a special object in viewit is easy enough to find them, and to see resemblances between thecloister windows at Batalha and various screens or panels at Ahmedabad;and when we find that a certain Thomas Fernandes[110] had been sent toIndia in 1506 as military engineer and architect; that anotherFernandes, Diogo of Beja, had in 1513 formed part of an embassy sent toGujerat and so probably to the capital Ahmedabad; and that Fernandes wasalso the name of the architects of Batalha, it becomes difficult not toconnect these separate facts together and to jump to the quiteunwarrantable conclusion that the four men of the same name may havebeen related and that one of them, probably Diogo, had given hiskinsmen sketches or descriptions on which they founded theirdesigns. [111]

With regard to Thomar, where the detail is even more curious andIndian-looking, the temptation to look for Indian models is stillstronger, owing to the peculiar position which the Order of Christ atThomar now held, for the knights of that order had for some timepossessed complete spiritual jurisdiction over India and all otherforeign conquests. 

This being so, it might have seemed appropriate enough for Dom Manoel todecorate the additions he made to the old church with actual Indiandetail, as his builder did with corals and other symbols of the strangediscoveries then made. The fact also that on the stalls at Santa Cruz inCoimbra are carved imaginary scenes from India and from Brazil mightseem to be in favour of the Indian theory, but the towns and foreststhere depicted are exactly what a mediæval artist would invent forhimself, and are not at all like what they were supposed to represent, and so, if they are to be used in the argument at all, would rather goto show how little was actually known of what India was like. 

There seems also not to be even a tradition that anything of the sortwas done, and if a tradition has survived about the stalls at Coimbra, surely, had there been one, it might have survived at Thomar as well. 

At the same time it must be admitted that the bases of the jambs insidethe west window in the chapter-house are very unlike anything else, andare to a Western eye like Indian work. However, a most diligent searchin the Victoria and Albert Museum through endless photographs of Indianbuildings failed to find anything which was really at all like them, andthis helped to confirm the belief that this resemblance is more fanciedthan real; besides, the other strange features, the west window outside, and the south window, now a door, are surely nothing more than Manoelinorealism gone a little mad. 

Thomar has already been seen in the twelfth century when Dom GualdimPaes built the sixteen-sided church and the castle, and when he and hisTemplars withstood the Moorish invaders with such success. 

As time went on the Templars in other lands became rich and powerful, and in the fourteenth century Philippe le Bel of France determined toput an end to them as an order and to confiscate their goods. So in 1307the grand master was imprisoned, and five years later the Council ofVienne, presided over by Clement V. --a Frenchman, Bertrand deGoth--suppressed the order. Philippe seized their property, and in 1314the grand master was burned. 

In Portugal their services against the Moors were still remembered, andalthough by this time no part of Portugal was under Mohammedan rule, Granada was not far off, and Morocco was still to some extent a danger. 

Dom Diniz therefore determined not to exterminate the Templars, but tochange them into a new military order, so in 1319 he obtained a bullfrom John XXII. From Avignon constituting the Order of Christ. At firsttheir headquarters were at Castro-Marim at the mouth of the Guadiana, but soon they returned to their old Templar stronghold at Thomar andwere re-granted most of their old possessions. 

The Order of Christ soon increased in power, and under theadministration of Prince Henry, 1417 to 1460, took a great part in thediscoveries and explorations which were to bring such wealth and gloryto their country. In 1442, Eugenius IV. Confirmed the spiritualjurisdiction of the order over all conquests in Africa, and Nicholas V. And Calixtus III. Soon extended this to all other conquests made, or tobe made anywhere, so that the knights had spiritual authority over them'as if they were in Thomar itself. ' This boon was obtained by DomAffonso V. At his uncle Prince Henry's wish. 

When Prince Henry died he was succeeded as duke of Vizeu and as governorof the order by his nephew Fernando, the second son of Dom Duarte. Fernando died ten years later and was succeeded by his elder son Diogo, who was murdered fifteen years later by Dom João II. In 1485. Then thetitle passed to his brother Dom Manoel, and with it the administrationof the order, a position which he retained when he ascended the throne, and which has since belonged to all his successors. 

Prince Henry finding that the old Templar church with its central altarwas unsuited to the religious services of the order, built a chapel orsmall chancel out from one of the eastern sides and dedicated it to St. Thomas of Canterbury. But as the order advanced in wealth and in powerthis addition was found to be far too small, and in a general chapterheld by Dom Manoel in 1492 it was determined to build a new Coro largeenough to hold all the knights and leaving the high altar in its oldplace in the centre of the round church. 

In all the Templar churches in England, when more room was wanted, achancel was built on to the east, so that the round part, instead ofcontaining the altar, has now become merely a nave or a vestibule. AtThomar, however, probably because it was already common to put thestalls in a gallery over the west door, it was determined to build thenew Coro to the west, and this was done by breaking through the twowesternmost sides of the sixteen-sided building and inserting a largepointed arch. 

Although it was decided to build in 1492, little or nothing can havebeen done for long, if it is true that João de Castilho who did the workwas only born about the year 1490; and that he did it is certain, as hesays himself that he 'built the Coro, the chapter-house--under theCoro--the great arch of the church, and the principal door. '

Two stone carvers, Alvaro Rodrigues and Diogo de Arruda, were workingthere in 1512 and 1513, and the stalls were begun in July 1511, so thatsome progress must have been made by them. If then João de Castilho didthe work he must have been born some time before 1490, as he couldhardly have been entrusted with such a work when a boy of scarcelytwenty. 

João de Castilho, who is said to have been by birth a Biscayan, soonbecame the most famous architect of his time. He not only was employedon this Coro, but was afterwards summoned to superintend the greatJeronymite monastery of Belem, which he finished. Meanwhile he wascharged by João III. With the building of the vast additions madenecessary at Thomar when in 1523 the military order was turned into abody of monks. He lived long enough to become a complete convert to therenaissance, for at Belem the Gothic framework is all overlaid withrenaissance detail, while in his latest additions at Thomar no trace ofGothic has been left. He died shortly before 1553, as we learn from adocument dated January 1st of that year, which states that his daughterMaria de Castilho then began, on the death of her father, to receive apension of 20, 000 reis. 

The new Coro is about eighty-five feet long inside by thirty wide, andis of three bays. Standing, as does the Templars' church, on the highestpoint of the hill, it was, till the erection of the surroundingcloisters, clear of any buildings. Originally the round church, beingpart of the fortifications, could only be entered from the north, butthe first thing done by Dom Manoel was to build on the south side alarge platform or terrace reached from the garden on the east by a greatstaircase. This terrace is now bounded on the west by the Cloister dosFilippes, on the south by a high wall and by the chapter-house, begun byDom Manoel but never finished, and on the north by the round church andby one bay of the Coro; and in this bay is now the chief entrance to thechurch. The lower part of the two western bays is occupied by thechapter-house, with one window looking west over the cloister of SantaBarbara, and one south, now hidden by the upper Cloister dos Filippesand used as a door. [See plan p. 225. ]

Inside, the part over the chapter-house is raised to form the choir, andthere, till they were burned in 1810 by the French for firewood, stoodthe splendid stalls begun in July 1511 by Olivel of Ghent who hadalready made stalls for São Francisco at Evora. [112] The stalls hadlarge figures carved on their backs, a continuous canopy, and a high andelaborate cresting, while in the centre on the west side the Master'sstall ended in a spire which ran up with numberless pinnacles, ribs andfinials to a large armillary sphere just under the vaulting. [113] Nowthe inside is rather bare, with no ornament beyond the intricacy of thefinely moulded ribs and the elaborate corbels from which they spring. These are a mass of carving, armillary spheres, acanthus leaves, shieldsupheld by well-carved figures, crosses, and at the top small cherubsholding the royal crown. 

The inner side of the door has a segmental head and on either jamb aretall twisted shafts. A moulded string course running round just abovethe level once reached by the top of the stalls turns up over the windowas a hood-mould. 

At the same time much was done to enrich the old Templars' church. Allthe shafts were covered with gilt diaper and the capitals with gold;crockets were fixed to the outer sides of the pointed arches of thecentral octagon, and inside it were placed figures of saints standing onGothic corbels under canopies of beautiful tabernacle work. Similarstatues stand on the vaulting shafts of the outer polygon and betweenthem, filling in the spaces below the round-headed windows, are largepaintings in the Flemish style common to all Portuguese pictures of thattime--of the Nativity, of the Visit of the Magi, of the Annunciation, and of the Virgin and Child. 

To-day the only part of the south side visible down to the ground levelis the eastern bay in which opens the great door. This is one of theworks which João de Castilho claims as his, and on one of the jambsthere is carved a strap, held by two lion's paws on which are someletters supposed to be his signature, and some figures which have beenread as 1515, probably wrongly, for there seems to have been norenaissance work done in Portugal except by Sansovino till the coming ofMaster Nicolas to Belem in 1517 or later. [114] If it is 1515 and givesthe date, it must mean the year when the mere building was finished, notthe carving, for the renaissance band can hardly have been done tillafter his return from Belem. 

The doorway is one of great beauty, indeed is one of the most beautifulpieces of work in the kingdom. The opening itself is round-headed withthree bands of carving running all round it, separated by slender shaftsof which the outermost up to the springing of the arch is a beautifulspiral with four-leaved flowers in the hollows. Of the carved bands theinnermost is purely renaissance, with candelabra, medallions, griffinsand leaves all most beautifully cut in the warm yellow limestone. On thenext band are large curly leaves still Gothic in style and muchundercut; and in the last, four-leaved flowers set some distance onefrom the other. 

At the top, the drip-mould grows into a large trefoil with crocketsoutside and an armillary sphere within. At the sides tall thinbuttresses end high above the door in sharp carved pinnacles and bearunder elaborate canopies many figures of saints. [115] Two otherpinnacles rise from the top of the arch, and between them are moresaints. In the middle stands Our Lady, and from her canopy a curiousbroken and curving moulding runs across the other pinnacles and canopiesto the sides. 

But that which gives to the whole design its chief beauty is the deepshadow cast by the large arch thrown across from one main buttress tothe other just under the parapet. This arch, moulded and enriched withfour-leaved flowers, is fringed with elaborate cusps, irregular in size, which with rounded mouldings are given a trefoil shape by smallbeautifully carved crockets. (Fig. 55. )

Except the two round buttresses at the west end and one on the northside which has Manoelino pinnacles, all are the same, breaking into acluster of Gothic pinnacles rather more than half-way up and ending inone large square crocketed pinnacle very like those at Batalha. The roofbeing flat and paved there is no gable at the west end; there is a bandof carving for cornice, then a moulding, and above it a parapet offlattened quatrefoils, in each of which is an armillary sphere, and atthe top a cresting, alternately of cusped openings and crosses of theOrder of Christ, most of which, however, have been broken away. Of thewindows all are wide and pointed, without tracery and deeply splayed. The one in the central bay next the porch has niches and canopies at theside for statues and jambs not unlike those designed some years after atBelem. There is also a certain resemblance between the door here and thegreat south entrance to Belem, though this one is of far greater beauty, being more free from over-elaboration and greatly helped by the shadowof the high arch. 

So far the design has shown nothing very abnormal; but for one or tworenaissance details it is all of good late Gothic, with scarcely anyManoelino features. It is also more pleasing than any other contemporarybuilding in Portugal, and the detail, though very rich, is morerestrained. This may be due to the nationality of João de Castilho, forsome of the work is almost Spanish, for example the buttresses, thepinnacles, and the door with its trefoiled drip-mould. 

If, however, the two eastern bays are good late Gothic, what can be saidof the western? Here the fancy of the designer seems to have run quitewild, and here it is that what have been considered to be Indianfeatures are found. 

It is hard to believe that João de Castilho, who nowhere, except perhapsin the sacristy door at Alcobaça, shows any love of what is abnormal andoutlandish, should have designed these extraordinary details, and soperhaps the local tradition may be so far true, according to which thearchitect was not João but one Ayres do Quintal. Nothing else seems tobe known of Ayres--though a head carved under the west window of thechapter-house is said to be his--but in a country so long illiterate asPortugal, where unwritten stories have been handed down from quitedistant times, it is possible that oral tradition may be as true aswritten records. 

Now it is known that João de Castilho was working at Alcobaça in 1519. In 1522 he was busy at Belem, where he may have been since 1517, whenfor the first time some progress seems to have been made with thebuilding there. What really happened, therefore, may be that when heleft Thomar, the Coro was indeed built, and the eastern buttressesfinished, but that the carving of the western part was still uncut andso may have been the work of Ayres after João was himself gone. [116]This is, of course, only a conjecture, for Ayres seems to be mentionedin no document, but whoever it was who carved these buttresses andwindows was a man of extraordinary originality, and almost mad fancy. 

To turn now from the question of the builder to the building itself. Thelarge round buttresses at the west end are fluted at the bottom; atabout half their height comes a band of carving about six feet deepseeming to represent a mass of large ropes ending in tasselled fringesor possibly of roots. On one buttress a large chain binds thesetogether, on the others a strap and buckle--probably the Order of theGarter given to Dom Manoel by Henry VII. Above this five large knottytree-trunks or branches of coral grow up the buttresses uniting in roughtrefoiled heads at the top, and having statues between them--Dom AffonsoHenriques, [Illustration: FIG. 55. 

THOMAR. CONVENT OF CHRIST. S. DOOR. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 56. 

THOMAR. OUTSIDE OF W. WINDOW OF CHAPTER HOUSE UNDER HIGH CHOIR INNAVE. ]

Dom Gualdim Paes, Dom Diniz and Dom Manoel--two on each buttress. Thenthe buttress becomes eight-sided and smaller, and, surrounded by fivethick growths, of which not a square inch is unworked and whosepinnacles are covered with carving, rises with many a strange mouldingto a high round pinnacle bearing the cross of the order--a sign, if onemay take the coral and the trees to be symbolical of the distant seascrossed and of the new lands visited, of the supreme control exercisedby the order over all missions. 

Coral-like mouldings too run round the western windows on both north andsouth sides, and at the bottom these are bound together with basketwork. 

Strange as are the details of these buttresses, still more strange arethe windows of the chapter-house. Since about 1560 the upper cloister ofthe Filippes has covered the south side of the church so that the southchapter-house window, which now serves as a door, is hidden away in thedark. Still there is light enough to see that in naturalism and inoriginality it far surpasses anything elsewhere, except the west windowof the same chapter-house. Up the jambs grow branches bound round by abroad ribbon. From the spaces between the ribbons there sprout out oneither side thick shoots ending in large thistle heads. The top of theopening is low, of complicated curves and fine mouldings, on theoutermost of which are cut small curly leaves, but higher up thebranches of the jambs with their thistle heads and ribbons with knottedropes and leaves form a mass of inextricable intricacy, of which littlecan be seen in the dark except the royal arms. 

Inside the vault is Gothic and segmental, but the west window is evenmore strange than the southern; its inner arch is segmental and thereare window seats in the thickness of the wall. The jambs have largeround complicated bases of many mouldings, some enriched with leaves, some with thistle heads, some with ribbons, and one with curiousprojections like small elephants' trunks--in short very much what aWestern mind might imagine some Hindu capital, reversed, to be like. Onthe jamb itself and round the head are three upright mouldings heldtogether by carved basket work of cords, and bearing at intervalsthistle heads in threes; beyond is another band of leaf-covered carving, and beyond it an upright strip of wavy lines. [117] The opening has ahead like that of the other window and is filled with a bronze grille. 

Still more elaborate and extraordinary is the outside of this window, nor would it be possible to find words to describe it. 

The jambs are of coral branches, with large round shafts beyond, entirely leaf-covered and budding into thistle heads. Ropes bind themround at the bottom and half-way up great branches are fastened on bychains. At the top are long finials with more chains holding corals onwhich rest armillary spheres. The head of the window is formed oftwisted masses, from which project downwards three large thistle heads. Above this is a great wreath of leaves, hung with two large loops ofrope, and twisting up as a sort of cusped ogee trefoil to the royal armsand a large cross of the Order of Christ. A square frame with flamelikeborder rises to the top of the side finials to enclose a field cut intosquares by narrow grooves. Below the window more branches, coral, andropes knot each other round the head of Ayres just below the ropemoulding which runs across from buttress to buttress. Above the top ofthe opening and about half-way up the whole composition there is anoffset, and on it rests a series of disks, set diagonally and strung onanother rope. (Fig. 56. )

Although, were the royal arms and the cross removed, the window mightnot look out of place in some wild Indian temple, yet it is much morelikely not to be Indian, but that the shafts at the sides are but theshafts seen in many Manoelino doors, that the window head is anelaboration of other heads, [118] that the coral jambs are another formof common naturalism, and that the great wreath is only the hood-mouldrendered more extravagant. In no other work in Portugal or anywhere inthe West are these features carved and treated with such wildelaboration, nor anywhere else is there seen a base like that of thejambs inside, but surely there is nothing which a man of imaginationcould not have evolved from details already existing in the country. 

Above the window the details are less strange. A little higher than thecross a string course traverses the front from north to south, crestedwith pointed cusps. Higher up still, a round window, set far back in adeep splay, lights the church above. Outside the sharp projecting outermoulding of this window are rich curling leaves, inside a rope, whileother ropes run spirally across the splay, which seems to swell like asail, and was perhaps meant to remind all who saw it that it was the seathat had brought the order and its master such riches and power. At thetop are the royal arms crowned, and above the spheres of the parapet andthe crosses of the cresting another larger cross dominates the wholefront. 

Such is Dom Manoel's addition to the Templars' church, and outlandishand strange as some of it is, the beautiful rich yellow of the stoneunder the blue sky and the dark shadows thrown by the brilliant sun makethe whole a building of real beauty. Even the wild west window is helpedby the compactness of its outline and by the plainness of the wall inwhich it is set, and only the great coral branches of the roundbuttresses are actually unpleasing. The size too of the windows and thegreat thickness of the wall give the Coro a strength and a soliditywhich agree well with the old church, despite the richness of the oneand the severe plainness of the other. There is perhaps no building inPortugal which so well tells of the great increase of wealth which beganunder Dom Manoel, or which so well recalls the deeds of his heroiccaptains--their long and terrible voyages, and their successfulconquests and discoveries. Well may the emblem of Hope, [119] thearmillary sphere, whereby they found their way across the ocean, becarved all round the parapet, over the door, and beside the west windowwith its wealth of knots and wreaths. 

Whether or not Ayres or João de Castilho meant the branches of coral totell of the distant oceans, the trees of the forests of Brazil, and theropes of the small ships which underwent such dangers, is of littleconsequence. To the present generation which knows that all thesediscoveries were only possible because Prince Henry and his Order ofChrist had devoted their time and their wealth to the one object offinding the way to the East, Thomar will always be a fitting memorial ofthese great deeds, and of the great men, Bartholomeu Diaz, Vasco daGama, Affonso de Albuquerque, Pedro Cabral, and Tristão da Cunha, bywhom Prince Henry's great schemes were brought to a successful issue. 

CHAPTER XII

THE ADDITIONS TO BATALHA

Little had been done to the monastery of Batalha since the death of DomDuarte left his great tomb-chapel unfinished. Dom Affonso v. , bent onwasting the lives of the bravest of his people and his country's wealthin the vain pursuit of conquests in Morocco, could spare no money tocarry out what his father had begun, and so make it possible to move hisparents' bodies from their temporary resting-place before the high altarto the chapel intended to receive them. Affonso V. Himself dying waslaid in a temporary tomb of wood in the chapter-house, as were his wifeand his grandson, the only child of Dom João II. ; while a coffin of woodin one of the side chapels held Dom João himself. 

When João died, his widow Dona Leonor is said to have urged her brother, the new king, to finish the work begun by their ancestor and so form afitting burial-place for her son as well as for himself and hisdescendants. Dom Manoel therefore determined to finish the CapellasImperfeitas, and the work was given to the elder Matheus Fernandes, whohad till 1480, when he was followed by João Rodrigues, been master ofthe royal works at Santarem. The first document which speaks of him atBatalha is dated 1503, and mentions him as Matheus Fernandes, vassal ofthe king, judge in ordinary of the town of Santa Maria da Victoria, andmaster of the works of the same monastery, named by the king. He died in1515, and was buried near the west door. [120] He was followed by anotherMatheus Fernandes, probably his son, who died in 1528, to be succeededby João de Castilho. But by then Dom Manoel was already dead. He hadbeen buried not here, but in his new foundation of Belem, and his sonJoão III. And João de Castilho himself were too much occupied infinishing Belem and in making great additions to Thomar to be able to domuch to the Capellas Imperfeitas. So after building two beautiful butincongruous arches, João de Castilho went back to his work elsewhere, and the chapels remain Imperfeitas to this day. 

It will be remembered that the tomb-house begun by Dom Duarte took theform of a vast octagon some seventy-two feet in diameter surrounded byseven apsidal chapels--one on each side except that towards thechurch--and by eight smaller chapels between the apses. When MatheusFernandes began his work most of the seven surrounding chapels werefinished except for their vaulting, but not all, as in two or three theouter moulding of the entrance arch is enriched by small crosses of theOrder of Christ, and by armillary spheres carved in the hollow; whilethe whole building stood isolated and unconnected with the church. 

The first thing, therefore, done by Matheus was to build an entrancehall or pateo uniting the octagon with the church. Unless the walls ofthe Pateo be older than Dom Manoel's time it is impossible now to tellhow Huguet, Dom Duarte's architect, meant to connect the two, perhaps bya low passage running eastwards from the central apse, perhaps not atall. 

The plan carried out by Matheus took the form of a rectangular hallenclosing the central apse and the two smaller apses to the north andsouth, but leaving--now at any rate--a space between it and the sideapses. Possibly the original intention may have been to pull down thetwo side apses, and so to form a square ambulatory behind the high altarleading to the great octagon beyond; but if that were the intention itwas never carried out, and now the only entrance is through aninsignificant pointed door on the north side. 

The walls of the Pateo with their buttresses, string courses and parapetare so exactly like the older work as to suggest that they may reallydate from the time of Dom Duarte, and that all that Matheus Fernandesdid was to build the vault, insert the windows, and form the splendidentrance to the octagon; but in any case the building was well advancedif not finished in 1509, when over the small entrance door was written, 'Perfectum fuit anno Domini 1509. '

Two windows light the Pateo, one looking north and one south. They areboth alike, and both are thoroughly Manoelino in style. They are of twolights, with well-moulded jambs, and half-octagonal heads. Thedrip-mould, instead or merely surrounding the half octagon, is so brokenand bent as to project across it at four points, being indeed shapedlike half a square with a semicircle on the one complete side, and twoquarter circles on the half sides, all enriched by many a small cusp andleaf. The mullion is made of two branches twisting upwards, and thewhole window head is filled with curving boughs and leaves forming amost curious piece of naturalistic tracery, to be compared with thetracery of some of the openings in the Claustro Real. (Fig. 58. )

No doubt, while the Pateo was being built, the great entrance to theImperfect chapels, one of the richest as well as one of the largestdoorways in the world, was begun, and it must have taken a long time tobuild and to carve, for the lower part, on the chapel side especially, seems to be rather earlier in style than the upper. The actual openingto the springing of the arch measures some 17 feet wide by 28 feet high, while including the jambs the whole is about 24 feet wide on the chapel, and considerably more on the Pateo side, --since there the splay is muchdeeper--by 40 feet high. To take the chapel side first:--Above acomplicated base there is up the middle of each jamb a large hollow, inwhich are two niches one above the other, with canopies and bases of therichest late Gothic; on either side of this hollow are tall thin shaftsentirely carved with minute diaper, two on the inner and one on theouter side. Next towards the chapel is another slender shaft, bearingtwo small statues one above the other, and outside it slender Gothicpinnacles and tabernacle work rise up to the capital. Up the outer sideof the jambs are carved sharp pointed leaves, like great acanthus whosestalk bears many large exquisitely carved crockets. On the other side ofthe central hollow the diapered shaft is separated from the tiers oftiny pinnacles which form the inner angle of the jamb by a broad band ofcarving, which for beauty of design and for delicacy of carving canscarcely be anywhere surpassed. On the Pateo side the carving is evenmore wonderful. [121] There are seven shafts in all on each side, somediapered, some covered with spirals of leaves, one with panelling andone with exquisite foliage carved as minutely as on a piece of ivory. 

Between each shaft are narrow mouldings, and between the outer five fourbands of ivy, not as rich or as elaborately undercut as on the chapelside, but still beautiful, and interesting as the ivy forms many doublecircles, two hundred and four in all, in each of which are written thewords 'Tãyas Erey' or 'Tãya Serey, ' Dom Manoel's motto. For years thiswas a great puzzle. In the seventeenth century the writer of the historyof the Dominican Order in Portugal, Frei Luis de Souza, boldly said theywere Greek, and in this opinion he was supported by 'persons of greatjudgment, for "Tanyas" is the accusative of a Greek word "Tanya, " whichis the same as region, and "erey" is the imperative of the verb "ereo", which signifies to seek, inquire, investigate, so that the meaning is, addressed to Dom Manoel, seek for new regions, new climes. ' Of coursewhatever the meaning may be it is not Greek, indeed at that time inPortugal there was hardly any one who could speak Greek, and Senhora deVasconcellos--than whom no one has done more for the collecting ofinscriptions in Portugal--has come to the very probable conclusion thatthe words are Portuguese. She holds that 'Tãyas erey' or 'Tãya serey'should be read 'Tanaz serey, ' 'I shall be tenacious'--for Tanaz is oldPortuguese for Tenaz--and that the Y is nothing but a rebus or pictureof a tenaz or pair of pincers, and indeed the Y's are very like pincers. In this opinion she is upheld by the carving of the tenacious ivy roundeach word, and the fact that Dom Manoel was not really tenacious at all, but rather changeable, makes it all the more likely that he would adoptsuch a motto. 

The carvers were doubtless quite illiterate and may well have thoughtthat the pincers in the drawing from which they were working were aletter and may therefore have mixed them up to the puzzling of futuregenerations. [122] Or since nowhere is 'Tayaz serey' written with the 'z'may not the first 'y' be the final 'z' of Tanaz misplaced?

The arched head of the opening is treated differently on the two sides. Towards the Pateo the two outer mouldings form a large half octagon setdiagonally and with curved sides; the next two form a large trefoil. Inthe spandrels between these are larger wreaths enclosing 'Tanyas erey, 'which is also repeated all round these four mouldings. 

The trefoils form large hanging cusps in front of the complicated innerarch. This too is more or less trefoil in shape, [Illustration: Fig. 57. 

BATALHA ENTRANCE TO CAPELLAS INPERFEITAS. 

From a photograph by E. Biel & Co. , Oporto]

but with smaller curves between the larger, and all elaborately fringedwith cuspings and foliage. 

Four mouldings altogether are of this shape, two on each side, andbeyond them towards the chapel is that arch or moulding which gives tothe whole its most distinctive character. The great trefoil, with largecusps, which forms the head is crossed by another moulding in such a wayas to become a cinquefoil, while the second moulding, like the hood ofthe door at Santarem, forms three large reversed cusps, each ending insplendid acanthus leaves. Further, the whole of these mouldings are onthe inner side carved with a delicate spiral of ribbon and small balls, and on the outer with the same acanthus that runs up the jambs. 

Now, on the chapel side especially, from the base to the springing thereis little that might not be found in late French Gothic work, exceptperhaps that diapered shafts were not then used in France, and that thebands of carving are rather different in spirit from French work; but asfor the head, no opening of that size was made in France of socomplicated and, it must be added, so unconstructional a shape. It isthe _chef-d'oeuvre_ of the Manoelino style, and although a foreignermay be inclined at first, from its very strangeness, to call it Eastern, it is really only a true development in the hands of a real artist ofwhat Manoelino was; an expression of Portugal's riches and power, and ofthe gradual assimilation of such Moors as still remained on this sidethe Straits. Of course it is easy to say that it is extravagant, overloaded and debased; and so it may be. Yet no one who sees it canhelp falling a victim to its fascination, for perhaps its only realfault is that the great cusps and finials are on rather too large ascale for the rest. Not even the greatest purist could help admiring theexquisite fineness of the carving--a fineness made possible by thelimestone, very soft when new, which gradually hardens and grows to alovely yellow with exposure to the air. No records tell us so, butconsidering the difference in style between the upper and the lower partit may perhaps be conjectured that the elder Matheus designed the lowerpart, and the younger the upper, after his father's death in 1515. 

In the great octagon itself the first thing to be done was to build hugepiers, which partly encroach on the small sepulchral chapels between thelarger apses. These piers now rise nearly to the level of the centralaisle of the church where they are cut off unfinished; they must beabout 80 or 90 feet in height. On the outer side they are covered withmany circular shafts which are banded together by mouldings at nearlyregular intervals. Haupt has pointed out that in general appearance theyare not unlike the great minar called the Kutub at Old Delhi, and alively imagination might see a resemblance to the vast piers, once thebases of minars, which flank the great entrance archways of some mosquesat Ahmedabad, for example those in the Jumma Musjid. Yet there is nonecessity to go so far afield. Manoelino architects had always been fondof bundles of round mouldings and so naturally used them here, norindeed are the piers at all like either the Kutub or the minars atAhmedabad. They have not the batter or the sharp angles of the one, northe innumerable breaks and mouldings of the others. 

Between each pier a large window was meant to open, of whichunfortunately nothing has been built but part of the jambs. 

Inside the vaulting of the apsidal chapels was first finished; all thevaults are elaborate, have well-moulded ribs, and bosses, some carvedwith crosses of the Order of Christ, some with armillary spheres, otherswith a cross and the words 'In hoc signo vinces, ' or with a sphere andthe words 'Espera in Domino. ' Where Dom João II. Was to be buried is apelican vulning herself--for that was his device--and in that intendedfor his father Dom Affonso V. A 'rodisio' or mill-wheel. A little abovethe entrance arches to the chapels the octagon is surrounded by twocarved string courses separated by a broad plain frieze. [123] On thelower string are the beautifully modelled necks and heads of dragons, springing from acanthus leaves and so set as to form a series of M's, and on the upper an exquisite pattern arranged in squares, while on itrests a most remarkable cresting. In this cresting, which is formed of asingle bud set on branches between two coupled buds, the forms are moststrange and at the same time beautiful. 

Inside, the great piers have been much more highly adorned than without. The vaulting shafts in the middle--which, formed of several small roundmouldings, have run up quite plain from the ground, only interrupted byshields and their mantling on the frieze--are here broken and twisted. On either side are niches with Gothic canopies, above which areinterlacing leaves and branches. Beyond the niches are the window jambs, on which, next the opening, are shafts carved with naturalistictree-stems, and between these and the niches two bands of ornamentseparated by thin plain shafts. 

In each opening these bands are different. In some is Gothic foliage, inothers semi-classic carving like the string below or realistic like thecresting. In others are naturalistic branches, and in the opening overthe chapel where Dom Manoel was to lie are cut the letters M in one handand R in the other; Manoel Rey. (Fig. 59. )

Only the first foot or so of the vaulting has been built, and there isnothing now to show how the great octagon was to be roofed. Murphy[124]gives his idea; the eight piers carried high up and capped with spires, huge Gothic windows between, and the whole covered by a vast pointedroof--presumably of wood--above the vault. Haupt with his Indianprepossessions suggests a dome surrounded by eight great domedpinnacles. Probably neither is right; certainly Murphy's great roof ofwood would never have been made, and as for Haupt's dome nothing domedwas built in Portugal till long after and that at first only on a smallscale. [125] Besides, the well-developed Gothic ribs which are seenspringing in each corner clearly show that some kind of Gothic vault wasmeant, and not a dome; and that the Portuguese could build wonderfulvaults had been already shown by the chapter-house here and was soon tobe shown by the transept at Belem. So in all probability the roof wouldhave been a great Gothic vault of which the centre would rise veryconsiderably above the sides; for there is no sign of stilting the ribsover the windows. The whole would have been covered with stone slabs, and would have been surrounded by eight groups of pinnacles, most ofwhich would no doubt have been twisted. 

Deeply though one must regret that this great chapel has been leftunfinished and open to the sky, yet even in its incomplete state it is atreasure-house of beautiful ornament, and it is wonderful how well themore commonplace Gothic of Huguet's work agrees with and even enhancesthe richness of the detail which Fernandes drew from so many sources, late Gothic, early renaissance, and naturalistic, and which he knew sowell how to combine into a beautiful whole. 

The great Claustro Real, built by Dom João I. , was peculiar amongPortuguese cloisters in having, or at least being prepared for, largetraceried windows. Probably these had remained blank, and for about ahundred years awaited the tracery which more than any part of theconvent shows the skill of Matheus Fernandes. 

There seems to be no exact record of when the work was done, but it musthave been while additions were being made to the Imperfect chapels, though more fortunate than they, the work here was successfullyfinished. 

The cloister has seven bays on each side, of which the five in themiddle are nearly equal, having either five or six lights. In theeastern corners the openings have only three lights, in thesouth-western they have four, and in the north-western there stands thesquare two-bayed lavatory. (Fig. 60. )

In all the openings the shafts are alike. They have tall eight-sided andround bases, similar capitals and a moulded ring half-way up, while thewhole shaft from ring to base and from ring to capital is carved withthe utmost delicacy, with spirals, with diaper patterns, or withleaflike scales. Above the capitals the pointed openings are filled inwith veils of tracery of three different patterns. In the central bay, and in the two next but one on either side of it, and so filling nineopenings, is what at first seems to be a kind of reticulated tracery. But on looking closer it is found to be built up of leaf-covered curvesand of buds very like those forming the cresting in the CapellasImperfeitas. In the corner bays--except where stands the lavatory--thereis another form of reticulated tracery, where the larger curves areformed by branches, whose leaves make the cusps, while filling in thelarger spaces are budlike growths like those in the first-mentionedwindows. 

On either side of the central openings the tracery is more naturalisticthan elsewhere; here the whole is formed of interlacing and intertwiningbranches, with leaves and large fruit-like poppy heads, and in thecentre the Cross of the Order of Christ. But of all, the most successfulis in the lavatory; there the two bays which form each side are high andnarrow, [Illustration: FIG. 58. 

BATALHA. 

WINDOW OF PATEO. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 59. 

BATALHA. 

CAPELLAS IMPERFEITAS. 

UPPER PART. 

_From a photograph by E. Biel & Co. , Oporto. _]

with richly cusped pointed arches. Instead of cutting out the cusps andfilling the upper part with tracery, Matheus Fernandes has withextraordinary skill thrown a crested transome across the opening andbelow it woven together a veil of exquisitely carved branches, which, resting on a central shaft, half hide and half reveal the large marblefountain within. (Fig. 61. )

At first, perhaps, accustomed to the ordinary forms of Gothic tracery, these windows seem strange, to some even unpleasing. Soon, however, whenthey have been studied more closely, when it has been recognised thatthe brilliant sunshine needs closer tracery and smaller openings thandoes the cooler North, and that indeed the aim of the designer is tokeep out rather than to let in the direct rays of light, no one can beanything but thankful that Matheus Fernandes, instead of trying to adaptGothic forms to new requirements, as was done by his predecessors in thechurch, boldly invented new forms for himself; forms which are entirelysuited to the sun, the clear air and sky, and which with their creamylace make a fitting background to the roses and flowers with which thecloister is now planted. 

Now the question arises, from whence did Matheus Fernandes draw hisinspiration? We have seen that windows with good Gothic tracery arealmost unknown in Portugal, for even in the church here at Batalha thelarger windows nearly all show a want of knowledge, and a wish to shutout the sun as much as possible, and besides there is really noresemblance between the tracery in the church and that in the cloister. 

In the lowest floor of the Torre de São Vicente, begun by Dom João II. And finished by Dom Manoel to defend the channel of the Tagus, thecentral hall is divided from a passage by a thin wall whose upper partis pierced to form a perforated screen. The original plan for the toweris said to have been furnished by Garcia de Resende, whose house we haveseen at Evora, and if this screen, which is built up of heart-shapedcurves, is older than the cloister windows at Batalha, he may havesuggested to Matheus Fernandes the tracery which has a more or lessreticulated form, though on the other hand it may be later and have beensuggested by them. Most probably, however, Matheus Fernandes thought outthe tracery for himself. He would not have had far to go to see realreticulated panelling, for the church is covered with it; but an evenmore likely source of this reticulation might be found in the beautifulMoorish panelling which exists on such buildings as the Giralda or thetower at Rabat, and if we find Moors among the workmen at Thomar theremay well have been some at Batalha as well. As for the naturalistictracery, it is clearly only an improvement on such windows as those ofthe Pateo behind the church, and there is no need to go to Ahmedabad andfind there pierced screens to which they have a certain resemblance. 

However, whatever may be its origin, this tracery it is which makes theClaustro Real not only the most beautiful cloister in Portugal, buteven, as that may not seem very great praise, one of the most beautifulcloisters in the world, and it must have been even more beautiful beforea modern restoration crowned all the walls with a pierced Gothic parapetand a spiky cresting, whose angular form and sharp mouldings do notquite harmonise with the rounded and gentle curves of the tracery below. 

After the suppression of the monastic orders in 1834, Batalha, which hadalready suffered terribly from the French invasion--for in 1810 duringthe retreat under Massena two cloisters were burned and much furnituredestroyed--was for a time left to decay. However, in 1840 the Cortesdecreed an annual expenditure of two contos of reis, [126] or about £450to keep the buildings in repair and to restore such parts as weredamaged. 

The first director was Senhor Luis d'Albuquerque, and he and hissuccessors have been singularly successful in their efforts, and havecarried out a restoration with which little fault can be found, exceptthat they have been too lavish in building pierced parapets, and infilling the windows of the church with wooden fretwork and with hideousgreen, red and blue glass. 

[Illustration: FIG. 60. 

BATALHA. 

CLOISTER. 

_From a photograph by E. Biel & Co. , Oporto. _]

[Illustration: FIG. 61. 

BATALHA. 

LAVATORY IN CLAUSTRO REAL. ]

CHAPTER XIII

BELEM

Belem or Bethlehem lies close to the shore, after the broad estuary ofthe Tagus has again grown narrow, about four miles from the centre ofLisbon, and may best be reached by one of the excellent electric carswhich now so well connect together the different parts of the town andits wide-spreading suburbs. 

Situated where the river mouth is at its narrowest, it is natural thatit was chosen as the site of one of the forts built to defend thecapital. Here, then, on a sandbank washed once by every high tide, butnow joined to the mainland by so unromantic a feature as the gasworks, atower begun by Dom João II. , and designed, it is said, by Garcia deResende, was finished by Dom Manoel about 1520 and dedicated to SãoVicente, the patron of Lisbon. [127]

The tower is not of very great size, perhaps some forty feet square byabout one hundred high. It stands free on three sides, but on the southtowards the water it is protected by a great projecting bastion, which, rather wider than the tower, ends at the water edge in a polygon. 

The tower contains several stories of one room each, none of which arein themselves in any way remarkable except the lowest, in which is theperforated screen mentioned in the last chapter. In the second story thesouth window opens on to a long balcony running the whole breadth of thetower, and the other windows on to smaller balconies. The third story isfinished with a fortified parapet resting on great corbels. The last andfourth, smaller than those below, is fortified with pointed merlons, andwith a round corbelled turret at each corner. 

On entering, it is found that the bastion contains a sort of cloisterwith a flat paved roof on to which opens the door of the tower. Underthe cloister are horrid damp dungeons, last used by Dom Miguel, whoduring his usurpation imprisoned in them such of his liberal opponentsas he could catch. The whole bastion is fortified with great merlons, rising above a rope moulding, each, like those on the tower, bearing ashield carved with the Cross of the Order of Christ, and by roundturrets corbelled out at the corners. These, like all the turrets, arecapped with melon-shaped stone roofs, and curious finials. Similarturrets jut out from two corners of the ground floor. 

The parapet also of the cloister is interesting. It is divided intosquares, in each of which a quatrefoil encloses a cross of the Order ofChrist. At intervals down the sides are spiral pinnacles, at the cornerscolumns bearing spheres, and at the south end a tall niche, elaboratelycarved, under whose strange canopy stand a Virgin and Child. 

The most interesting features of the tower are the balconies. That onthe south side, borne on huge corbels, has in front an arcade of sevenround arches, resting on round shafts with typical Manoelino caps. Acontinuous sloping stone roof covers the whole, enriched at the bottomby a rope moulding, and marked with curious nicks at the top. Theparapet is Gothic and very thin. The other balconies are the same, apointed tentlike roof ending in a knob, a parapet whose circles enclosecrosses of the order, but with only two arches in front. 

The third story is lit by two light windows on three sides, and on thesouth side by two round-headed windows, between which is cut a hugeroyal coat-of-arms crowned. 

Altogether the building is most picturesque, the balconies are charming, and the round turrets and the battlements give it a look of strength andat the same time add greatly to its appearance. The general outline, however, is not altogether pleasing owing to the setting back of the topstory. (Fig. 62. )

The detail, however, is most interesting. It is throughout Manoelino, and that too with hardly an admixture of Gothic. There is no naturalism, and hardly any suggestion of the renaissance, and as befits a fort it iswithout any of the exuberance so common to buildings of this time. 

Now here again, as at Thomar and Batalha, Haupt has seen a result ofthe intercourse with India; both in the balconies and in the turretroofs[128] he sees a likeness to a temple in Gujerat; and it must beadmitted that in the example he gives the balconies and roofs are not atall unlike those at Belem. It might further be urged that Garcia deResende who designed the tower, if he was never in India himself, formedpart of Dom Manoel's great embassy to Rome in 1514, when the wonders ofthe East were displayed before the Pope, that he might easily befamiliar with Indian carvings or paintings, and that finally there areno such balconies elsewhere in Portugal. All that may be true, and yetin his own town of Evora there are still many pavilions more like thesmaller balconies than are those in India, and it surely did not needvery great originality to put such a pavilion on corbels and so give thetower its most distinctive feature. As for the turrets, in Spain thereare many, at Medina del Campo or at Coca, which are corbelled out inmuch the same way, though their roofs are different, and like though themelon-shaped dome of the turrets may be to some in Gujerat, they aremore like those at Bacalhôa, and surely some proof of connection betweenBelem and Gujerat, better than mere likeness, is wanted before theIndian theory can be accepted. That the son of an Indian viceroy shouldroof his turrets at Bacalhôa with Indian domes might seem natural; butthe turrets were certainly built before he bought the Quinta in 1528, and neither they nor the house shows any other trace of Indianinfluence. 

The night of July 7, 1497, the last Vasco da Gama and his captains wereto spend on shore before starting on the momentous voyage which ended atCalicut, was passed by them in prayer, in a small chapel built by PrinceHenry the Navigator for the use of sailors, and dedicated to NossaSenhora do Restello. 

Two years later he landed again in the Tagus, with a wonderful story ofthe difficulties overcome and of the vast wealth which he had seen inthe East. As a thankoffering Dom Manoel at once determined to found agreat monastery for the Order of St. Jerome on the spot where stoodPrince Henry's chapel. Little time was lost, and the first stone waslaid on April 1 of the next year. 

The first architect was that Boutaca who, about ten years before, hadbuilt the Jesus Church at Setubal for the king's nurse, Justa Rodrigues, and to him is probably due the plan. Boutaca was succeeded in 1511 byLourenço Fernandes, who in turn gave place to João de Castilho in1517[129] or 1522. 

It is impossible now to say how much each of these different architectscontributed to the building as finished. At Setubal Boutaca had built achurch with three vaulted aisles of about the same height. The idea wasthere carried out very clumsily, but it is quite likely that Belem owesits three aisles of equal height to his initiative even though they wereactually carried out by some one else. 

Judging also from the style, for the windows show many well-knownManoelino features, while the detail of the great south door is morepurely Gothic, they too and the walls may be the work of Boutaca or ofLourenço Fernandes, while the great door is almost certainly that ofJoão de Castilho. 

In any case, when João de Castilho came the building was not nearlyfinished, for in 1522 he received a thousand cruzados towards buildingcolumns and the transept vault. [130]

But even more important to the decoration of the building than eitherBoutaca or João de Castilho was the coming of Master Nicolas, theFrenchman[131] whom we shall see at work at Coimbra and at São Marcos. Belem seems to have been the first place to which he came after leavinghome, and we soon find him at work there on the statues of the greatsouth door, and later on those of the west door, where, with theexception of the Italian door at Cintra, is carved what is probably theearliest piece of renaissance detail in the country. 

The south door, except for a band of carving round each entrance, isfree of renaissance detail, and so was probably built before Nicolasadded the statues, but in the western a few such details begin toappear, and in these, as in the band round the other openings, he mayhave had a hand. Inside renaissance detail is more in evidence, butsince the great piers would not be carved till after they were built, itis more likely that the renaissance work there is due to João deCastilho himself and to what he had learned either from Nicolas or

[Illustration: FIG. 62. 

TORRE DE SÃO VICENTE. 

BELEM. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 63. 

BELEM. 

SACRISTY. ]

from the growing influence of the Coimbra School. It is, of course, alsopossible that when Nicolas went to Coimbra, where he was already at workin 1524, some French assistant may have stayed behind, yet the carvingon the piers is rather coarser than in most French work, and so was moreprobably done by Portuguese working under Castilho's direction. 

The monastic buildings were begun after the church; but although atfirst renaissance forms seem supreme in the cloisters, closer inspectionwill show that they are practically confined to the carving on thebuttresses and on the parapets of the arches thrown across from buttressto buttress. All the rest, except the door of the chapter-house--therefectory, undertaken by Leonardo Vaz, the chapter-house itself, and thegreat undercroft of the dormitory stretching 607 feet away opposite thewest door, and scarcely begun in 1521, are purely Manoelino, so that thedate 1544 on the lower cloister must refer to the finishing of therenaissance additions and not to the actual building, especially as theupper cloister is even more completely Gothic than the lower. 

The sacristy, adjoining the north transept, must have been one of thelast parts of the original building to be finished, since in it thevault springs in the centre from a beautiful round shaft covered withrenaissance carving and standing on a curious base. (Fig. 63. )

The first chancel, which in 1523 was nearly ready, was thought to be toosmall and so was pulled down, being replaced in 1551 by a rather poorclassic structure designed by Diogo de Torralva. In it now lie DomManoel, his son Dom João III. , and the unfortunate Dom Sebastião, hisgreat-grandson. Vasco da Gama and other national heroes have also founda resting-place in the church, and the chapter-house is nearly filledwith the tomb of Herculano, the best historian of his country. 

Since the expulsion of the monks in 1834 the monastic buildings havebeen turned into an excellent orphanage for boys, who to the number ofabout seven hundred are taught some useful trade and who still use therefectory as their dining-hall. The only other change since 1835 hasbeen the building of an exceedingly poor domed top to the south-westtower instead of its original low spire, the erection of an upper storyabove the long undercroft, and of a great entrance tower half-wayalong, with the result that the tower soon fell, destroying the vaultbelow. 

[Illustration: O Mosheiro des Jerónimos de Sta Maria de Belem. 

1. CHAPTER HOVSE2. SACRISTY3. REFECTORY4. CHOIR GALLERY5. INTENDED ENTRANCE PORCH6. VNDERCROFT OF DORMITORY607 FEET LONG

FOVNDED BY DOM MANOEL APRIL 21 1500. BOVTACA ARCHITECT TILL 1511. SVCCEEDED BYLOVRENÇO FERNANDES. LITTLE DONE TILL1522 WHEN JOÃO DE CASTILHO SVCCEEDED. LOWER CLOISTER FINISHED 1544. CAPELLA MOR REBVILT 1551 BY DIOGO DETORRALVA. ]

The plan of the church is simple but original. It consists of a nave offour bays with two oblong towers to the west. The westernmost bay isdivided into two floors by a great choir gallery entered from the uppercloister and also extending to the west between the towers, which on theground floor form chapels. The whole nave with its three aisles of equalheight measures from the west door to the transept some 165 feet long by77 broad and over 80 high. East of the nave the church spreads out intoan enormous transept 95 feet long by 65 wide, and since the vast vaultis almost barrel-shaped considerably higher than the nave. North andsouth of this transept are smaller square chapels, and to the east thelater chancel, the whole church being some 300 feet long inside. Northof the nave is the cloister measuring 175 feet by 185, on its westernside the refectory 125 feet by 30, and on the east next the transept asacristy 48 feet square, and north of it a chapter-house of about thesame size, but increased on its northern side by a large apse. In thethickness of the north wall of the nave a stair leads from the transeptto the upper cloister, and a series of confessionals open alternately, the one towards the church for the penitent and the next towards thelower cloister for the father confessor. Lastly, separated from thechurch by an open space once forming a covered porch, there stretchesaway to the west the great undercroft, 607 feet long by 30 wide. 

Taking the outside of the church first. The walls of the transept and ofthe transept chapel are perfectly plain, without buttresses, with butlittle cornice and, now at least, without a cresting or parapet. Theyare only relieved by an elaborate band of ornament which runs along thewhole south side of the church, by the tall round-headed windows, and inthe main transept by a big rope moulding which carries on the line ofthe chapel roof. Plain as it is, this part of the church is singularlyimposing from its very plainness and from its great height, and were thecornice and cresting complete and the original chancel still standingwould equal if not surpass in beauty the more elaborate nave. Thewindows--one of which lights the main transept on each side of thechancel, and two, facing east and west, the chapel which also has asmaller round window looking south--are of great size, being aboutthirty-four feet high by over six wide; they are deeply set in the thickwall, are surrounded by two elaborate bands of carving, and havecrocketed ogee hood-moulds. 

The great band of ornament which is interrupted by the lower part of thewindows has a rope moulding at the top above which are carved andinterlacing branches, two rope mouldings at the bottom, and between thema band of carving consisting of branches twisted into intertwining S's, ending in leaves at the bottom and buds at the top, the whole beingnearly six feet across. 

The three eastern bays of the nave are separated by buttresses, squarebelow, polygonal above, and ending in round shafts and pinnacles at thetop. The cornice, here complete, is deep with its five carved mouldings, but not of great projection. On it stands the cresting of elaboratelybranched leaves, nearly six feet high. 

The central bay is entirely occupied by the great south door which, withits niches, statues and pinnacles entirely hides the lower part of thebuttresses. The outer round arch of the door is thrown across betweenthe two buttresses, which for more than half their height are coveredwith carved and twisted mouldings, with niches, canopies, corbels, andstatues all carved with the utmost elaboration. Immediately above thegreat arch is a round-headed window, and on either side between it andthe buttresses are two rows of statues and niches in tiers separated byelaborate statue-bearing shafts and pinnacles. Statues even occupyniches on the window jamb, and a Virgin and Child stand up in front onthe end of the ogee drip-mould of the great arch. (Fig. 64. )

It will be seen later how poorly Diogo de Castilho at Coimbra finishedoff his window on the west front of Santa Cruz. Here the work wasprobably finished first, and it is curious that Diogo in copying hisbrother's design did not also copy the great canopy which overshadowsthe window and which, rising through the cornice to a great pinnacledniche, so successfully finishes the whole design. Here too thebuttresses carry up the design to the top of the wall, and with thestrong cornice and rich cresting save it from the weakness which atCoimbra is emphasised by the irregularity of the walling above. 

Luckier than the door at Coimbra this one retains its central jamb, onwhich, on a twisting shaft from whose base look out two charming lions, there stands, most appropriately, Prince Henry the Navigator, withoutwhose enterprise Vasco da Gama would in all probability never havesailed to India and so given occasion for the founding of this church. Round each of the two entrances runs a band of renaissance carving, andthe flat reliefs in the divided tympanum are rather like some that maybe seen in France, [132] but otherwise the detail is all Gothic. Twistedshafts bearing the corbels, elaborate canopies, crocketed finials, allare rather Gothic than Manoelino. Since the material--a kind ofmarble--is much less fine than the stone used at Batalha or in Coimbraor Thomar, the carving is naturally less minute and ivory-like than itis there, and this is especially the case with the foliage, which israther coarse. The statues too--except perhaps Prince Henry's--are alittle short and sturdy. 

The tall windows in the bays on either side of this great door are likethose in the transept, except that round them are three bands of carvinginstead of two, the one in the centre formed of rods which at intervalsof about a foot are broken to cross each other in the middle, and thatbeyond the jambs tall twisted shafts run up to round finials just underthe cornice. 

In the next bay to the west, where is the choir gallery inside, thereare two windows, one above the other, like the larger ones but smaller, and united by a moulding which runs round both. 

The same is the case with the tower, where, however, the upper window isdivided into two, the lower being a circle and the upper having threeintersecting lights. The drip-mould is also treated in the commonManoelino way with large spreading finials. Above the cornice, which isless elaborate than in the nave, was a short octagonal drum capped by alow spire, now replaced by a poor dome and flying buttresses. 

The west door once opened into a three-aisled porch now gone. It is muchless elaborate than the great south door, but shows great ingenuity infitting it in under what was once the porch vault. The twisted andbroken curves of the head follow a common Manoelino form, and below thetop of the broken hood-mould are two flying angels who support a largecorbel on which is grouped the Holy Family. On the jambs are threenarrow bands of foliage, and one of figures standing under renaissancecanopies. On either side are spreading corbels and large niches withcurious bulbous canopies[133] under which kneel Dom Manoel on the leftpresented by St. Jerome, and on the right, presented by St. John theBaptist, his second wife, Queen Maria--like the first, Queen Isabel, adaughter of Ferdinand and Isabella and the aunt of his third wife, Leonor. These figures are evidently portraits, and even if they wereflattered show that they were not a handsome couple. 

Below these large corbels, on which are carved large angels, are twosmaller niches with figures, one on each side of the twisted shaft. Renaissance curves form the heads of these as they do of larger niches, one on each side of the Holy Family above, which contain theAnnunciation and the Visit of the Wise Men. 

Beyond Dom Manoel and his wife are square shafts with more niches andfigures, and beyond them again flatter niches, half Manoelino, halfrenaissance. The rest of the west front above the ruined porch is plainexcept for a large round window lighting the choir gallery. Thenorth-west tower does not rise above the roof. 

Outside, the church as a whole is neither well proportioned norgraceful. The great mass of the transept is too overwhelming, the navenot long enough, and above all, the large windows of the nave too large. It would have looked much better had they been only the size of thesmaller windows lighting the choir gallery--omitting the one below, andthis would further have had the advantage of not cutting up thebeautiful band of ornament. But the weakest part of the whole design arethe towers, which must always have been too low, and yet would have beentoo thin for the massive building behind them had they been higher. Now, of course, the one finished with a dome has nothing to recommend it, neither height, nor proportion, nor design. Yet the doorway taken byitself, or together with the bay on either side, is a very successfulcomposition, and on a brilliantly sunny day so blue is the sky and sowhite the stone that hardly any one would venture to criticise it forbeing too elaborate and over-charged, though no doubt it might seem sowere the stone dingy and the sky grey and dull. 

The church of Belem may be ill-proportioned and unsatisfactory outside, but within it is so solemn and vast as to fill one with surprise. Compared with many churches the actual area is not really very great noris it very high, yet there is perhaps no other building which gives suchan impression of space and of freedom. Entering from the brilliantsunlight it seems far darker than, with large windows, should be thecase, and however hideous the yellow-and-blue checks with which they arefilled may be, they have the advantage of keeping out all brilliantlight; the huge transept too is not well lit and gives that feeling ofvastness and mystery which, as the supports are few and slender, wouldotherwise be wanting, while looking westwards the same result isobtained by the dark cavernous space under the gallery. (Fig. 65. )

[Illustration: FIG. 64. 

BELEM. 

SOUTH SIDE OF CHURCH OF JERONYMOS. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 65. 

BELEM. 

NAVE OF CHURCH LOOKING WEST. ]

On the south side the walls are perfectly plain, broken only by thewindows, whose jambs are enriched with empty niches; on the north thesmall windows are placed very high up, the twisted vaulting shafts onlycome down a short way to a string course some way below the windows, leaving a great expanse of cliff-like wall. At the bottom are theconfessional doors, so small that they add greatly to the scale, andabove them tall narrow niches and their canopies. But the nave piers arethe most astonishing part of the whole building. Not more than threefeet thick, they rise up to a height of nearly seventy feet to support agreat stone vault. Four only of the six stand clear from floor to roof, for the two western are embedded at the bottom in the jambs of thegallery arches. From their capitals the vaulting ribs spread out inevery direction, being constructively not unlike an English fan vault, and covering the whole roof with a network of lines. The piers areround, stand on round moulded pedestals, and are divided into narrowstrips by eight small shafts. The height is divided into four nearlyequal parts by well-moulded rings, encircling the whole pier, and in themiddle of the second of these divisions are corbels and canopies forstatues. The capitals are round and covered with leaves, but scarcelyexceed the piers in diameter. Besides all this each strip between theeight thin shafts is covered from top to bottom--except where the emptyniches occur--with carving in slight relief, either foliage or, moreusually, renaissance arabesques. 

Larger piers stand next the transept, cross-shaped, formed of four ofthe thinner piers set together, and about six feet thick. They are likethe others, except that there are corbels and canopies for statues inthe angles, and that a capital is formed by a large moulding carved withwhat is meant for egg and tongue. From this, well moulded and carvedarches, round in the central and pointed in the side aisles, cross thenave from side to side, dividing its vault from that of the transept. 

This transept vault, perhaps the largest attempted since the days of theRomans--for it covers a space measuring about ninety-five feet bysixty-five--is three bays long from north to south and two wide fromeast to west; formed of innumerable ribs springing from these points--ofwhich those at the north and south ends are placed immediately above thearches leading to the chapels--it practically assumes in the middle theshape of a flat oblong dome. 

Now, though the walls are thick, there are no buttresses, and the skilland daring required to build a vault sixty-five feet wide and about ahundred feet high resting on side walls on one side and on piersscarcely six feet thick on the other must not only excite the admirationof every one, especially when it is remembered that no damage was causedby the great earthquake which shook Lisbon to pieces in 1755, but mustalso raise the wish that what has been so skilfully done here had beenalso done in the Capellas Imperfeitas at Batalha. 

At the north end of the main transept are two doors, one leading to thecloister and one to the sacristy. A straight and curved mouldingsurrounds their trefoil heads under a double twining hood-mould. Outside, other mouldings rise high above the whole to form a secondlarge trefoil, whose hood-mould curves into two great crocketed circlesbefore rising to a second ogee. 

The chancel has a round and the chapels pointed entrance arches, formed, as are the jambs, of two bands of carving and two thick twistedmouldings. Tomb recesses, added later, with strapwork pediments line thechapels, and at the entrance to the chancel are two pulpits, for theGospel and Epistle. These are rather like João de Ruão's pulpit atCoimbra in outline, but supported on a large capital are quite Gothic, as are the large canopies which rise above them. 

Strong arches with cable mouldings lead to the space under the gallery, which is supported by an elaborate vault, elliptical in the central andpointed in the side aisles. 

In the gallery itself--only to be entered from the upper cloister--arethe choir stalls, of Brazil wood, added in 1560, perhaps from thedesigns of Diogo da Carta. [134]

With the earlier stalls at Santa Cruz and at Funchal, and the later atEvora, these are almost the only ones left which have not been replacedby rococo extravagances. 

The back is divided into large panels three stalls wide, each containinga painting of a saint, and separated by panelled and carved Corinthianpilasters. Below each painting is an oblong panel with, in the centre, abeautifully carved head looking out of a circle, and at the sides boldcarvings of leaves, dragons, sirens, or animals, while beautiful figuresof saints stand in round-headed niches under the pilasters. At the endsare larger pilasters, and a cornice carried on corbels serves as canopy. Each of the lower stalls has a carved panel under the upper book-board, but the small figures which stood between them on the arms are nearlyall gone. 

If 1560 be the real date, the carving is extraordinarily early incharacter; the execution too is excellent, though perhaps the headsunder the paintings are on too large a scale for woodwork, still theyare not at all coarse, and would be worthy of the best Spanish or Frenchsculptors. 

The cloister, nearly, but not quite square, has six bays on each side, of which the four central bays are of four lights each, while narrowerones at the ends have no tracery. In the traceried bays the arches areslightly elliptical, subdivided by two round-headed arches, which inturn enclose two smaller round arches enriched some with trefoil cusps, some with curious hanging pieces of tracery which are put, not in themiddle, but a little to the side nearer the central shaft. The shaftsare round, very like those at Batalha, and, like every inch of the archand tracery mouldings, are covered with ornament; some are twisted, somediapered, some covered with renaissance detail. Broad bands too ofcarving run round the inside and the outside of the main arches, theinner being almost renaissance and the outer purely Manoelino. The vaultof many ribs, varying in arrangement in the different walks, is entirelyGothic, while all the doors--except the double opening leading to thechapter-house, which has beautifully carved renaissance panels on thejambs--are Manoelino. The untraceried openings at the ends are fringedwith very extraordinary lobed projections, and on the solid pieces ofwalling at the corners are carved very curious and interesting coats ofarms crosses and emblems worked in with beautifully cut leaves andbirds. (Figs. 66 and 67. )

Outside, between each bay, wide buttresses project, of which thefront--formed into a square pilaster--is enriched with panels ofbeautiful renaissance work, while the back part is fluted or panelled. From the top mouldings of these pilasters, rather higher than thecapitals of the openings, elliptical arches with a vault behind arethrown across from pier to pier with excellent effect. Now, the basemouldings of these panelled pilasters either do not quite fit those ofthe fluted strips behind, or else are cut off against them, as are alsothe top mouldings of the fluted part; further, the fluted part runs uprather awkwardly into the vault, so that it seems reasonable toconjecture that these square renaissance pilasters and the arches may bean after-thought, added because it was found that the originalbuttresses were not quite strong enough for their work, and this toowould account for the purely renaissance character of the carving onthem, while the rest is almost entirely Gothic or Manoelino. The archesare carried diagonally across the corners, in a very picturesque manner, and they all help to keep out the direct sunlight and to throw mosteffective shadows. 

The parapet above these arches is carved with very pleasing renaissancedetails, and above each pier rise a niche and saint. 

The upper cloister is simpler than the lower. All the arches are roundwith a big splay on each side carved with four-leaved flowers. They arecusped at the top, and at the springing two smaller cusped arches arethrown across to a pinnacled shaft in the centre. The buttresses betweenthem are covered with spiral grooves, and are all finished off withtwisted pinnacles. Inside the pointed vault is much simpler than in thewalks below. 

Here the tracery is very much less elaborate than in the Claustro Realat Batalha, but as scarcely a square inch of the whole cloister is leftuncarved the effect is much more disturbed and so less pleasing. 

Beautiful though most of the ornament is, there is too much of it, andbesides, the depressed shape of the lower arches is bad and ungraceful, and the attempt at tracery in the upper walks is more curious thansuccessful. 

The chapter-house too, though a large and splendid room, would havelooked better with a simpler vault and without the elliptical arches ofthe apse recesses. 

The refectory, without any other ornament than the bold ribs of itsvaulted roof, and a dado of late tiles, is far more pleasing. 

Altogether, splendid as it is, Belem is far less pleasing, outside atleast, than the contemporary work at Batalha or at Thomar, for, like thetower of São Vicente near by, it is wanting in those perfect proportionswhich more than richness of detail give charm to a building. Inside itis not so, and though many of the vaulting ribs might be criticised asuseless

[Illustration: FIG. 66. 

BELEM. 

CLOISTER. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 67. 

BELEM. 

LOWER CLOISTER. ]

and the whole vault as wanting in simplicity, yet there is no suchimpressive interior in Portugal and not many elsewhere. 

The very over-elaboration which spoils the cloister is only one of theresults of all the wealth which flowed in from the East, and so, likethe whole monastery, is a worthy memorial of all that had been done tofurther exploration from the time of Prince Henry, till his efforts werecrowned with success by Vasco da Gama. 

[Sidenote: Conceição, Velha. ]

There can be little doubt that the transept front of the church of theConceição Velha was also designed by João de Castilho. The church wasbuilt after 1520 on the site of a synagogue, and was almost entirelydestroyed by the earthquake of 1755. Only the transept front hassurvived, robbed of its cornice and cresting, and now framed in plainpilasters and crowned by a pediment. The two windows, very like those atBelem, have beautiful renaissance details and saints in niches on thejambs. 

The large door has a round arch with uprights at the sides rising to ahorizontal crested moulding. Below, these uprights have a band ofrenaissance carving on the outer side, and in front a canopied nichewith a well-modelled figure. Above they become semicircular and end insphere-bearing spirelets. The great round arch is filled with two ordersof mouldings, one a broad strip of arabesque, the other a series ofkneeling angels below and of arabesque above. The actual openings areformed of two round-headed arches whose outer mouldings cross each otheron the central jamb. Above them are two reversed semicircles, and then agreat tympanum carved with a figure of Our Lady sheltering popes, bishops, and saints under her robe: a carving which seems to have latelytaken the place of a large window. (Fig. 68. )

As it now stands the front is not pleasing. It is too wide, and thegreat spreading pediment is very ugly. Of course it ought not to bejudged by its present appearance, and yet it must be admitted that thewindows are too large and come too near the ground, and that much of thedetail is coarse. Still it is of interest if only because it is the onlysurviving building closely related to the church of Belem. Built perhapsto commemorate the expulsion of the Jews, it shared the fate of theJesuits who instigated the expulsion, and was destroyed only a few yearsbefore they were driven from the country by the Marques de Pombal. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE COMING OF THE FOREIGN ARTISTS

If João de Castilho and his brother Diogo were really natives of one ofthe Basque provinces, they might rightly be included among the foreignartists who played such an important part in Portugal towards the end ofDom Manoel's reign and the beginning of that of his son, Dom João III. Yet the earlier work of João de Castilho at Thomar shows little trace ofthat renaissance influence which the foreigners, and especially theFrenchmen, were to do so much to introduce. 

[Sidenote: Santa Cruz, Coimbra. ]

A great house of the Canon Regular of St. Augustine had been founded atCoimbra by Dom Affonso Henriques for his friend São Theotonio in 1131. But with the passage of centuries the church and monastic building ofSta. Cruz had become dilapidated, and were no longer deemed worthy of sowealthy and important a body. So in 1502 Dom Manoel determined torebuild them and to adorn the church, and it was for this adorning thathe summoned so many sculptors in stone and in wood to his aid. 

The first architect of the church was Marcos Pires, to whom are due thecloister and the whole church except the west door, which was finishedby his successor Diogo de Castilho with the help of Master Nicolas, aFrenchman. 

One Gregorio Lourenço seems to have been what would now be called masterof the works, and from his letters to Dom Manoel we learn how the workwas going on. After Dom Manoel's death in 1521 he writes to Dom JoãoIII. , telling him what, of all the many things his father the late kinghad ordered, was already finished and what was still undone. 

The church consists of a nave of four bays, measuring some 105 feet by39, with flanking chapels, the whole lined with eighteenth-centurytiles, mostly blue and white. There are also a great choir gallery atthe west end, a chancel, polygonal

[Illustration: FIG. 68. 

LISBON. 

CONCEIÇÃO VELHA. ]

within but square outside, 54 feet long by 20 broad, with aseventeenth-century sacristy to the south, a cloister to the north, andchapels, one of which was the chapter-house, forming a kind of passagefrom sacristy to cloister behind the chancel. 

By 1518 the church must have been already well advanced, for in Januaryof that year Gregorio Lourenço writes to Dom Manoel saying that 'thewall of the dormitory was shaken and therefore I have sent for "PereAnes"--Pedro Annes had been master builder of the royal palace, now theuniversity at Coimbra, and being older may have had more experience thanMarcos Pires, the designer of the monastery--who had it shored up, andthey say that after the vault of the cloister is finished and the woodenfloors in it will be quite safe. Also six days ago came the master ofthe reredos from Seville and set to work at once to finish the greatreredos, for which he has worked all the wood--he must surely havebrought it with him from Seville--but the glazier has not yet come tofinish the windows. '

[Illustration: PLAN OF STA. CRUZ]

On 22nd July following he writes again that all but one of the vaults ofthe cloister were finished--'and Marcos Pirez works well, and the masterof the reredos has finished the tabernacle, and the "cadeiras" [that isprobably, sedilia] and the bishop has come to see them and they are verygood, and the master who is making the tombs of the kings is working athis job, and has already much stonework. '

These tombs of the kings are the monuments of Dom Affonso Henriques onthe north wall of the chancel and of Dom Sancho I. On the south. The twofirst kings of Portugal had originally been buried in front of the oldchurch, and were now for the first time given monuments worthy of theirimportance in the history of their country. 

In 1521 Dom Manoel died, and next year Gregorio tells his successor whathis father had ordered; after speaking of the pavement, the vault of SãoTheotonio's Chapel, the dormitory with its thirty beds and itsfireplace, the refectory, the royal tombs and a great screen twenty-fivepalms, or about eighteen feet high, he comes to the pulpit--'This, Sir, which is finished, all who see it say, that in Spain there is no pieceof stone of better workmanship, for this 20$000 have been paid, ' leavingsome money still due. 

He then speaks of the different reredoses, tombs of two priors, silvercandlesticks, a great silver cross made by Eytor Gonsalves, a goldsmithof Lisbon, much other church plate, and then goes on to say that alectern was ordered for the choir but was not made and was much needed, as was a silver monstrance, and that the monastery had no money to payChristovam de Figueiredo for painting the great reredos of the highaltar and those of the other chapels, 'and, Sir, it is necessary thatthey should be painted. '

Besides making so many gifts to Sta. Cruz, Dom Manoel endowed it withmany privileges. The priors were exempt from the jurisdiction of thebishop, and had themselves complete control over their own dependentchurches. All the canons were chaplains to the king, and after theuniversity came back to Coimbra from Lisbon in 1539 Dom João III. Madethe priors perpetual chancellors. [135]

By 1522 then the church must have been practically ready, though somecarving still had to be done. 

Marcos Pires died in 1524 and was succeeded by Diogo de Castilho, and ina letter dated from Evora in that year the king orders a hundred goldcruzados to be paid to Diogo and to Master Nicolas[136] for the statueson the west door which were still wanting, and two years later inSeptember another letter granted Diogo the privilege of riding on amule. [137]

The interest of the church itself is very inferior to that of thedifferent pieces of church furniture, nearly all the work of foreigners, with which it was adorned, and of which some, though not all, survive tothe present day. 

Inside there is nothing very remarkable in the structure of the churchexcept the fine vaulting with its many moulded ribs, the large windowswith their broken Manoelino heads, and the choir gallery which occupiesnearly two bays at the west end. Vaulted underneath, it opens to thechurch by a large elliptical arch which springs from jambs ornamentedwith beautiful candelabrum shafts. 

Of the outside little is to be seen except the west front, one of theleast successful designs of that period. 

In the centre--now partly blocked up by eighteenth-century additions, and sunk several feet below the street--is a great moulded arch, abouteighteen feet across and once divided into two by a central jamb bearinga figure of Our Lord, whence the door was called 'Portal da Majestade';above the arch a large round-headed window, deeply recessed, lights thechoir gallery, and between it and the top of the arch are threerenaissance niches, divided by pilasters, and containing threefigures--doubtless some of those for which Diogo de Castilho and MasterNicolas were paid one hundred cruzados in 1524. The window with itsmouldings is much narrower than the door, and is joined to the tallpinnacles which rise to the right and left of the great opening byGothic flying buttresses. Between the side pinnacles and the centralmass of the window a curious rounded and bent shaft rises from thehood-mould of the door to end in a semi-classic column between twoniches, and from the shaft there grow out two branches to support thecorbels on which the niche statues stand. All this is very like thegreat south door of the Jeronymite monastery at Belem, the work ofDiogo's brother João de Castilho; both have a wide door below with anarrower window above, surrounded by a mass of pinnacles and statues, but here the lower door is far too wide, and the upper window too small, and besides the wall is set back a foot or two immediately on each sideof the window so that the surface is more broken up. Again, instead ofthe whole rising up with a great pinnacled niche to pierce the corniceand to dominate parapet and cresting, the drip-mould of the window onlygives a few ugly twists, and leaves a blank space between the windowhead and the straight line of the cornice and parapet; a line in no wayimproved by the tall rustic cross or the four broken pinnacles whichrise above it. Straight crested parapets also crown the wall where it isset back, but at the sides the two corners grow into eight-sided turretsending in low crocketed stone roofs. Of course the whole front hassuffered much from the raising of the street level, but it can neverhave been beautiful, for the setting back of part of the wall looksmeaningless, and the turrets are too small for towers and yet far toolarge for angle pinnacles. (Fig. 69. )

Although the soft stone is terribly perished, greater praise can begiven to the smaller details, especially to the figures, which showtraces of considerable vigour and skill. 

If the church shows that Marcos Pires was not a great architect, thecloister still more marks his inferiority to the Fernandes or to João deCastilho, though with its central fountain and its garden it iseminently picturesque. Part of it is now, and probably all once was, oftwo stories. The buttresses are picturesque, polygonal below, a clusterof rounded shafts above, and are carried up in front of the uppercloister to end in a large cross. All the openings have segmentalpointed heads with rather poor mouldings. Each is subdivided into twolights with segmental round heads, supporting a vesica-like opening. Allthe shafts are round, with round moulded bases and round Manoelino caps. The central shaft has a ring moulding half-way up, and all, includingthe flat arches and the vesicae, are either covered with leaves, or aretwisted into ropes, but without any of that wonderful delicacy which isso striking at Batalha. Across one corner a vault has been throwncovering a fountain, and though elsewhere the ribs are plainly moulded, here they are covered with leaf carving, and altogether make thisnorth-east corner the most picturesque part of the whole cloister. (Fig. 70. )

The upper walk with its roof of wood is much simpler, there being threeflat arches to each bay upheld by short round shafts. 

Now to turn from the church itself and its native builders to thebeautiful furniture provided for it by foreign skill. Much of it hasvanished. The church plate when it became unfashionable was sent to Gôa, the great metal screen made by Antonius Fernandes is gone, and so is thereredos carved by a master from Seville and painted by Christovão deFigueredo. There still hang on the wall of the sacristy two or three

[Illustration: FIG. 69. 

COIMBRA. 

WEST FRONT OF STA. CRUZ. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 70. 

COIMBRA. 

CLOISTER OF STA. CRUZ. ]

pictures which may have formed part of this reredos. They are high upand very dirty, but seem to have considerable merit, especially one of'Pentecost' which is signed 'Velascus. ' The 'Pentecost' still has forits frame some pieces of beautiful early renaissance moulding not unlikewhat may still be seen on the reredos at Funchal, and it is just thesize of a panel for a large reredos. Of course 'Velascus' is not GrãoVasco, though the name is the same, nor can he be Christovão deFigueredo, but perhaps the painting spoken of by Gregorio Lourenço asdone by Christovão may only have been of the framing and not necessarilyof the panels. 

These are gone, but there are still left the royal tombs, the choirstalls, the pulpit, and three beautiful carved altar-pieces in thecloister. 

The royal tombs are both practically alike. In each the king lies undera great round arch, on a high altar-tomb, on whose front, under an eggand tongue moulding a large scroll bearing an inscription is upheld bywinged children. The arch is divided into three bands of carving, one--the widest--carved with early renaissance designs, the next whichis also carried down the jambs, with very rich Gothic foliage, and theoutermost with more leaves. The back of each tomb is divided into threeby tall Gothic pinnacles, and contains three statues on elaboratecorbels and under very intricate canopies, of which the central rises ina spire to the top of the arch. 

On the jambs, under the renaissance band of carving, are two statues oneabove the other on Gothic corbels but under renaissance canopies. 

Beyond the arch great piers rise up with three faces separated by Gothicpinnacles. On each face there is at the bottom--above theinterpenetrating bases--a classic medallion encompassed by Manoelinotwisting stems and leaves, and higher up two statues one above theother. Of these the lower stands on a Gothic corbel under a renaissancecanopy, and the upper, standing on the canopy, has over it another tallcanopy Gothic in style. Higher up the piers rise up to the vault withmany pinnacles and buttresses, and between them, above the arch, areother figures in niches and two angels holding the royal arms. 

The design of the whole is still very Manoelino, and therefore themaster of the royal tombs spoken of by Gregorio Lourenço was probably aPortuguese, but the skill shown in modelling the figures and therenaissance details are something quite new. (Fig. 71. )

Many Frenchmen are known to have worked in Santa Cruz. One, MasterNicolas, has been met already working at Belem and at the west doorhere, and others--Longuim, Philipo Uduarte, and finally João de Ruão(Jean de Rouen)--are spoken of as having worked at the tombs. 

Though the figures are good with well-modelled draperies, their faces, or those of most of them, are rather expressionless, and some of themlook too short--all indeed being less successful than those on thepulpit, the work of João de Ruão. It is likely then that the figures aremostly the work of the lesser known men and not of Master Nicolas or ofJoão de Ruão, though João, who came later to Portugal, may have beenresponsible for some of the renaissance canopies which are not at allunlike some of his work on the pulpit. 

The pulpit projects from the north wall of the church between two of thechapels. In shape it is a half-octagon set diagonally, and is upheld bycircular corbelling. It was ready by the time Gregorio Lourenço wrote toDom João III. In 1522, but still wanted a suitable finishing to itsdoor. This Gregorio urged Dom João to add, but it was never done, andnow the entrance is only framed by a simple classic architrave. 

Now Georges d'Amboise, the second archbishop of that name to hold thesee of Rouen, began the beautiful tomb, on which he and his uncle kneelin prayer, in the year 1520, and the pulpit at Coimbra was finishedbefore March 1522. 

Among the workmen employed on this tomb a Jean de Rouen is mentioned, but he left in 1521. The detail of the tomb at Rouen and that of thepulpit here are alike in their exceeding fineness and beauty, and a manthought worthy of taking part in the carving of the tomb might well beable to carry out the pulpit; besides, on it are cut initials or signswhich have been read as J. R. [138] The J or I is distinct, the R muchless so, but the carver of the pulpit was certainly a Frenchman wellacquainted with the work of the French renaissance. It may therefore beaccepted with perhaps some likelihood, that the Jean de Rouen who leftNormandy in 1521, came then to Coimbra, carved this pulpit, and is thesame who as João de Ruão is mentioned in later documents as

[Illustration: FIG. 71. 

COIMBRA, STA. CRUZ. 

TOMB OF D. SANCHO I. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 72. 

COIMBRA. 

STA. CRUZ. 

PULPIT. ]

still working for Santa Cruz, where he signed a discharge as late as1549. [139]

The whole pulpit is but small, not more than about five feet highincluding the corbelled support, and all carved with a minuteness anddelicacy not to be surpassed and scarcely to be equalled by such a workas the tomb at Rouen. At the top is a finely moulded cornice enrichedwith winged heads, tiny egg and tongue and other carving. Below on eachof the four sides are niches whose shell tops rest on small pilastersall covered with the finest ornaments, and in each niche sits a Fatherof the Western Church, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Gregory, and St. Ambrose. Their feet rest on slightly projecting bases, on the front ofeach of which is a small panel measuring about four inches by two carvedwith tiny figures and scenes in slight relief. On the shell heads, whichproject a little in the centre, there stand, above St. Augustine threeminute figures of boys with wreaths, the figures being about three orfour inches high, above St. Jerome sit two others, with masks hangingfrom their arms, upholding a shield and a cross of the Order of Christ. Those above St. Gregory support a sphere, and above St. Ambrose onestands alone with a long-necked bird on each side. At each angle twofigures, one above the other, each about eight inches high, stand undercanopies the delicacy of whose carving could scarcely be surpassed inivory. They represent, above, Religion with Faith, Hope, and Charity, and below, four prophets. The corbelled support is made up of a greatmany different mouldings, most of them enriched in different ways. 

Near the top under the angles of the pulpit are beautiful cherubs'heads. About half-way down creatures with wings and human heads cappedwith winged helmets grow out of a mass of flat carving, and at the verybottom is a kind of winged dragon whose five heads stretch up across thelower mouldings. (Fig. 72. )

Altogether the pulpit is well worthy of the praise given it by Gregorio;there may be more elaborate pieces of carving in Spain, but scarcely oneso beautiful in design and in execution, and indeed it may almost bedoubted whether France itself can produce a finer piece of work. Thefigure sculpture is worthy of the best French artists, the whole designis elaborate, but not too much so, considering the smallness of thescale, and the execution is such as could only have been carried out inalabaster or the finest limestone, such as that found at Ançã not faroff, and used at Coimbra for all delicate work. [140]

In the discharge signed by João de Ruão in 1549 reredoses are spoken ofas worked by him. There is nothing in the document to show whether theseare the three great pieces of sculpture in the cloisters each of whichmust once have been meant for a reredos. Unfortunately in theseventeenth century they were walled up, and were only restored to viewnot many years ago, and though much destroyed, enough survives to showthat they were once worthy of the pulpit. 

They represent 'Christ shown to the people by Pilate, ' the 'Bearing ofthe Cross, ' and the 'Entombment. '

In each there is at the bottom a shelf narrower than the carving above, and uniting the two, a broad band wider at the top than at the bottom, most exquisitely carved in very slight relief, with lovely earlyrenaissance scrolls, and with winged boys holding shields or medallionsin the centre. Above is a large square framework, flanked at the sidesby tall candelabrum shafts on corbels, and finished at the top by amoulding or, above the 'Bearing of the Cross, ' by a crested entablature, with beautifully carved frieze. Within this framework the stone is cutback with sloping sides, carved with architectural detail, arches, doors, entablatures in perspective. At the top is a panelled canopy. 

In the 'Ecce Homo' on the left is a flight of steps leading up to thejudgment seat of Pilate, who sits under a large arch, with Our Lord anda soldier on his right. The other half of the composition has a largearch in the background, and in front a crowd of people some of whom areseen coming through the opening in the sloping side. 

In the 'Bearing of the Cross' the background is taken up by the wallsand towers of Jerusalem. Our Lord with a great T-shaped cross is in thecentre, with St. Veronica on the right and a great crowd of peoplebehind, while other persons look out of the perspective arches at theside. (Fig. 73. )

In all, especially perhaps in the 'Ecce Homo, ' the composition is good, and the modelling of the figures excellent. Unfortunately the faces aremuch decayed and perhaps the figures may be rather wanting in repose, and yet even in their decay they are very beautiful pieces of work, andshow that João de Ruão--if he it was who carved them--was as able todesign a large composition as to carve a small pulpit. Under the 'EcceHomo, ' in a tablet held by winged boys who grow out of the ends of thescrolls, there is a date which seems to read 1550. The 'Quitaçam' wassigned on the 11th of September 1549, and if 1550 is the date herecarved it may show when the work was finally completed. [141]

There once stood in the refectory a terra cotta group of the 'LastSupper. ' Now nothing is left but a few fragments in the Museum, butthere too the figures of the apostles were well modelled and wellexecuted. 

Of the other works ordered by Dom Manoel the only one which stillremains are the splendid stalls in the western choir gallery. These intwo tiers of seats run round the three walls of the gallery except whereinterrupted by the large west window. They can hardly be the 'cadeiras'or seats mentioned in Gregorio's letter of July 1518, for it is surelyimpossible that they should have been begun in January and finished inJuly however active the Seville master may have been, and judging fromtheir carving they seem more Flemish than Spanish, and we know thatFlemings had been working not very long before on the cathedral reredos. The lower tier of seats has Gothic panelling below, good Miserere seats, arms, on each of which sits a monster, and on the top between each andsupporting the book-board of the upper row, small figures of men, withbowed backs, beggars, pilgrims, men and women all most beautifullycarved. The panels behind the upper tier are divided by twistedManoelino shafts bearing Gothic pinnacles, and the upper part of eachpanel is enriched with deeply undercut leaves and finials surroundingarmillary spheres. Above the panels, except over the end stalls wheresat the Dom Prior and the other dignitaries, and which have highercanopies, there runs a continuous canopy panelled with Gothicquatrefoils, and having in front a fringe of interlacing cusps. Betweenthis and the cresting is a beautiful carved cornice of leaves and ofcrosses of the Order of Christ, and the cresting itself is formed by anumber of carved scenes, cities, forests, ships, separated by saintlyfigures and surmounted by a carved band from which grow up great curlingleaves and finials. These scenes are supposed to represent the greatdiscoveries of Vasco da Gama and of Pedro Alvares Cabral in India and inBrazil, but if this is really so the carvers must have been left totheir own imagination, for the towns do not look particularly Indian, nor do the forests suggest the tropical luxuriance of Brazil: perhapsthe small three-masted ships alone, with their high bows and stern, represent the reality. (Fig. 74. )

As a whole the design is entirely Gothic, only at the ends of each rowof stalls is there anything else, and there the panels are carved withrenaissance arabesque, which, being gilt like all the other carving, stands out well from the dark brown background. 

These are almost the only mediæval stalls left in the country. Those atThomar were burnt by the French, those in the Carmo at Lisbon destroyedby the earthquake, and those at Alcobaça have disappeared. Only atFunchal are there stalls of the same date, for those at Vizeu seemrather later and are certainly poorer, their chief interest now beingderived from the old Chinese stamped paper with which their panels arecovered. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Sé Velha. ]

If the stalls at Santa Cruz are the only examples of this period stillleft on the mainland, the Sé Velha possesses the only great mediævalreredos. In Spain great structures are found in almost every cathedralrising above the altar to the vault in tier upon tier of niche andpanel. Richly gilded, with fine paintings on the panels, with delicateGothic pinnacles and tabernacle work, they and the metal screens whichhalf hide them do much to make Spanish churches the most interesting inthe world. Unfortunately in Portugal the bad taste of the eighteenthcentury has replaced all those that may have existed by great and heavyerections of elaborately carved wood. All covered with gold, theCorinthian columns, twisted and wreathed with vines, the overloadedarches and elaborate entablatures are now often sadly out of place insome old interior, and make one grieve the more over the loss of thesimpler or more appropriate reredos which came before them. 

Dom Jorge d'Almeida held the see of Coimbra and the countship ofArganil--for the bishops are always counts of

[Illustration: FIG. 73. 

COIMBRA. 

STA. CRUZ. 

REREDOS IN CLOISTER. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 74. 

COIMBRA. 

STALLS, STA. CRUZ. ]

Arganil--from 1481 till 1543, when he died at the age of eighty-five;during these sixty-two years he did much to beautify his church, and ofthese additions the oldest is the reredos put up in 1508. This we learnfrom a 'quitaçã' or discharge granted in that year to 'Mestre Vlimerframengo, ora estante nesta cidada, e seu Parceiro João Dipri, ' that is, to 'Master Vlimer a Fleming, now in this city, and to his partner Johnof Ypres. '

The reredos stands well back in the central apse; it is divided intofive upright parts, of which that in the centre is twice as wide as anyof the others, while the outermost with the strips of panelling andcarving which come beyond them are canted, following the line of theapse wall. Across these five upright divisions and in a straight line isthrown a great flattened trefoil arch joined to the back with Gothicvaulting. In the middle over the large division it is fringed with theintersecting circles of curved branches, while from the top to theblue-painted apse vault with its gilded ribs and stars a forest ofpinnacles, arches, twisting and intertwining branches and leaves riseshigh above the bishop's arms and mitre and the two angels who upholdthem. 

Below the arch the five parts are separated by pinnacle rising abovepinnacle. At the bottom under long canopies of extraordinary elaborationare scenes in high relief. Above them in the middle the apostles watchthe Assumption of the Virgin; saints stand in the other divisions, onein each, and over their heads are immense canopies rising across arichly cusped background right up to the vaulting of the arch. Thoughnot so high, the canopy over the Virgin is far more intricate as itforms a great curve made up of seven little cusped arches withinnumerable pinnacles and spires. (Fig. 75. )

Being the work of Flemings, the reredos is naturally full of thatexuberant Flemish detail which may be seen in a Belgian town-hall or inthe work of an early Flemish painter; and if the stalls at Santa Cruzare not by this same Master Vlimer, the intertwining branches on thecresting and the sharply carved leaves on the panels show that he hadfollowers or pupils. 

Like most Flemish productions, the reredos is wanting in grace. Thoughit throws a fine deep shadow the great arch is very ugly in shape andthe great canopies are far too large, and yet the mass of gold, well litby the windows of the lantern and rising to the dim blue vault, makes asingularly fine ending to the old and solemn church. 

More important than the reredos in the art history of the country aresome other changes made by Dom Jorge, which show that the Frenchmenworking at Santa Cruz were soon employed elsewhere. 

On the north side of the nave a door leads out of the church, and thisthese Frenchmen entirely transformed. 

At the bottom, between two much decayed Corinthian pilasters, is thedoor reached by a flight of steps. The arch is of several orders, onesupported by thin columns, one by square fluted pilasters. Within these, at right angles to each other, are broad faces carved and resting onpiers at whose corners are tiny round columns, in two stories, withcarved reliefs between the upper pair. In the tympanum is a beautifulMadonna and Child, and two round medallions with heads adorn thespandrils above the arch. Beyond each pilaster is a canted side joiningthe porch to the wall and having a large niche and figure near the top. The whole surface has been covered with exquisite arabesques like thosebelow the reredoses in the cloister at Santa Cruz, but they have nowalmost entirely perished. 

Above the entablature a second story rises forming a sort of portico. Atthe corners are square fluted Corinthian pilasters; between them infront runs a balustrading, divided into three by the pedestals of twoslender columns, Corinthian also, and there are others next thepilasters. The entablature has been most delicate, with the finestwreaths carved on the frieze. Over the canted sides are built smallround-domed turrets. 

Above this the third story reaches nearly up to the top of the wall. Inthe middle is an arch resting on slender columns and supporting apediment; on either side are square niches with columns at the sides, beyond them fan-shaped semicircles, and at the corners vases. Behindthis there rise to the top of the battlements four panelled Doricpilasters with cornice above, and two deep round-headed niches withfigures, one on each side. 

Inside the church are pilasters and a wealth of delicate relief. 

Perhaps the whole may not be much more fortunate than most attempts tobuild up a tall composition by piling columns one above the other, andthe top part is certainly too heavy

[Illustration: FIG. 75. 

COIMBRA. 

SÉ VELHA. 

REREDOS. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 76. 

COIMBRA. 

SÉ VELHA. 

CHAPEL OF SÃO PEDRO. ]

for what comes below it. Yet the details are or were beautiful, and theportico above the door most graceful and pleasing, though, beingunfortunately on the north side, the effect is lost of the deep shadowthe sun would have thrown and the delicacy of the mouldings almostwasted. 

Less important are the changes made to the north transept door. Flutedpilasters and Corinthian columns were inserted below, a medallion with afigure cut on the tympanum, and small coupled shafts resting on theDoric capitals of the pilasters built to uphold the entablature. 

Inside the most important, as well as the most beautiful addition, was areredos built by Dom Jorge as his monument in the chapel of São Pedro, the small apse to the north of the high altar. 

Just above the altar table--which is of stone supported on one centralshaft--are three panels filled in high relief with sculptured scenesfrom the life of St. Peter, the central and widest panel representinghis martyrdom, while on the uprights between them are small figuresunder canopies. 

The upper and larger part is arranged somewhat like a Roman triumphalarch. There are three arches, one larger and higher in the middle, witha lower and narrower one on each side, separated by most beautiful tallcandelabrum shafts with very delicate half-Ionic capitals. In thecentre, in front of the representation of some town, probably Rome, isOur Lord bearing His Cross and St. Peter kneeling at His feet--no doubtthe well-known legend 'Domine quo vadis?' In the side arches stand twofigures with books: one is St. Paul with a sword, and the other probablySt. Peter himself. Above each of the side arches there is a smallbalustraded loggia, scarcely eighteen inches high, in each of which aretwo figures, talking, all marvellously lifelike. Beautiful carvingsenrich the friezes everywhere, and small heads in medallions all thespandrils. At the top, in a hollow circle upheld by carved supports, crowned and bearing an orb in His left hand, is God the Father Himself. (Fig. 76. )

Less elaborate than the pulpit and less pictorial than the altar-piecesin the cloister of Santa Cruz, this reredos is one of the mostsuccessful of all the French works at Coimbra, and its beauty isenhanced by the successful lighting through a large window cut onpurpose at the side, and by the beautiful tiles--probablycontemporary--with which the chapel is lined. 

In front of the altar lies Dom Jorge d'Almeida, under a flat stone, bearing his arms, and this inscription in Latin, 'Here lies Jorged'Almeida by the goodness of the divine power bishop and count. He livedeighty-five years, and died eight days before the Kalends of SextillisA. D. 1543, having held both dignities sixty-two years. '

CHAPTER XV

THE INFLUENCE OF THE FOREIGNER

Very quickly the fame of these French workers spread across the country, and they or their pupils were employed to design tombs, altar-pieces, orchapels outside of Coimbra. Perhaps the da Silvas, lords of Vagos, wereamong the very first to employ them, and in their chapel of São Marcos, some eight or nine miles from Coimbra, more than one example of theirhandiwork may still be seen. 

[Sidenote: Tomb in Nossa Senhora dos Olivaes, Thomar. ]

However, before visiting São Marcos mention must be made of two tombs, one in Nossa Senhora dos Olivaes at Thomar, and one in the Graça churchat Santarem. Both are exceedingly French in design, and both wereerected not long after the coming of the foreigners. 

The tomb in Thomar is the older. It is that of Diogo Pinheiro, the firstbishop of Funchal--which he never visited--who died in 1525. No doubtthe monument was put up soon after. It is placed rather high on thenorth wall of the chancel; at the very bottom is a moulding enrichedwith egg and tongue, separated by a plain frieze--crossed by a shieldwith the bishop's arms--from the plinth and from the pedestals of theside shafts and their supporting mouldings. On the plinth under a roundarched recess stands a sarcophagus with a tablet in front bearing thedate A. D. 1525, while behind in an elegant shell-topped niche is afigure kneeling on a beautiful corbel. The front of this arch is adornedwith cherubs' heads, the jambs with arabesques, and heads look out ofcircles in the spandrils. At the sides are Corinthian pilasters, and infront of them beautiful candelabrum shafts. The cornice with awell-carved frieze is simple, and in the pediment are again carved DomDiogo's arms, surmounted by his bishop's hat. 

At the ends are vase-shaped finials, and another supported by dragonsrises from the pediment. (Fig. 77. )

This monument is indeed one of the most pleasing pieces of renaissancework in existence, and one would be tempted to attribute it to João deCastilho were it not that it is more French than any of his work, andthat in 1525 he can hardly have come back to Thomar, where the Claustroda Micha, the first of the new additions, was only begun in 1528. Itwill be safer then to attribute it to one of the Coimbra Frenchmen. 

[Sidenote: Tomb in Graça, Santarem. ]

The same must be said of the tomb in the Graça church at Santarem. Itwas built in 1532 in honour of three men already long dead--PeroCarreiro, Gonzalo Gil Barbosa his son-in-law, and Francisco Barbosa hisgrandson. The design is like that of Bishop Pinheiro's monument, omitting all beneath the plinth, except that the back is plain, the archelliptical, and the pediment small and round. The coffer has a longinscription, [142] the jambs and arch are covered with arabesques, theside shafts are taller and even more elegant than at Thomar, and in theround pediment is a coat of arms, and on one side the head of a youngman wearing a helmet, and on the other the splendidly modelled head ofan old man; though much less pleasing as a whole, this head forexcellent realism is better than anything found on the bishop's tomb. 

If we cannot tell which Frenchman designed these tombs, we know the nameof one who worked for the da Silvas at São Marcos, and we can also seethere the work of some of their pupils and successors. 

[Sidenote: São Marcos. ]

São Marcos, which lies about two miles to the north of the road leadingfrom Coimbra through Tentugal to Figueira de Foz at the mouth of theMondego, is now unfortunately much ruined. Nothing remains complete butthe church, for the monastic buildings were all burned not so long agoby some peasantry to injure the landlord to whom they belonged, and withthem perished many a fine piece of carving. 

The da Silvas had long had here a manor-house with a chapel, and in 1452Dona Brites de Menezes, the wife of Ayres Gomes da Silva, the fourthlord of Vagos, founded a small Jeronymite monastery. Of her chapel, designed by

[Illustration: FIG. 77. 

THOMAR. STA. MARIA DOS OLIVAES. TOMB OF BP. OF FUNCHAL. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 78. 

SÃO MARCOS. TOMB IN CHANCEL. _From a photograph by E. Biel & Co. , Oporto. _]

Gil de Souza, little now remains, for the chancel was rebuilt in thenext century and the nave in the seventeenth. Only the tomb of DonaBrites' second son, Fernão Telles de Menezes, still survives, for thewest door, with a cusped arch, beautifully undercut foliage, and knottedshafts at the side, was added in 1570. 

The tomb of Fernão Telles, which was erected about the year 1471, isstill quite Gothic. In the wall there opens a large pointed and cuspedarch, within which at the top there hangs a small tent which, passingthrough a ring, turns into a great stone curtain upheld by hairy wildmen. Inside this curtain Dom Fernão lies in armour on a tomb whose frontis covered with beautifully carved foliage, and which has a cornice ofroses. On it are three coats of arms, Dom Fernão's, those of his wife, Maria de Vilhena, and between them his and hers quartered. 

Most of the tombs, five in all, are found in the chancel which wasrebuilt by Ayres da Silva, fifth lord of Vagos, the grandson of DonaBrites, in 1522 and 1523. These are, on the north side, first, at theeast end, Dona Brites herself, then her son João da Silva in the middle, and her grandson Ayres at the west, the tombs of Ayres and his fatherbeing practically identical. Opposite Dona Brites lies the second countof Aveiras, who died in 1672 and whose tomb is without interest, andopposite Ayres, his son João da Silva, sixth lord of Vagos, who died in1559. At the east end is a great reredos given by Ayres and containingfigures of himself and of his wife Dona Guiomar de Castro, while openingfrom the north side of the nave is a beautiful domed chapel built byDona Antonia de Vilhena as a tomb-house for her husband, Diogo da Silva, who died in 1556. In it also lies his elder brother Lourenço, seventhlord of Vagos. 

The chancel, which is of two bays, one wide, and one to the eastnarrower, has a low vault with many well-moulded ribs springing fromlarge corbels, some of which are Manoelino, while others have on themshields and figures of the renaissance. It still retains an originalwindow on each side, small, round-headed, with a band of beautifulrenaissance carving on the splay. 

Dona Brites lies on a plain tomb in front of which there is a longinscription. Above her rises a round arch set in a square frame. Largeflowers like Tudor roses are cut on the spandrils, the ogee hood-mouldis enriched with huge wonderfully undercut curly crockets, all Gothic, but the band between the two mouldings of the arch is carved withrenaissance arabesques. The tomb of Ayres himself and that of his fatherJoão are much more elaborate. Each, lying like Dona Brites on analtar-tomb, is clad in full armour. In front are semi-classic mouldingsat the top and bottom, and between them a tablet held by cherubs, thaton Dom João's bearing a long inscription, while Dom Ayres' has been leftblank. The arches over the recumbent figures are slightly elliptical, and like that of the foundress's tomb each is enriched by a band ofrenaissance carving, but with classic mouldings outside, instead of asimple round, and with a rich fringe of leafy cusps within. At the endsand between the tombs are square buttresses or pilasters ornamented oneach face with renaissance corbels and canopies. The background of eachrecess is covered with delicate flowing leaves in very slight relief, and has in the centre a niche, with rustic shafts and elaborate Gothicbase and canopy under which stands a figure of Our Lord holding an orbin His left hand and blessing with His right. The buttresses, on whichstand curious vase-shaped finials, are joined by a straight mouldedcornice, above which rises a rounded pediment floriated on the outerside. From the pediment there stands out a helmet whose mantlingentirely covers the flat surface, and below it hangs a shield, chargedwith the da Silva arms, a lion rampant. (Fig. 78. )

Here, as in the royal tombs at Coimbra, Manoelino and renaissance formshave been used together, but here the renaissance largely predominates, for even the cusping is not Gothic, although, as is but natural, thegeneral design still is after the older style. Though very elaborate, these tombs cannot be called quite satisfactory. The figure sculpture ispoor, and it is only the arabesques which show skill in execution. Probably then it was the work not of one of the well-known Frenchmen, but of one of their pupils. [143]

Raczynski[144] thought that here in São Marcos he had found some worksof Sansovino: a battlepiece in relief, a statue of St. Mark, and thereredos. The first two are gone, but if they were as unlike Italian workas is the reredos, one may be sure that they were not by him. Arecently found document[145] confirms what its appearance suggests, namely, that it is French. It was in fact the work of Mestre Nicolas, the Nicolas Chantranez who worked first at Belem and then on the Portalda Magestade at Santa Cruz, and who carved an altar-piece in the Penachapel at Cintra. Though much larger in general design, it is notaltogether unlike the altar-piece in the Sé Velha. It is divided intotwo stories. In the lower are four divisions, with a small tabernacle inthe middle, and in each division, which has either a curly brokenpediment, or a shell at its head, are sculptured scenes from the life ofSt. Jerome. 

The upper part contains only three divisions, one broad under an arch inthe centre, and one narrower and lower on each side. As in thecathedral, slim candelabrum shafts stand between each division and atthe ends, but the entablatures are less refined, and the sharp pedimentsat the two sides are unpleasing, as is the small round one and the vasesat the top. The large central arch is filled with a very spiritedcarving of the 'Deposition. ' In front of the three crosses which risebehind with the thieves still hanging to the two at the sides, is agroup of people--officials on horseback on the left, and weeping womenon the right. In the division to the left kneels Ayres himself presentedby St. Jerome, and in the other on the right Dona Guiomar de Castro, hiswife, presented by St. Luke. Throughout all the figure sculpture isexcellent, as good as anything at Coimbra, but compared with the reredosin the Sé Velha, the architecture is poor in the extreme: the centraldivision is too large, and the different levels of the cornice, renderednecessary of course by the shape of the vault, is most unpleasing. Noone, however, can now judge of the true effect, as it has all beencarefully and hideously painted with the brightest of colours. (Fig. 79. )

Being architecturally so inferior to the Sé Velha reredos, it isscarcely possible that they should be by the same hand, and therefore itseems likely that both the work in St. Peter's chapel and the pulpit inSanta Cruz may have been executed by the same man, namely by João deRuão. [146]

[Sidenote: Pena Chapel, Cintra. ]

Leaving São Marcos for a minute to finish with the works of NicolasChantranez, we turn to the small chapel of Nossa Senhora da Pena, founded by Dom Manoel in 1503 as a cell of the Jeronymite monastery atBelem. Here in 1532 his son João III. Dedicated a reredos of alabasterand black marble as a thankoffering for the birth of a son. [147]

Like Nicolas' work at São Marcos the altar piece is full of exquisitecarving, more beautiful than in his older work. In the large centralniche, with its fringe of cusps, is the 'Entombment, ' where Our Lord isbeing laid by angels in a beautiful sarcophagus. Above this niche sitthe Virgin and Child, on the left are the Annunciation above and theBirth at Bethlehem below, and on the right the Visit of the Magi and theFlight into Egypt. Nothing can exceed the delicacy of these alabastercarvings or of the beautiful little reliefs that form the pradella. Manyof the little columns too are beautifully wrought, with good capitalsand exquisitely worked drums, and yet, though the separate details maybe and are fine, the whole is even more unsatisfactory than is hisaltar-piece at São Marcos, and one has to look closely and carefully tosee its beauties. As the one at São Marcos is spoiled by paint, this oneis spoiled by the use of different-coloured marble; besides, thedifferent parts are even worse put together. There is no reposeanywhere, for the little columns are all different, and the bad effectis increased by the way the different entablatures are broken out overthe many projections. 

[Sidenote: São Marcos. ]

Interesting and even beautiful as are the tombs on the north side of thechancel of São Marcos, the chapel dos Reis Magos is even more importanthistorically. This chapel, as stated above, was built by Dona Antonia deVilhena in 1556 as a monument to her husband. Dona Antonia was in hertime noted for her devotion to her husband's memory, and for herpatriotism in that she sent her six sons to fight in Morocco, fromwhence three never returned. Her brother-in-law, Lourenço da Silva, also, who lies on the east side of the same chapel, fell in Africa inthe fatal battle of Alcacer-Quebir in 1578, where Portugal lost her kingand soon after her independence. 

The chapel is entered from the nave by a large arch enriched in frontwith beautiful cherubs' heads and wreaths of flowers, and on the underside with coffered panels. This arch springs from a beautifully modelledentablature borne on either side by a Corinthian pilaster, panelled andcarved, and by a column fluted above, and wreathed with hanging fruitsand flowers below, while similar arches form recesses on the threeremaining sides of the chapel, one--to the north--containing the altar, and the other two the tombs of Diogo and of Lourenço da Silva. 

On the nave side, outside the columns, there stands on eitherside--placed like the columns on a high pedestal--a pilaster, panelledand carved with exquisite arabesques. These pilasters have no capitals, but instead well-moulded corbels, carved with griffin heads, uphold theentablature, and, by a happy innovation, on the projection thus formedare pedestals bearing short Corinthian columns. These support the mainentablature whose cornice and frieze are enriched, the one with egg andtongue and with dentils, and the other with strapwork and with leaves. In the spandrils above the arch are medallions surrounding the heads ofSt. Peter and of St. Paul, St. Peter being especially expressive. 

Inside, the background of each tomb recess is covered with strapwork, surrounding in one case an open and in another a blank window, butunfortunately the reredos representing the Visit of the Magi is gone, and its place taken by a very poor picture of Our Lady of Lourdes. 

The pendentives with their cherub heads are carried by corbels in thecorners, and the dome is divided by bold ribs, themselves enriched withcarving, into panels filled with strapwork. (Fig. 80. )

This chapel then is of great interest, not only because of the realbeauty of its details but also because it was the first built of a typewhich was repeated more than once elsewhere, as, for instance, atMarceana near Alemquer, on the Tagus, and in the church of Nossa Senhorados Anjos at Montemor-o-Velho, not far from São Marcos. Of the chapelsat Montemor one at least was built by the same family, and in anotherwhere the reredos--a very fine piece of carving--represents a Pietà, small angels are seen to weep as they look from openings high up at thesides. 

Perhaps the most successful feature of the design is the happy way inwhich corbels take the place of capitals on the lower pilasters of thefront. By this expedient it was possible to keep the upper column shortwithout having to compare its proportions with those of the pilasterbelow, and also by projecting these columns to give the upper part animportance and an emphasis it would not otherwise have had. 

There is no record of who designed this or the similar chapels, but by1556 enough time had passed since the coming of the French for nativepupils to have learned much from them. There is in the design somethingwhich seems to show that it is not from the hand of a Frenchman, butfrom that of some one who had learned much from Master Nicolas or fromJoão de Ruão, but who had also learned something from elsewhere. Whilethe smaller details remain partly French, the dome with its bold ribssuggests Italy, and it is known that Dom Manoel, and after him Dom João, sent young men to Italy for study. In any case the result is somethingneither Italian nor French. 

Even more Italian is the tomb of Dona Antonia's father-in-law, João daSilva, sixth lord of Vagos, erected in 1559 and probably by the samesculptor. João da Silva lies in armour under a round arch carved withflowers and cherubs. In front of his tomb is a long inscription on atablet held by beautifully modelled boys. On each side of the arch is aCorinthian pilaster, panelled and carved below and having at the top ashallow niche in which stand saints. On the entablature, enriched withmedallions and strapwork, is a frame supported by boys and containingthe da Silva arms. But the most interesting and beautiful part of themonument is the back, above the effigy. Here, in the upper part, is ashallow recess flanked by corbel-carried pilasters, and containing arelief of the Assumption of the Virgin. Now, the execution of the Virginand of the small angels who bear her up may not be of the best, but thecharacter of the whole design is quite Italian, and could only have beencarved by some one who knew Italian work. On either side of this recessare round-headed niches containing saints, while boys sit in thespandrils above the arch. 

Any one seeing this tomb will be at once struck with the Italiancharacter of the design, especially perhaps with the boys who hold thetablet and with those who sit in the spandrils. [148]

[Illustration: FIG. 79. 

SÃO MARCOS. CHANCEL. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 80. 

SÃO MARCOS. CHAPEL OF THE "REYES MAGOS. " _From a photograph by E. Biel &Co. , Oporto. _]

Even without leaving their country, Portuguese designers would alreadyhave had no great difficulty in finding pieces of real Italian work. Notto speak of the white marble door in the old palace of Cintra, possiblythe work of Sansovino himself, with its simple mouldings and thebeautiful detail of its architrave, there exist at Evora two doorwaysoriginally belonging to the church of São Domingos, which must either bethe work of Italians or of some man who knew Italy. (Fig. 81. )

[Sidenote: Evora, São Domingos. ]

Built of white marble from Estremoz and dating from about 1530, thepanelled jambs have moulded caps on which rests the arch. Like thejambs, the arch has a splay which is divided into small panels. Above inthe spandrils are ribboned circles enclosing well-carved heads. Oneither side are pilasters with Corinthian capitals of the earlierItalian kind. The entablature is moulded only, and instead of a pedimenttwo curves lead up to a horizontal moulding supporting a shell, andabove it a cherub's head. 

Such real Italian doors, which would look quite at home in Genoa, seemalmost unique, but there are many examples of work which, like the tomband the chapel at São Marcos, seem to have been influenced not only bythe French school at Coimbra, but also by Italian work. 

[Sidenote: Portalegre. ]

[Sidenote: Tavira. ]

[Sidenote: Lagos. ]

Not very far from Evora in Portalegre, where a bishop's see was foundedby Dom João III. In 1549, there is a very fine monument of this kind toa bishop of the Mello family in the seminary, and also a doorway, whileat Tavira in the Algarve the Misericordia has an interesting door, notunlike that at Evora, but more richly ornamented by having a sculpturedfrieze and a band of bold acanthus leaves joining the two capitals abovethe arch. There is another somewhat similar, but less successful, in thechurch of São Sebastião at Lagos. 

[Sidenote: Goes. ]

[Sidenote: Trofa. ]

Nearer Coimbra there are some fine monuments to the Silveira family atGoes not far from Louzã, and four less interesting to the Lemos in thelittle parish church of Trofa near Agueda. At Trofa there is a pair oftombs on each side of the chancel, round-arched, with pilasters and withheads in the spandrils, and covered with arabesques. Each pair ispractically alike except that the tombs on the north side, being placedcloser together leave no room for a central pilaster and have smallshafts instead of panelled jambs, and that the pair on the south havepediments. The best feature is a figure of the founder of the chancelkneeling at prayer with his face turned towards the high altar. 

[Sidenote: Caminha. ]

Even in the far north the doors of the church at Caminha show howimportant had been the coming of the Frenchmen to Coimbra. They seemlater than the church, but though very picturesque are clearly the workof some one who was not yet quite familiar with renaissance forms. Thesouth door is the more interesting and picturesque. The arch and jambsare splayed, but there are no capitals; heads look out of circles in thespandrils; and the splay as well as the panels of the side pilasters areenriched with carvings which, partly perhaps owing to the granite inwhich they are cut, are much less delicate than elsewhere. TheCorinthian capitals of the pilasters are distinctly clumsy, as are themouldings, but the most interesting part of the whole design is thefrieze, which is so immensely extended as to leave room for four largeniches separated by rather clumsy shafts and containing figures of St. Mark and St. Luke in the middle and of St. Peter and St. Paul at theends. Above in the pediment are a Virgin and Child with kneeling angels. Besides the innovation of the enlarged frieze, which reminds one of adoor in the Certosa near Pavia, the clumsiness of the mouldings and thecomparative poorness of the sculpture, though the figures are muchbetter than any previously worked by native artists, suggest that thedesigner and workmen were Portuguese. 

The same applies to the west door, which is wider and where the capitalsare of a much better shape, though the pilasters are rather too tall. The sculpture frieze is a little wider than usual, and instead of apediment there is a picturesque cresting, above which are cut fourextraordinary monsters. (Fig. 82. )

[Sidenote: Moncorvo. ]

A somewhat similar but much plainer door has been built against theolder and round-arched entrance of the Misericordia at Moncorvo in Trazos Montes. The parish church of the same place begun in 1544 is bothoutside and in a curious mixture of Gothic and Classic. The three aislesare of the same height with round-arched Gothic vaults, but the columnsare large and round with bases and capitals evidently copied from Romandoric, though the abacis have been made circular. 

Outside the buttresses are still Gothic in form, but the west door is ofthe fully developed renaissance. The opening is

[Illustration: FIG. 81. 

PALACE, CINTRA. 

DOOR BY SANSOVINO. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 82. 

W. DOOR, CAMINHA. ]

flanked by coupled columns which support an entablature on which restfour other shorter columns separating three white marble niches. Abovethis is a window flanked by single columns which carry a pediment. Though built of granite, the detail is good and the whole doorway notunpleasing. [149]

But, that it was not only such details as doors and monuments that beganto show the result of the coming of the Frenchmen is seen in the work ofJoão de Castilho, after he first left Thomar for Belem. There he hadfound Master Nicolas Chantranez already at work, and there he learned, perhaps from him, so to change his style that by the time he returned toThomar to work for Dom João III. In 1528 he was able to design buildingspractically free from that Gothic spirit which is still found in hislatest work at Belem. 

CHAPTER XVI

LATER WORK OF JOÃO DE CASTILHO AND THE EARLIER CLASSIC

To Dom Manoel, who died in 1521, had succeeded his son Dom João III. Thefather had been renowned for his munificence and his splendour, the soncared more for the Church and for the suppression of heresy. By him theInquisition was introduced in 1536 to the gradual crushing of allindependent thought, and so by degrees to the degradation of hiscountry. He reigned for thirty-six years, a time of wealth and luxury, but before he died the nation had begun to suffer from this very luxury;with all freedom of thought forbidden, with the most brave andadventurous of her sons sailing east to the Indies or west to Brazil, most of them never to return, Portugal was ready to fall an easy prey toPhilip of Spain when in 1580 there died the old Cardinal King Henry, last surviving son of Dom Manoel, once called the Fortunate King. 

With the death of Dom Manoel, or at least with the finishing of thegreat work which he had begun, the most brilliant and interesting periodin the history of Portuguese architecture comes to an end. When theyounger Fernandes died seven years after his master in 1538, or whenJoão de Castilho saw the last vault built at Belem, Gothic, even asrepresented by Manoelino, disappeared for ever, and renaissancearchitecture, taught by the French school at Coimbra, or learned inItaly by those sent there by Dom Manoel, became universal, to flourishfor a time, and then to fall even lower than in any other country. 

Except the Frenchmen at Coimbra no one played a greater part in thischange than João de Castilho, who, no doubt, first learned about therenaissance from Master Nicolas at Belem; Thomar also, his own home, lies about half-way between Lisbon and Coimbra, so that he may wellhave visited his brother Diogo at Santa Cruz and seen what otherFrenchmen were doing there and so become acquainted with betterarchitects than Master Nicolas; but in any case, who ever it may havebeen who taught him, he planned at Thomar, after his return there, thefirst buildings which are wholly in the style of the renaissance and arenot merely decorated with renaissance details. 

[Sidenote: Alcobaça. ]

But before following him back to Thomar, his additions to the abbey ofAlcobaça must be mentioned, as there for the last time, except in someparts of Belem, he allowed himself to follow the older methods, thougheven at this early date--1518 and 1519--renaissance forms are beginningto creep in. 

On the southern side of the ambulatory one of the radiating chapels waspulled down in 1519 to form a passage, irregular in shape and roofedwith a vault of many ribs. From this two doors lead, one on the north tothe sacristy, and one on the south to a chapel. Unfortunately bothsacristy and chapel have been rebuilt and now contain nothing ofinterest, except, in the sacristy, some fine presses inlaid with ivory, now fast falling to pieces. The two doors are alike, and show that Joãode Castilho was as able as any of his contemporaries to design a pieceof extreme realism. On the jambs is carved renaissance ornament, butnowhere else is there anything to show that João and Nicolas had met atBelem some two years before. The head of the arch is wavy and formedmostly of convex curves. Beyond the strip of carving there grows up oneither side a round tree, with roots and bark all shown; at the topthere are some leaves for capitals, and then each tree grows up to meetin the centre and so form a great ogee, from which grow out many cut-offbranches, all sprouting into great curly leaves. 

This is realism carried to excess, and yet the leaves are so finelycarved, the whole design so compact, and the surrounding whitewashedwall with its dado of tiles so plain, that the effect is quite good. (Fig. 83. )

The year before he had begun for Cardinal Henry, afterwards king, andthen commendator of the abbey, a second story to the great cloister ofDom Diniz. Reached by a picturesque stair on the south side, thethree-centred arches each enclose two or three smaller round arches, with the spandrils merely pierced or sometimes cusped. The mouldingsare simple but not at all classic. The shafts which support these roundarches are all carried down across the parapet through the rope mouldingat the top to the floor level, and are of three or more patterns. Thoseat the jambs are plain with hollow chamfered edges, as are also a few ofthe others. They are, however, mostly either twisted, having four roundmouldings separated by four hollows, or else shaped like a rather fatbaluster; most of the capitals with curious volutes at the corner areevidently borrowed from Corinthian capitals, but are quite unorthodox intheir arrangement. 

Though this upper cloister adds much to the picturesqueness of the wholeit is not very pleasing in itself, as the three-centred arches are oftentoo wide and flat, and yet it is of great interest as showing how Joãode Castilho was in 1518 beginning to accept renaissance forms thoughstill making them assume a Manoelino dress. 

[Sidenote: Batalha, Santa Cruz. ]

But in the door of the little parish church of Sta. Cruz at Batalha, also built by João de Castilho, Manoelino and renaissance details areused side by side with the happiest result. On each jamb are three roundshafts and two bands of renaissance carving; of these the inner band iscarried round the broken and curved head of the opening, while the outerruns high up to form a square framing. Of the three shafts the inner iscarried round the head, the outer round the outside of the framing, while the one in the centre divides into two, one part running round thehead, while the other forms the inner edge of the framing, and alsoforms a great trefoil on the flat field above the opening. In the twocorners between the trefoils and the framing are circles enclosingshields, one charged with the Cross of the Order of Christ, the otherwith the armillary sphere. 

The inner side of the trefoil is cusped, crockets and finials enrich theouter moulding of the opening, while beyond the jambs are niches, nowempty. (Fig. 84. )

It is not too much to say that, except the great entrance to theCapellas Imperfeitas, this is the most beautiful of all Manoelinodoorways; in no other is the detail so refined nor has any other sosatisfactory a framing. Unfortunately the construction has not beengood, so that the upper part is now all full of cracks and gapingjoints. 

[Sidenote: Thomar. ]

Since Dom João III. Was more devoted to the Church than

[Illustration: FIG. 83. 

ALCOBAÇA. 

SACRISTY DOOR. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 84. 

W. DOOR, STA. CRUZ. 

BATALHA. ]

to anything else he determined in 1524 to change the great Order ofChrist from a body of military knights bound, as had been the Templars, by certain vows, into a monastic order of regulars. This necessitatedgreat additions to the buildings at Thomar, for the knights had not beencompelled to live in common like monks. 

Accordingly João de Castilho was summoned back from Belem and by 1528had got to work. 

All these additions were made to the west of the existing buildings, andto make room for them Dom João had to buy several houses and gardens, which together formed a suburb called São Martinho, and some of whichwere the property of João de Castilho, who received for them 463$000 orabout £100. [150]

[Illustration: PLAN OF THOMAR]

These great additions, which took quite twenty-five years to build, cover an immense area, measuring more than 300 feet long by 300 wide andcontaining five cloisters. Immediately to the west of the Coro of thechurch, then probably scarcely finished, is the small cloister of Sta. Barbara; to the north of this is the larger Claustro da Hospedaria, begun about 1539, while to the south and hiding the lower part of theCoro is the splendid two-storied Claustro, miscalled 'dos Filippes, 'begun in its present form in 1557 by Diogo de Torralva some time afterde Castilho's death. 

Further west are two other large cloisters, do Mixo or da Micha to thenorth and dos Corvos to the south, and west of the Corvos a sort offarmyard called the Pateo dos Carrascos--that is of the evergreen oaks, or since Carrasco also means a hangman, it may be that the executionersof the Inquisition had their quarters there. 

Between these cloisters, and dividing the three on the east from the twoon the west, is an immense corridor nearly three hundred feet long fromwhich small cells open on each side; in the centre it is crossed byanother similar corridor stretching over one hundred and fifty feet tothe west, separating the two western cloisters, and with a small chapelto the east. 

North of all the cloisters are more corridors and rooms extendingeastwards almost to the Templars' castle, but there the outer face datesmostly from the seventeenth century or later. 

The first part to be begun was the Claustro da Micha, or loaf, so calledfrom the bread distributed there to the poor. Outside it was begun in1528, but inside an inscription over the door says it was begun in 1534and finished in 1546. Being the kitchen cloister it is very plain, withsimple round-headed arches. Only the entrance door is adorned with aCorinthian column on either side; its straight head rests on well-carvedcorbels, and above it is a large inscribed tablet upheld by small boys. 

Under the pavement of the cloister as well as under the Claustro dosCorvos is a great cistern. On the south was the kitchen and the oilcellar, on the east the dispensary, and on the west a great oven andwood-store with three large halls above, which seem to have been used bythe Inquisition. [151] The lodgings of the Dom Prior were above thecloister to the north. 

Like the Claustro da Micha, the Claustro dos Corvos has plain roundarches resting on round columns and set usually in pairs with a buttressbetween each pair. On the south side, below, were the cellars, finishedin 1539, and above the library, on the west, various vaulted stores witha passage above leading to the library from the dormitory. 

The whole of the east side is occupied by the refectory, about 100 feetlong by 30 wide. On each of the long sides there is a pulpit, onebearing the date 1536, enriched with arabesques, angels, and smallcolumns. At the south end are two windows, and at the north a hatchcommunicating with the kitchen. 

The Claustro da Hospedaria, as its name denotes, was where strangerswere lodged; like the Claustro dos Corvos each pair of arches is dividedby a buttress, and the round columns have simple but effective capitals, in which nothing of the regular Corinthian is left but the abacus, and alarge plain leaf at each corner. Still, though plain, this cloister isvery picturesque. Its floor, like those of all the cloisters, lies deepbelow the level of the church, and looking eastward from one of the cellwindows the Coro and the round church are seen towering high above thebrown tile roofs of the rooms beyond the cloister and of the simpleupper cloister, which runs across the eastern walk. (Fig. 85. )

This part of the building, begun about 1539, must have been carried onduring João de Castilho's absence, as in 1541 he was sent to Mazagão onthe Moroccan coast to build fortifications; there he made a bastion 'sostrong as to be able not only to resist the Shariff, but also the Turk, so strong was it. '[152]

The small cloister of Santa Barbara is the most pleasing of all thosewhich João de Castilho was able to finish. In order not to hide the westfront of the church its arches had to be kept very low. They arethree-centred and almost flat, while the vault is even flatter, the baysbeing divided by a stone beam resting on beautifully carved brackets. The upper cloister is not carried across the east side next the church;but in its south-west corner an opening with a good entablature, restingon two columns with fine Corinthian capitals, leads to one of thosetwisting stairs without a newel of which builders of this time were sofond. Going up this stair one reaches the cloister of the Filippes whichJoão did not live to carry out. 

More interesting than any of these cloisters are the long dormitorypassages. The walls for about one-third of the height are lined withtiles, which with the red paving tiles were bought for about £33 fromone Aleixo Antunes. The roofs are throughout of dark panelled wood andsemicircular in shape. The only windows--except at the crossing--are atthe ends of the three long arms. There is a small round-headed windowabove, and below one, flat-headed, with a column in the centre and oneat each side, the window on the north end having on it the date 1541, eight years after the chapel in the centre had been built. 

On this chapel at the crossing has been expended far more ornament thanon any other part of the passages. Leading to each arm of the passage anarch, curiously enriched with narrow bands which twice cross each otherleaving diamond-shaped hollows, rests on Corinthian pilasters, whichhave only four flutes, but are adorned with niches, whose elegantcanopies mark the level of the springing of the chapel vault. Thisvault, considerably lower than the passage arches, is semicircular andcoffered. Between it and the cornice which runs all round the squareabove the passage arches is a large oblong panel, in the middle of whichis a small round window. Beautifully carved figures which, instead ofhaving legs, end in great acanthus-leaf volutes with dragons in thecentre, hold a beautifully carved wreath round this window. In themiddle of the architrave below, a tablet, held by exquisite littlewinged boys, gives the date, 'Era de 1533. ' Above the cornice thererises a simple vault with a narrow round-headed window on each side. 

This carving over the chapel is one of the finest examples ofrenaissance work left in the country. It is much bolder than any of theFrench work left at Coimbra, being in much higher relief than was usualin the early French renaissance, and yet the figures and leaves arecarved with the utmost delicacy and refinement. (Fig. 86. )

The same delicacy characterises such small parts of the cloister dosFilippes as were built by João de Castilho before he retired in 1551. These are now confined to two stairs leading from the upper to the lowercloister. These stairs

[Illustration: FIG. 85. 

THOMAR. 

CONVENT OF CHRIST. 

CLAUSTRO DA HOSPEDARIA. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 86. 

THOMAR. 

CHAPEL IN DORMITORY PASSAGE. ]

are adorned with pilasters or thin columns against the walls, delicatecornices, medallions, figures, and foliage; in one are square-headedbuilt-up doors or doorlike spaces, with well-moulded architraves, andalways in the centre above the opening small figures are carved, in onean exquisite little Cupid holding a torch. At the bottom of the easternstair, which is decorated with scenes from the life of St. Jerome andwith the head of Frei Antonio of Lisbon, first prior of the reformedorder, a door led into the lower floor of the unfinished chapter-house. On this same stair there is a date 1545, so the work was probably goingon till the very end of João's tenure of office, and fine as the presentcloister is, it is a pity that he was not able himself to finish it, forit is the chief cloister in the whole building, and on it he would nodoubt have employed all the resources of his art. (Fig. 87. )

It is not without interest to learn that, like architects of the presentday, João de Castilho often found very great difficulties in carryingout his work. Till well within the last hundred years Portugal was analmost roadless country, and four centuries ago, as now, most of theheavy carting was done by oxen, which are able to drag clumsy cartsheavily laden up and down the most impassable lanes. Several times doeshe write to the king of the difficulty of getting oxen. On 4th March1548 he says:

'I have written some days ago to Pero Carvalho to tell him of the wantof carts, since those which we had were away carrying stone for theworks at Cardiga and at Almeirim'--a palace now destroyed oppositeSantarem--'the works of Thomar remaining without stone these threemonths. And for want of a hundred cart-loads of stone which I had workedat the quarry--doors and windows--I have not finished the students'studies'--probably in the noviciate near the Claustro da Micha. 'Thestudies are raised to more than half their height and in eight days'work I shall finish them if only I had oxen, for those I had have died. 

'I would ask 20$000 [about £4, 10s. ] to buy five oxen, and with threewhich I have I could manage the carriage of a thousand cart-loads ofworked stone, besides that of which I speak of to your Highness, andsince there are no carts the men can bring nothing, even were they given60 reis [about 3d. ] a cartload there is no one to do carting.... 

' ... And if your Highness will give me these oxen I shall finish thework very quickly, that when your Highness comes here you may findsomething to see and have contentment of it. '

Later he again complains of transport difficulties, for the few cartsthere were in the town were all being used by the Dom Prior; and in theyear when he retired, 1551, he writes in despair asking the king for 'avery strong edict [Alvará] that no one of any condition whatever mightbe excused, because in this place those who have something of their ownare excused by favour, and the poor men do service, which to them seemsa great aggravation and oppression. May your Highness believe that Iwrite this as a desperate man, since I cannot serve as I desire, and maythis provision be sent to the magistrate and judge that they may have itexecuted by their officer, since the mayor [Alcaide] here is always awayand never in his place. '[153]

These letters make it possible to understand how buildings in those daystook such a long time to finish, and how João de Castilho--though it wasat least begun in 1545--was able to do so little to the Claustro dosFilippes in the following six years. 

The last letter also seems to show that some at least of the labour wasforced. 

Leaving the Claustro dos Filippes for the present, we must return toBatalha for a little, and then mention some buildings in which the earlyrenaissance details recall some of the work at Thomar. 

[Sidenote: Batalha. ]

The younger Fernandes had died in 1528, leaving the Capellas Imperfeitasvery much in the state in which they still remain. Though so much moreinterested in his monastery at Thomar, Dom João ordered João de Castilhoto go on with the chapels, and in 1533 the loggia over the greatentrance door had been finished. Beautiful though it is it did notplease the king, and is not in harmony with the older work, and sonothing more was done. 

In place of the large Manoelino window, which was begun on all the otherseven sides, João de Castilho here built two renaissance arches, each oftwo orders, of which the broader springs from the square pilasters andthe narrower from candelabrum shafts. In front there run up to thecornice three beautiful shafts standing on high pedestals which rest

[Illustration: FIG. 87. 

THOMAR. 

CONVENTO DE CHRISTO. 

STAIR IN CLAUSTRO DOS FILIPPES. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 88. 

THOMAR. 

CHAPEL OF THE CONCEIÇÃO. ]

on corbels; the frieze of the cornice is carved much after the manner ofthe window panel in the dormitory corridor at Thomar, and with longmasks where it projects over the shafts. 

Below, the carved cornice and architrave are carried across the openingas they are round the whole octagon, but the frieze is open and filledwith balusters. Behind, the whole space is spanned by a three-centredarch, panelled like the passage arches at Thomar. 

All the work is most exquisite, but it is not easy to see how thehorizontal cornice was to be brought into harmony with the higherwindows intended on the other seven sides, nor does the renaissancedetail, beautiful though it is, agree very well with the exuberantManoelino of the rest. 

With the beginning of the Claustro dos Filippes the work of João deCastilho comes to an end. He had been actively employed for about fortyyears, beginning and ending at Thomar, finishing Belem, and adding toAlcobaça, besides improving the now vanished royal palace and evenfortifying Mazagão on the Moroccan coast, where perhaps his work maystill survive. In these forty years his style went through more than onecomplete change. Beginning with late Gothic he was soon influenced bythe surrounding Manoelino; at Belem he first met renaissance artists, atAlcobaça he either used Manoelino and renaissance side by side or elsetreated renaissance in a way of his own, though shortly after, at Belemagain, he came to use renaissance details more and more fully. A littlelater at Thomar, having a free hand--for at Belem he had had to followout the lines laid down by Boutaca--he discarded Manoelino and Gothicalike in favour of renaissance. 

In this final adoption of the renaissance he was soon followed by manyothers, even before he laid down his charge at Thomar in 1551. 

In most of these buildings, however, it is not so much his work atThomar which is followed--except in the case of cloisters--but ratherthe chapel of the Conceição, also at Thomar. Like it they are free fromthe more exuberant details so common in France and in Spain, and yetthey cannot be called Italian. 

[Sidenote: Thomar, Conceição. ]

There is unfortunately no proof that the Conceição chapel is João'swork; indeed the date inscribed inside is 1572, twenty-one years afterhis retirement, and nineteen after his death. Still this date isprobably a mistake, and some of the detail is so like what is found inthe great convent on the hill above that probably it was really designedby him. 

This small chapel stands on a projecting spur of the hill half-way downbetween the convent and the town. 

Inside the whole building is about sixty feet long by thirty wide, andconsists of a nave with aisles about thirty feet long, a transept thewidth of the central aisle but barely projecting beyond the walls, asquare choir with a chapel on each side, followed by an apse; east ofthe north choir chapel is a small sacristy, and east of the south anewel-less stair--like that in the Claustro de Sta. Barbara--leading upto the roof and down to some vestries under the choir. Owing to thesacristy and stair the eastern part of the chancel, which is rathernarrower than the nave, is square, showing outside no signs of the apse. 

The outside is very plain: Ionic pilasters at the angles support asimple cornice which runs round the whole building; the west end andtransepts have pediments with small semicircular windows. The tile roofsare surmounted by a low square tower crowned by a flat plastered dome atthe crossing and by the domed stair turret at the south-east corner. Thewest door is plain with a simple architrave. The square-headed windowshave a deep splay--the wall being very thick--their architraves as wellas their cornices and pediments rest on small brackets set not at rightangles with the wall, but crooked so as to give an appearance of falseperspective. 

The inside is very much more pleasing, indeed it is one of the mostbeautiful interiors to be found anywhere. (Fig. 88. )

On each side of the central aisle there are three Corinthian columns, with very correct proportions, and exquisite capitals, beautifullycarved if not quite orthodox. Corresponding pilasters stand against thewalls, as well as at the entrance to the choir, and at the beginning ofthe apse. These and the columns support a beautifully modelledentablature, enriched only with a dentil course. Central aisle, transepts and choir are all roofed with a larger and the side aisleswith a smaller barrel vault, divided into bays by shallow arches. Inchoir and transepts the vault is coffered, but in the nave each bay isornamented with three sets of four square panels, set in the shape of across, each panel having in it another panel set diagonally to form adiamond. At the crossing, which is crowned by a square coffered dome, the spandrils are filled with curious winged heads, while the semi-domeof the apse is covered with narrow ribs. The windows are exactly likethose outside, but the west door has over it a very refined though plainpediment. 

So far, beyond the great refinement of the details, there has beennothing very characteristic of João de Castilho, but when we find thatthe pilasters of the choir and apse, as well as the choir and transeptarches, are panelled in that very curious way--with strips crossing eachother at long intervals to form diamonds--which João employed in thepassage arches in the Thomar dormitory and in the loggia at Batalha, itwould be natural enough to conclude that this chapel is his work, andindeed the best example of what he could do with classic details. 

Now under the west window of the north aisle there is a small tabletwith the following inscription in Portuguese[154]:--'This chapel waserected in A. D. 1572, but profaned in 1810 was restored in 1848 by L. L. D'Abreu, ' etc. 

Of course in 1572 João de Castilho had been long dead, but theinscription was put up in 1848, and it is quite likely that by then L. L. D'Abreu and his friends had forgotten or did not know that even aslate as the sixteenth century dates were sometimes still reckoned by theera of Cæsar, so finding it recorded that the chapel had been built inthe year 1572 they took for granted that it was A. D. 1572, whereas itmay just as well have been E. C. 1572, that is A. D. 1534, just the verytime when João de Castilho was building the dormitory in the convent andusing there the same curious panelling. Besides in 1572 this form ofrenaissance had long been given up and been replaced by a heavier andmore classic style brought from Italy. It seems therefore notunreasonable to claim this as João de Castilho's work, and to see in itone of the earliest as well as the most complete example of this form ofrenaissance architecture, a form which prevailed side by side with thework of the Frenchmen and their pupils for about fifteen years. 

Now in some respects this chapel recalls some of the earlier renaissancebuildings in Italy, and yet no part of it is quite Italian, nor can itbe called Spanish. The barrel vault here and in the dormitory chapel inthe convent are Italian features, but they have not been treated exactlyas was done there, or as was to be done in Portugal some fifty yearslater, so that it seems more likely that João de Castilho got hisknowledge of Italian work at second-hand, perhaps from one of the mensent there by Dom Manoel, and not by having been there himself. 

No other building in this style can be surely ascribed to him, and noother is quite so pleasing, yet there are several in which refinedclassic detail of a similar nature is used, and one of the best of theseis the small church of the Milagre at Santarem. As for the cloisterswhich are mentioned later, they have much in common with João deCastilho's work at Thomar, as, for instance, in the Claustros da Micha, or the Claustro da Hospedaria; in the latter especially the upper storysuggests the arrangement which became so common. 

This placing of a second story with horizontal architrave on the top ofan arched cloister is very common in Spain, and might have beensuggested by such as are found at Lupiana or at Alcalá de Henares, [155]but these are not divided into bays by buttresses, so it is more likelythat they were borrowed from such a cloister as that of Sta. Cruz atCoimbra, where the buttresses run up to the roof of the upper story andwhere the arches of that story are almost flat. 

[Sidenote: Santarem, Milagre. ]

The Milagre or Miracle church at Santarem is so called because it standsnear where the body of St. Irene, martyred by the Romans at Nabantia, now Thomar, after floating down the Nabão, the Zezere, and the Tagus, came to shore and so gave her name to Santarem. 

The church is small, being about sixty-five feet long by forty wide. Ithas three aisles, wooden panelled roofs, an arcade resting on Doriccolumns, and at the east a sort of transept followed by an apse. Thepiers to the west side of this transept are made up of four pilasters, all of different heights. The highest, the one on the west side, has aCorinthian capital and is enriched in front by a statue under a canopystanding on a corbel upheld by a slender baluster shaft. The second inheight is plain, and supports the arch which crosses the central aisle. The arches opening from the aisles into the transept chapel are lowerstill, and rest, not on capitals, but on corbels. Like the nave arch, ontheir spandrels heads are carved looking out of circles. Lowest ofall--owing to the barrel vault which covers the central aisle at thecrossing--are the arches leading north and south to the chapels. Theytoo spring from corbels and are quite plain. 

[Sidenote: Santarem, Marvilla. ]

Up in the town on the top of the hill the nave of the church of theMarvilla--whose Manoelino door and chancel have already beenmentioned--is of about the same date. This nave is about one hundredfeet long by fifty-five wide, has three aisles with wooden ceilings; thearcades of round arches with simple moulded architrave rest on thebeautiful Ionic capitals of columns over twenty-six feet high. Thesecapitals, of Corinthian rather than of Ionic proportions, with simplefluting instead of acanthus leaves, have curious double volutes at eachangle, and small winged heads in the middle of each side of the abacus. 

Altogether the arcades are most stately, and the beauty of the church isfurther enhanced by the exceptionally fine tiles with which the walls aswell as the spandrels above the arches are lined. Up to about the heightof fifteen feet, above a stone bench, the tiles, blue, yellow, andorange, are arranged in panels, two different patterns being usedalternatively, with beautiful borders, while in each spandrel towardsthe central aisle an Emblem of the Virgin, Tower of Ivory, Star of theSea, and so on, is surrounded by blue and yellow intertwining leaves. Above these, as above the panels on the walls, the whole is covered withdark and light tiles arranged in checks, and added as stated by a dateover the chancel arch in 1617. The lower tiles are probably of much thesame date or a little earlier. 

Against one of the nave columns there stands a very elegant littlepulpit. It rests on the Corinthian capital of a very bulbous baluster, is square, and has on each side four beautiful little Corinthiancolumns, fluted and surrounded with large acanthus leaves at the bottom. Almost exactly like it, but round and with balusters instead ofcolumns, is the pulpit in the church of Nossa Senhora dos Olivaes atThomar. (Fig. 89. )

[Sidenote: Elvas, São Domingos. ]

The most original in plan as well as in decoration of all the buildingsof this time is the church of the nunnery of São Domingos at Elvas, likenearly all nunneries in the kingdom now fast falling to pieces. In planit is an octagon about forty-two feet across with three apses to theeast and a smaller octagonal dome in the middle standing on eight whitemarble columns with Doric capitals. The columns, the architrave belowthe dome, the arches of the apses and their vaults, are all of whitemarble covered with exquisite carved ornament partly gilt, while all thewalls and the other vaults are lined with tiles, blue and yellowpatterns on a white ground. The abacus of each column is set diagonallyto the diameter of the octagon, and between it and the lower side of thearchitrave are interposed thin blocks of stone rounded at the ends. 

Like the Conceicão at Thomar this too dates from near the end of DomJoão's reign, having been founded about 1550. 

[Sidenote: Cintra, Penha Longa and Penha Verde. ]

Capitals very like those in the nave of the Marvilla, but with a ring ofleaves instead of flutes, are found in the cloister of the church atPenha Longa near Cintra, and in the little round chapel at Penha Verdenot far off, where lies the heart of Dom João de Castro, fourth viceroyof India. Built about 1535, it is a simple little round building with asquare recess for the altar opposite the door. Inside, the dome springsfrom a cornice resting on six columns whose capitals are of the samekind. 

Others nearly the same are found in the house of the Conde de SãoVicente at Lisbon, only there the volutes are replaced by wingedfigures, as is also the case in the arcades of the Misericordia atTavira, the door of which has been mentioned above. 

[Sidenote: Vizeu, Cloister. ]

Still more like the Marvilla capitals are those of the lower cloister ofthe cathedral of Vizeu. This, the most pleasing of all the renaissancecloisters in Portugal, has four arches on each side resting on flutedcolumns which though taller than usual in cloisters, have no entasis. The capitals are exactly like those at Santarem, but being of graniteare much coarser, with roses instead of winged heads on the unmouldedabaci. At the angles two columns are placed together and a shallow stripis carried up above them all to the cornice. Somewhere in the lowercloister are the arms of Bishop Miguel da Silva, who is

[Illustration: FIG. 89. 

SANTAREM. 

CHURCH OF THE MARVILLA. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 90. 

VIZEU. 

CATHEDRAL CLOISTER. ]

said to have built it about 1524, but that is an impossibly early date, as even in far less remote places such classical columns were not usedtill at least ten years later. Yet the cloister must probably have beenbuilt some time before 1550. An upper unarched cloister, with anarchitrave resting on simple Doric columns, was added, _sede vacante_, between 1720 and 1742, and greatly increases the picturesqueness of thewhole. (Fig. 90. )

[Sidenote: Lamego, Cloister. ]

A similar but much lower second story was added by Bishop ManoelNoronha[156] in 1557 to the cloister of Lamego Cathedral. The lowercloister with its round arches and eight-sided shafts is interesting, asmost of its capitals are late Gothic, some moulded, a few with leaves, though some have been replaced by very good capitals of the Corinthiantype but retaining the Gothic abacus. [157]

[Sidenote: Coimbra, São Thomaz. ]

[Sidenote: Carmo. ]

[Sidenote: Cintra, Penha Longa. ]

[Sidenote: Faro, São Bento. ]

[Sidenote: Lorvão. ]

Most, however, of the cloisters of this period do not have a continuousarcade like that of Vizeu, but have arches set in pairs in the lowerstory with big buttresses between each pair. Such is the cloister of thecollege of São Thomaz at Coimbra, founded in 1540, where the arches ofthe lower cloister rest on Ionic capitals, while the architrave of theupper is upheld by thin Doric columns; of the Carmo, also at Coimbra, founded in 1542, where the cloister is almost exactly like that of SãoThomaz, except that there are twice as many columns in the upper story;of Penha Longa near Cintra, where the two stories are of equal heightand the lower, with arches, has moulded and the upper, with horizontalarchitrave, Ionic capitals, and of São Bento at Faro, where the lowercapitals are like those in the Marvilla, but without volutes, while theupper are Ionic. In all these the big square buttress is carried rightup to the roof of the upper cloister, as it was also at Lorvão nearCoimbra. There the arches below are much wider, so that above the numberof supports has been doubled. [158]

[Sidenote: Amarante. ]

In one of the cloisters of São Gonçalvo at Amarante on theTamega--famous for the battle on the bridge during the Frenchinvasion--there is only one arch to each bay below, and it springs fromjambs, not from columns, and is very plain. The buttresses do not riseabove the lower cornice and have Ionic capitals, as have also the ratherstout columns of the upper story. The lower cloister is roofed with abeautiful three-centred vault with many ribs, and several of the doorsare good examples of early renaissance. 

[Sidenote: Santarem, Sta. Clara. ]

More like the other cloisters, but probably somewhat later in date, isthat of Sta. Clara at Santarem, fast falling to pieces. In it there arethree arches, here three-centred, to each bay, and instead of projectingbuttresses wide pilasters, like the columns, Doric below, Ionic above. 

[Sidenote: Guarda, Reredos. ]

On first seeing the great reredos in the cathedral of Guarda, thetendency is to attribute it to a period but little later than the worksof Master Nicolas at São Marcos or of João de Ruão at Coimbra. But onlooking closer it is seen that a good deal of the ornament--thedecoration of the pilasters and of the friezes--as well as theappearance of the figures, betray a later date--a date perhaps as lateas the end of the reign of Dom João III. (Fig. 91. )

Though the reredos is very much larger and of finer design, the figureshave sufficient resemblance to those in the chapel of the Holy Sacramentin the Sé Velha at Coimbra, put up in 1566, to show that they must bemore or less contemporary, the Guarda reredos being probably theolder. [159]

Filling the whole of the east end of the apse of the Capella Mor, thestructure rises in a curve up to the level of the windows. Without thebeautiful colouring of Master Vlimer's work at Coimbra, or the charm ofthe reredos at Funchal, with figures distinctly inferior to those byMaster Nicolas at São Marcos, this Guarda reredos is yet a very finepiece of work, and is indeed the only large one of its kind which stillsurvives. 

It is divided into three stories, each about ten feet high, with ahalf-story below resting on a plain plinth. 

Each story is divided into large square panels by pilasters or columnsset pretty close together, the topmost story having candelabrum shafts, the one below it Corinthian columns, the lowest Doric pilasters, and thehalf-story below pedestals for these pilasters. Entablatures withornamental friezes divide each story, while at the top the centre israised to admit of an arch, an arrangement probably copied from João deRuão's altar-piece. 

In the half-story at the bottom are half-figures of the twelve Apostles, four under each of the square panels at the sides, and one between eachpair of pilasters. 

Above is represented, on the left the Annunciation, on the right theNativity; in the centre, now hidden by a hideous wooden erection, thereis a beautiful little tabernacle between two angels. Between thepilasters, as between the columns above, stand large figures ofprophets. 

In the next story the scenes are, on the left the Magi, on the right thePresentation, and in the centre the Assumption of the Virgin. 

The whole of the top is taken up with the Story of the Crucifixion, ourLord bearing the Cross on the left, the Crucifixion under the arch, andthe Deposition on the right. 

Although the whole is infinitely superior in design to anything byMaster Nicolas, it must be admitted that the sculpture is very inferiorto his, and also to João de Ruão's. The best are the Crucifixion scenes, where the grouping is better and the action freer, but everywhere thefaces are rather expressionless and the figures stiff. 

As everything is painted, white for the background and an ugly yellowfor the figures and detail, it is not possible to see whether stone orterra cotta is the material; if terra cotta the sculptor may have been apupil of Filipe Eduard, who in the time of Dom Manoel wrought the LastSupper in terra cotta, fragments of which still survive at Coimbra. 

CHAPTER XVII

THE LATER RENAISSANCE AND THE SPANISH USURPATION

This earlier style did not, however, last very long. Even before thedeath of Dom João more strictly classical forms began to come in fromItaly, brought by some of the many pupils who had been sent to studythere. Once when staying at Almeirim the king had been much interestedin a model of the Colosseum brought to him by Gonçalo Bayão, whom hecharged to reproduce some of the monuments he had seen in Rome. 

Whether he did reproduce them or not is unknown, but in the Claustro dosFilippes at Thomar this new and thoroughly Italian style is seen fullydeveloped. 

[Sidenote: Thomar, Claustro dos Filippes. ]

Diogo de Torralva had been nominated to direct the works in Thomar in1554, but did nothing to this cloister till 1557 after Dom João's death, when his widow, Dona Catharina, regent for her grandson, Dom Sebastião, ordered him to pull down what was already built, as it was unsafe, andto build another of the same size about one hundred and fifteen feetsquare, but making the lower story rather higher. 

The work must have been carried out quickly, since on the vault of theupper cloister there is the date 1562--a date which shows that the wholemust have been practically finished some eighteen years before Philip ofSpain secured the throne of Portugal, and that therefore the cloistershould rather be called after Dona Catharina, who ordered it, than afterthe 'Reis Intrusos, ' whose only connection with Thomar is that the firstwas there elected king. 

Between each of the three large arches which form a side of the lowercloister stand two Roman Doric columns of considerable size. They areplaced some distance apart leaving room between them for an opening, while another window-like opening occurs above the moulding from whichthe arches

[Illustration: FIG. 91. 

GUARDA. 

REREDOS IN CATHEDRAL. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 92. 

THOMAR. 

CLAUSTRO DOS FILIPPES. ]

spring. In the four corners the space between the columns, as well asthe entablature, is set diagonally, leaving room in one instance for acircular stair. The cornice is enriched with dentils and the frieze withraised squares. On the entablature more columns of about the same heightas those below, but with Ionic capitals, stand in pairs. Stairs lead upin each corner to the flat roof, above which they rise in a shortdome-bearing drum. In this upper cloister the arches are much narrower, springing from square Ionic pilasters, two on each side, set one behindthe other, and leaving an open space beyond so that the whole takes theform of a Venetian window. The small upper window between the columns isround instead of square, and the cornice is carried on large corbels. Infront of all the openings is a balustrade. Two windows look south downthe hillside over rich orchards and gardens, while immediately belowthem a water channel, the end of a great aqueduct built under Philip I. Of Portugal, II. Of Spain, by the Italian Filippo Terzi, [160] cools theair, and, overflowing, clothes the arches with maidenhair fern. Anotherwindow opening on to the Claustro de Sta. Barbara gives a very good viewof the curious west front of the church. There is not and there probablynever was any parapet to the flat paved roof, from where one can lookdown on the surrounding cloisters, and on the paved terrace before thechurch door where Philip was elected king in April 1580. (Fig. 92. )

This cloister, the first example in Portugal of the matured Italianrenaissance, is also, with the exception of the church of São Vicente deFora at Lisbon, the most successful, for all is well proportioned, andshows that Diogo de Torralva really understood classic detail and how touse it. He was much less successful in the chancel of Belem, while aboutthe cathedral which he built at Miranda de Douro it is difficult to findout anything, so remote and inaccessible is it, except that it standsmagnificently on a high rock above the river. [161]

The reigns of Dom Sebastião and of his grand-uncle, the Cardinal-King, were noted for no great activity in building. Only at Evora, where he solong filled the position of archbishop before succeeding to the throne, was the cardinal able to do much. The most important architecturalevent in Dom Sebastião's reign was the coming of Filippo Terzi fromItaly to build São Roque, the church of the Jesuits in Lisbon, and theconsequent school of architects, the Alvares, Tinouco, Turianno, andothers who were so active during the reign of Philip. 

But before speaking of the work of this school some of Cardinal Henry'sbuildings at Evora must be mentioned, and then the story told of howPhilip succeeded in uniting the whole Peninsula under his rule. 

[Sidenote: Evora, Graça. ]

A little to the south of the cathedral of Evora, and a little lower downthe hill, stands the Graça or church of the canons of St. Augustine. Begun during the reign of Dom João III. , the nave and chancel, in whichthere is a fine tomb, have many details which recall the Conceicão atThomar, such as windows set in sham perspective. But they were long inbuilding, and the now broken down barrel vault and the curious porchwere not added till the reign of Dom Sebastião, while the monasticbuildings were finished about the same time. 

This porch is most extraordinary. Below, there are in front fourwell-proportioned and well-designed Doric columns; beyond them and nextthe outer columns are large projecting pilasters forming buttresses, notunlike the buttresses in some of the earlier cloisters. Above theentablature, which runs round these buttresses, there stand on the twocentral columns two tall Ionic semi-columns, surmounted by anentablature and pointed pediment, and enclosing a large window set backin sham perspective. On either side large solid square panels are filledby huge rosettes several feet across, and above them half-pedimentsfilled with shields reach up to the central pediment but at a lowerlevel. Above these pediments another raking moulding runs up supportedon square blocks, while on the top of the upper buttresses there sitfigures of giant boys with globes on their backs; winged figures alsokneel on the central pediment. 

It will be seen that this is one of the most extraordinary erections inthe world. Though built of granite some of the detail is quite fine, andthe lower columns are well proportioned; but the upper part isridiculously heavy and out of keeping with the rest, and inconceivablyill-designed. The different parts also are ill put together and look asif they had belonged to distinct buildings designed on a totallydifferent scale. 

[Sidenote: Evora University. ]

Not much need be said of the Jesuit University founded at Evora by theCardinal in 1559 and suppressed by the Marques de Pombal. Now partly aschool and partly an orphanage, the great hall for conferring degrees isin ruins, but the courtyard with its two ranges of galleries stillstands. The court is very large, and the galleries have round arches andwhite marble columns, but is somehow wanting in interest. The church toois very poor, though the private chapel with barrel vault and whitemarble dome is better, yet the whole building shows, like the Graçaporch, that classic architecture was not yet fully understood, for Diogode Torralva had not yet finished his cloister at Thomar, nor had Terzibegun to work in Lisbon. 

When Dom João III. Died in 1557 he was succeeded by his grandsonSebastião, who was then only three years old. At first his grandmother, Dona Catharina, was regent, but she was thoroughly Spanish, and sounpopular. For five years she withstood the intrigues of herbrother-in-law, Cardinal Henry, but at last in 1562 retired to Spain indisgust. The Cardinal then became regent, but the country was reallygoverned by two brothers, of whom the elder, Luis Gonçalves da Câmara, aJesuit, was confessor to the young king. 

Between them Dom Sebastião grew up a dreamy bigot whose one ambition wasto lead a crusade against the Moors--an ambition in which popular rumoursaid he was encouraged by the Jesuits at the instigation of his cousin, Philip of Spain, who would profit so much by his death. 

Since the wealth of the Indies had begun to fill the royal treasury, theCortes had not been summoned, so there was no one able to oppose hiswill, when at last an expedition sailed in 1578. 

At this time the country had been nearly drained of men by India andBrazil, so a large part of the army consisted of mercenaries; peculationtoo had emptied the treasury, and there was great difficulty in findingmoney to pay the troops. 

Yet the expedition started, and landing first at Tangier afterwardsmoved on to Azila, which Mulay Ahmed, a pretender to the Moorishumbrella, had handed over. 

On July 29th, Dom Sebastião rashly started to march inland from Azila. The army suffered terribly from heat and thirst, and was quite worn outbefore it met the reigning amir, Abd-el-Melik, at Alcacer-Quebir, orEl-Kasar-el-Kebir, 'the great castle, ' on the 3rd of August. 

Next morning the battle began, and though Abd-el-Melik died almost atonce, the Moors, surrounding the small Christian army, were soonvictorious. Nine thousand were killed, and of the rest all were takenprisoners except fifty. Both the Pretender and Dom Sebastião fell, andwith his death and the destruction of his army the greatness of Portugaldisappeared. 

For two years, till 1580, his feeble old grand-uncle the Cardinal Henrysat on the throne, but when he died without nominating an heir none ofDom Manoel's descendants were strong enough to oppose Philip II. OfSpain. Philip was indeed a grandson of Dom Manoel through his motherIsabel, but the duchess of Braganza, daughter of Dom Duarte, duke ofGuimarães, Cardinal Henry's youngest brother, had really a better claim. 

But the spirit of the nation was changed, she dared not press herclaims, and few supported the prior of Crato, whose right was at leastas good as had been that of Dom João I. , and so Philip was elected atThomar in April 1580. 

Besides losing her independence Portugal lost her trade, for Holland andEngland both now regarded her as part of their great enemy, Spain, andso harried her ports and captured her treasure ships. Brazil was nearlylost to the Dutch, who also succeeded in expelling the Portuguese fromCeylon and from the islands of the East Indies, so that when the sixtyyears' captivity was over and the Spaniards expelled, Portugal found itimpossible to recover the place she had lost. 

It is then no wonder that almost before the end of the century money forbuilding began to fail, and that some of the churches begun then werenever finished; and yet for about the first twenty or thirty years ofthe Spanish occupation building went on actively, especially in Lisbonand at Coimbra, where many churches were planned by Filippo Terzi, or bythe two Alvares and others. Filippo Terzi seems first to have beenemployed at Lisbon by the Jesuits in building their church of São Roque, begun about 1570. [162]

[Sidenote: Lisbon, São Roque. ]

Outside the church is as plain as possible; the front is divided intothree by single Doric pilasters set one on each side of the main doorand two at each corner. Similar pilasters stand on these, separated fromthem only by a shallow cornice. The main cornice is larger, but thepediment is perfectly plain. Three windows, one with a pointed and twowith round pediments, occupy the spaces left between the upperpilasters. The inside is richer; the wooden ceiling is painted, theshallow chancel and the side chapels vaulted with barrel vaults, ofwhich those in the chapels are enriched with elaborate strapwork. Abovethe chapels are square-headed windows, and then a corbelled cornice. Even this is plain, and it owes most of its richness to the paintingsand to the beautiful tiles which cover part of the walls. [163]

The three other great churches which were probably also designed byTerzi are Santo Antão, Sta. Maria do Desterro, and São Vicente de Fora. 

Of these the great earthquake of 1755 almost entirely destroyed thefirst two and knocked down the dome of the last. 

[Sidenote: São Vicente de Fora. ]

Though not the first to be built, São Vicente being the least injuredmay be taken before the others. It is a large church, being altogetherabout 236 feet long by 75 wide, and consists of a nave of three bayswith connected chapels on each side, a transept with the fallen dome atthe crossing, a square chancel, a retro-choir for the monks about 45feet deep behind the chancel, and to the west a porch between two talltowers. 

On the south side are two large square cloisters of no great interestwith a sacristy between--in which all the kings of the House of Braganzalie in velvet-covered coffins--and the various monastic buildings nowinhabited by the patriarch of Lisbon. 

The outside is plain, except for the west front, which stands at the topof a great flight of steps. On the west front two orders of pilastersare placed one above the other. Of these the lower is Doric, of moreslender proportions than usual, while the upper has no true capitalsbeyond the projecting entablature and corbels on the frieze. Singlepilasters divide the centre of the front into three equal parts andcoupled pilasters stand at the corners of the towers. In the centralpart three plain arches open on to the porch, with a pedimented nicheabove each. In the tower the niches are placed lower with oblongopenings above and below. 

Above the entablature of the lower order there are three windows in themiddle flanked by Ionic pilasters and surmounted by pediments, while inthe tower are large round-headed niches with pediments. (Fig. 93. )

[Illustration: PLAN OF SÃO VICENTE]

The entablature of the upper order is carried straight across the wholefront, with nothing above it in the centre but a balustradinginterrupted by obelisk-bearing pedestals, but at the ends the towersrise in one more square story flanked with short Doric pilasters. Round-arched openings for bells occur on each side, and within thecrowning balustrade with its obelisks a stone dome rises to aneight-sided domed lantern. 

Like all the church, the front is built of beautiful limestone, rivalling Carrara marble in whiteness, and seen down the narrow streetwhich runs uphill from across the small _praça_ the whole building ismost imposing. It would have been even more satisfactory had the centralpart been a little narrower, and had there been something to mark thebarrel vault within; the omission too of the lower order, which is somuch taller than the upper, would have been an improvement, but evenwith these defects the design is most stately, and refreshingly free ofall the fussy over-elaboration and the fantastic piling up of pedimentswhich soon became too common. 

But if the outside deserves such praise, the inside is worthy of farmore. The great stone barrel vault is simply coffered with squarepanels. The chapel arches are singularly plain, and spring from a goodmoulding which projects nearly

[Illustration: FIG. 93. 

LISBON. 

SÃO VICENTE DE FORA. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 94. 

LISBON. 

SÃO VICENTE DE FORA. ]

to the face of the pilasters. Two of these stand between each chapel, and have very beautiful capitals founded on the Doric but with a longfluted neck ornamented in front by a bunch of crossed arrows and at thecorners with acanthus leaves, and with egg and tongue carved on themoulding below the Corinthian abacus. Of the entablature, only thefrieze and architrave is broken round the pilasters; for the cornicewith its great mutules runs straight round the whole church, supportedover the chapels by carving out the triglyphs--of which there is oneover each pilaster, and two in the space between each pair ofpilasters--so as to form corbels. 

Only the pendentives of the dome and the panelled drum remain; the restwas replaced after the earthquake by wooden ceiling pierced withskylights. (Fig. 94. )

Though so simple--there is no carved ornament except in the beautifulcapitals--the interior is one of the most imposing to be seen anywhere, and though not really very large gives a wonderful impression of spaceand size, being in this respect one of the most successful of classicchurches. It is only necessary to compare São Vicente de Fora with thegreat clumsy cathedral which Herrera had begun to build five yearsearlier at Valladolid to see how immensely superior Terzi was to hisSpanish contemporary. Even in his masterpiece, the church of theEscorial, Herrera did not succeed in giving such spacious greatness, for, though half as large again, the Escorial church is imposing ratherfrom its stupendous weight and from the massiveness of its granite piersthan from the beauty of its proportions. 

Philip took a great interest in the building of the Escorial, and alsohad the plans of São Vicente submitted to him in 1590. This plan, signedby him in November 1590, was drawn by João Nunes Tinouco, so that it ispossible that Tinouco was the actual designer and not Terzi, but Tinoucowas still alive sixty years later when he published a plan of Lisbon, and so must have been very young in 1590. It is probable, therefore, that tradition is right in assigning São Vicente to Terzi, and even ifit be actually the work of Tinouco, he has here done little but copywhat his master had already done elsewhere. 

[Sidenote: Lisbon, Santo Antão. ]

After São Roque the first church begun by Terzi was Santo Antão, nowattached to the hospital of São José. Begun in 1579 it was not finishedtill 1652, only to be destroyed by the earthquake in 1755. As at SãoVicente, the west front has a lower order of huge Doric pilasters nearlyfifty feet high. There is no porch, but three doors with poor windowsabove which look as if they had been built after the earthquake. 

Unfortunately, nearly all above the lower entablature is gone, butenough is left to show that the upper order was Ionic and very short, and that the towers were to rise behind buttress-like curves descendingfrom the central part to two obelisks placed above the coupled cornerpilasters. 

The inside was almost exactly like São Vicente, but larger. 

[Sidenote: Lisbon, Santa Maria do Desterro. ]

Santa Maria do Desterro was begun later than either of the last two, in1591. Unlike them the two orders of the west front are short and ofalmost equal size, Doric below and Ionic above. The arches of the porchreach up to the lower entablature, and the windows above are rathersquat; it looks as if there was to have been a third order above, but itis all gone. 

The inside was of the usual pattern, except that the pilasters were notcoupled between the chapels, that they were panelled, and that above thelow chapel arches there are square windows looking into a gallery. 

[Sidenote: Torreão do Paço. ]

Besides these churches Terzi built for Philip a large addition to theroyal palace in the shape of a great square tower or pavilion, calledthe Torreão. The palace then stood to the west of what is now called thePraça do Commercio, and the Torreão jutted out over the Tagus. It seemsto have had five windows on the longer and four on the shorter sides, tohave been two stories in height, and to have been covered by a greatsquare dome-shaped roof, with a lantern at the top and turrets at thecorners. Pilasters stood singly between each window and in pairs at thecorners, and the windows all had pediments. Now, not a stone of it isleft, as it was in the palace square, the Terreno do Paço da Ribeira, that the earthquake was at its worst, swallowing up the palace andoverwhelming thousands of people in the waves of the river. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Sé Nova. ]

Meanwhile the great Jesuit church at Coimbra, now the Sé Nova or newcathedral, had been gradually rising. Founded by Dom João III. In 1552, and dedicated to the Onze mil Virgems, it cannot have been begun in itspresent form till much later, till about 1580, while the main, or south, front seems even later still. [164]

Inside, the church consists of a nave of four bays with side chapels--inone of which there is a beautiful Manoelino font--transepts and chancelwith a drumless dome over the crossing. In some respects the likeness toSão Vicente is very considerable; there are coupled Doric pilastersbetween the chapels, the barrel vault is coffered, and the chapel archesare extremely plain. But here the likeness ends. The pilasters arepanelled and have very simple moulded capitals; the entablature is quiteordinary, without triglyphs or mutules, and is broken round each pair ofpilasters; the coffers on the vault are very deep, and are scarcelymoulded; and, above all, the proportions are quite different as the naveis too wide for its height, and the drum is terribly needed to lift upthe dome. In short, the architect seems to have copied the dispositionsof Santo Antão and has done his best to spoil them, and yet he has atthe same time succeeded in making the interior look large, though withan almost Herrera-like clumsiness. 

The south front is even more like Santo Antão. As there, three doorstake the place of the porch, and the only difference below is that eachDoric pilaster is flanked by half pilasters. Above the entablature thefront breaks out into a wild up-piling of various pediments, but evenhere the likeness to Santo Antão is preserved, in that a great curvecomes down from the outer Ionic pilasters of the central part, to end, however, not in obelisks, but in a great volute: the small towers tooare set much further back. Above, as below, the central part is dividedinto three. Of these the two outer, flanked by Ionic pilasters onpedestals, are finished off above with curved pediments broken to admitof obelisks. The part between these has a large window below, a hugecoat of arms above, and rises high above the sides to a pediment soarranged that while the lower mouldings form an angle the upper form acurve on which stand two finials and a huge cross. (Fig. 95. )

[Sidenote: Oporto, Collegio Novo. ]

Very soon this fantastic way of piling up pieces of pediment and ofentablature became only too popular, being copied for instance in theCollegio Novo at Oporto, where, however, the design is not quite so badas the towers are brought forward and are carried up considerablyhigher. But apart from this horrid misuse of classic details thegreatest fault of the façade at Coimbra is the disproportionate size ofsome of the details; the obelisks and the cherubs' heads on which theystand, the statues at the ends, and the central cross, and above all thecolossal acanthus leaves in the great scrolls are of such a size asentirely to dwarf all the rest. 

From what remains of the front of Santo Antão, it looks as if it and thefront of the Sé Velha had been very much alike. Santo Antão was notquite finished till 1652, so that it is probable that the upper part ofthe west front dates from the seventeenth century, long after Terzi'sdeath, and that the Sé Nova at Coimbra was finished about the same time, and perhaps copied from it. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Misericordia. ]

But it was not only Terzi's churches which were copied at Coimbra. Whilethe Sé Nova, then, and for nearly two hundred years more, the church ofthe Jesuits, was still being built, the architect of the chief pateo ofthe Misericordia took Diogo de Torralva's cloister at Thomar as hismodel. 

It was in the year 1590 that Cardinal Affonso de Castello Branco beganto build the headquarters of the Misericordia of Coimbra, founded in1500 as a simple confraternity. The various offices of the institution, including a church, the halls whose ceilings have been alreadymentioned, and hospital dormitories--all now turned into anorphanage--are built round two courtyards, one only of which calls forspecial notice, for nearly everything else has been rebuilt or altered. In this court or cloister, the plan of the Claustro dos Filippes hasbeen followed in that there are three wide arches on each side, andbetween them--but not in the corners, and further apart than atThomar--a pair of columns. In this case the space occupied by one archis scarcely wider than that occupied by the two fluted Doric columns andthe square-headed openings between them. Another change is that thecomplete entablature with triglyphs and metopes is only found above thecolumns, for the arches rise too high to leave room for more than thecornice. (Fig. 96. )

The upper story is quite different, for it has only square-headedwindows, though the line of the columns is carried up by slender andshort Ionic columns; a sloping tile roof rests immediately on the uppercornice, above which rise small obelisks placed over the columns. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Episcopal Palace. ]

At about the same time the Cardinal built a long loggia on the west sideof the entrance court of his palace at Coimbra. The hill on which thepalace is built being extremely

[Illustration: FIG. 95. 

SÉ NOVA, COIMBRA. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 96

COIMBRA. 

MISERICORDIA. ]

steep, an immense retaining wall, some fifty or sixty feet high, boundsthe courtyard on the west, and it is on the top of this wall that theloggia is built forming a covered way two stories in height and unitingthe Manoelino palace on the north with some offices which bound the yardon the south. This covered way is formed by two rows of seven arches, each resting on Doric columns, with a balustrading between the outercolumns on the top of the great wall. The ceiling is of wood and formsthe floor of the upper story, where the columns are Ionic and support acontinuous architrave. The whole is quite simple and unadorned, but atthe same time singularly picturesque, since the view through the arches, over the old cathedral and the steeply descending town, down to theconvent of Santa Clara and the wooded hills beyond the Mondego, is mostbeautiful; besides, the courtyard itself is not without interest. In thecentre stands a fountain, and on the south side a stair, carried on aflying half-arch, leads up to a small porch whose steep pointed roofrests on two walls, and on one small column. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Sé Velha Sacristy. ]

The same bishop also built the sacristy of the old cathedral. Entered bya passage from the south transept, and built across the back of theapse, it is an oblong room with coffered barrel vault, lit by a largesemicircular window at the north end. The cornice, of which the friezeis adorned with eight masks, rests on corbels. On a black-and-whitemarble lavatory is the date 1593 and the Cardinal's arms. The two endsare divided into three tiled panels by Doric columns, and on the longersides are presses. 

Altogether it is very like the sacristy of Santa Cruz built some thirtyyears later, but plainer. 

By 1590 or so several Portuguese followers of Terzi had begun to buildchurches, founded on his work, but in some respects less like than isthe Sé Nova at Coimbra. Such churches are best seen at Coimbra, wheremany were built, all now more or less deserted and turned to base uses. Three at least of these stand on either side of the long Rua Sophiawhich leads northwards from the town. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, São Domingos. ]

The oldest seems to be the church of São Domingos, founded by the dukesof Aveiro, but never finished. Only the chancel with its flankingchapels and the transept have been built. Two of the churches at Lisbonand the Sé Nova of Coimbra are noted for their extremely long Doricpilasters. Here, in the chancel the pilasters and the half columns inthe transept are Ionic, and even more disproportionately tall. Thearchitrave is unadorned, the frieze has corbels set in pairs, andbetween the pairs curious shields and strapwork, and the cornice isenriched with dentils, egg and tongue and modillions. Most elaborate ofall is the barrel vault, where each coffer is filled with round orsquare panels surrounded with strapwork. 

This vault and the cornice were probably not finished till well on inthe seventeenth century, for on the lower, and probably earlier vaults, of the side chapels the ornamentation is much finer and more delicate. 

The transepts were to have been covered with groined vaults of whichonly the springing has been built. In the north transept and in one ofthe chapels there still stand great stone reredoses once much gilt, butnow all broken and dusty and almost hidden behind the diligences andcabs with which the church is filled. The great fault in São Domingos isthe use of the same order both for the tall pilasters in the chancel, and for the shorter ones in the side chapels; so that the taller, whichare twice as long and of about the same diameter, are ridiculously lankyand thin. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Carmo. ]

Almost opposite São Domingos is the church of the Carmo, begun by FreyAmador Arraes, bishop of Portalegre about 1597. The church is an oblonghall about 135 feet long, including the chancel, by nearly 40 wide, roofed with a coffered barrel vault. On each side of the nave are tworectangular and one semicircular chapel; the vaults of the chapel arebeautifully enriched with sunk panels of various shapes. The greatreredos covers the whole east wall with two stories of coupled columns, niches and painted panels. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Graça. ]

Almost exactly the same is the Graça church next door, both very plainand almost devoid of interest outside. 

[Sidenote: São Bento. ]

Equally plain is the unfinished front of the church of São Bento up onthe hill near the botanical gardens. It was designed by Baltazar Alvaresfor Dom Diogo de Murça, rector of the University in 1600, but notconsecrated till thirty-four years later. The church, which inside isabout 164 feet long, consists of a nave with side chapels, measuring 60feet by about 35, a transept of the same width, and a square chancel. Besides there is a deep porch in front between two oblong towers, whichhave never been carried up above the roof. 

The porch is entered by three arches, one in the middle wider and higherthan the others. Above are three niches with shell heads, and then threewindows, two oblong and one round, all set in rectangular frames. At thesides there are broad pilasters below, with the usual lanky Doricpilasters above reaching to the main cornice, above which there nowrises only an unfinished gable end. The inside is much more pleasing. The barrel vaults of the chapels are beautifully panelled and enrichedwith egg and tongue; between each, two pilasters rise only to themoulding from which the chapel arches spring, and support smallerpilasters with a niche between. In the spandrels of the arches arerather badly carved angels holding shields, and on the archesthemselves, as at São Marcos, are cherubs' heads. A plain entablatureruns along immediately above these arches, and from it to the maincornice, the walls, covered with blue and white tiles, are perfectlyblank, broken only by square-headed windows. Only at the crossing dopilasters run up to the vault, and they are of the usual attenuatedDoric form. As usual the roof is covered with plain coffers, as is alsothe drumless dome. 

This is very like the Carmo and the Graça, which repeat the fault ofleaving a blank tiled wall above the chapels, and it is quite possiblethat they too may have been built by Alvares; the plan is evidentlyfounded on that of one of Terzi's churches, as São Vicente, or on thatof the Sé Nova, but though some of the detail is charming there is awant of unity between the upper and lower parts which is found in noneof Terzi's work, nor even in the heavier Sé Nova. [165]

[Sidenote: Lisbon, São Bento. ]

Baltazar Alvares seems to have been specially employed by the order ofSt. Benedict, for not only did he build their monasteries at Coimbra butalso São Bento, now the Cortes in Lisbon, as well as São Bento daVictoria at Oporto, his greatest and most successful work. 

[Sidenote: Oporto, São Bento. ]

The plan is practically the same as that of São Bento at Coimbra, butlarger. Here, however, there are no windows over the chapel arches, norany dome at the crossing. Built of grey granite, a certain heavinessseems suitable enough, and the great coffered vault is not withoutgrandeur, while the gloom of the inside is lit up by huge carved andgilt altar-pieces and by the elaborate stalls in the choir gallery. 

CHAPTER XVIII

OTHER BUILDINGS OF THE LATER RENAISSANCE, TILL THE EXPULSION OF THESPANIARDS

In the last chapter the most important works of Terzi and of his pupilshave been described, and it is now necessary to go back and tell ofvarious buildings which do not conform to his plan of a greatbarrel-vaulted nave with flanking chapels, though the designers of someof these buildings have copied such peculiarities as the tall and narrowpilasters of which his school was so fond, and which, as will be seen, ultimately degenerated into mere pilaster strips. 

[Sidenote: Vianna do Castello, Misericordia. ]

But before speaking of the basilican and other churches of this time, the Misericordia at Vianna do Castello must be described. [166]

The Misericordia of Vianna stands on the north side of the chief squareof the town, and was built in 1589 by one João Lopez, whose father haddesigned the beautiful fountain which stands near by. 

It is a building of very considerable interest, as there seems to benothing else like it in the country. The church of the Misericordia, amuch older building ruined by later alteration, is now only remarkablefor the fine blue and white tile decoration with which its walls arecovered. Just to the west of it, and at the corner of the broad streetin which is a fine Manoelino house belonging to the Visconde deCarreira, stands the building designed by Lopez. The front towards thestreet is plain, but that overlooking the square highly decorated. 

At the two corners are broad rusticated bands which run up uninterruptedto the cornice; between them the front is divided into three stories ofopen loggias. Of these the lowest has five round arches resting on Ioniccolumns; in

[Illustration: FIG. 97. 

VIANNA DO CASTELLO. 

MISERICORDIA. ]

the second, on a solid parapet, stand four whole and two half 'terms' oratlantes which support an entablature with wreath-enriched frieze;corbels above the heads of the figures cross the frieze, and othersabove them the low blocking course, and on them are other termssupporting the main cornice, which is not of great projection. A simplepediment rises above the four central figures, surmounted by a crucifixand containing a carving of a sun on a strapwork shield. (Fig. 97. )

The whole is of granite and the figures and mouldings are distinctlyrude, and yet it is eminently picturesque and original, and shows thatLopez was a skilled designer if but a poor sculptor. 

[Sidenote: Beja, São Thiago. ]

Coming now to the basilican churches. That of São Thiago at Beja wasbegun in 1590 by Jorge Rodrigues for Archbishop Theotonio of Evora. Ithas a nave and aisles of six bays covered with groined vaults resting onDoric columns, a transept and three shallow rectangular chapels to theeast. The clerestory windows are round. 

[Sidenote: Azeitão, São Simão. ]

Much the same plan had been followed a little earlier by Affonso deAlbuquerque, son of the great viceroy of India, when about 1570 he builtthe church of São Simão close to his country house of Bacalhôa, atAzeitão not far from Setubal. São Simão is a small church with nave andaisles of five bays, the latter only being vaulted, with arcades restingon Doric columns; at first there was a tower at each corner, but theyfell in 1755, and only one has been rebuilt. Most noticeable in thechurch are the very fine tiles put up in 1648, with saintly figures overeach arch. They are practically the same as those in the parish churchof Alvito. 

[Sidenote: Evora, Cartuxa. ]

Another basilican church of this date is that of the Cartuxa or CharterHouse, [167] founded by the same Archbishop Theotonio in 1587, a fewmiles out of Evora. Only the west front, built about 1594 of black andwhite marble, deserves mention. Below there is a porch, spreading beyondthe church, and arranged exactly like the lower Claustro dos Filippes atThomar, with round arches separated by two Doric columns on pedestals, but with a continuous entablature carried above the arches on largecorbelled keystones. Behind rises the front in two stories. The lowerhas three windows, square-headed and separated by Ionic columns, two oneach side, with niches between. Single Ionic columns also stand at theouter angles of the aisles. In the upper story the central part iscarried up to a pediment by Corinthian columns resting on the Ionicbelow; between them is a large statued niche surrounded by panels. 

Unfortunately the simplicity of the design is spoilt by the broken andcurly volutes which sprawl across the aisles, by ugly finials at thecorners, and by a rather clumsy balustrading to the porch. 

[Sidenote: Beja, Misericordia. ]

The interior of the Misericordia at Beja, a square, divided into ninesmaller vaulted squares by arches resting on fine Corinthian columns, with altar recesses beyond, looks as if it belonged to the time of DomJoão III. , but if so the front must have been added later. This is verysimple, but at the same time strong and unique. The triple divisioninside is marked by three great rusticated Doric pilasters on which resta simple entablature and parapet. Between are three round arches, enclosing three doors of which the central has a pointed pediment, whileover the others a small round window lights the interior. 

[Sidenote: Oporto, Nossa Senhora da Serra do Pilar. ]

But by far the most original of all the buildings of this laterrenaissance is the monastery of Nossa Senhora da Serra do Pilar in VillaNova de Gaya, the suburb of Oporto which lies south of the Douro. Standing on a high granite knoll, which rises some fifty feet above thecountry to the south, and descends by an abrupt precipice on the northto the deep-flowing river, here some two hundred yards wide, and runningin a narrow gorge, the monastery and its hill have more than once playedan important part in history. From there Wellington, in 1809, was ableto reconnoitre the French position across the river while his army layhidden behind the rocks; and it was from a creek just a little to theeast that the first barges started for the north bank with the men whoseized the unfinished seminary and held it till enough were across tomake Soult see he must retreat or be cut off. Later, in 1832, theconvent, defended for Queen Maria da Gloria, was much knocked about bythe besieging army of Dom Miguel. 

The Augustinians had begun to build on the hill in 1540, but none of thepresent monastery can be earlier than the seventeenth century, the date1602 being found in the cloister. 

The plan of the whole building is most unusual and original: the nave isa circle some seventy-two feet in diameter, surmounted by a dome, andsurrounded by eight shallow chapels, of which one contains the entranceand another is prolonged to form a narrow chancel. This chancel leadsto a larger square choir behind the high altar, and east of it is around cloister sixty-five feet across. The various monastic buildingsare grouped round the choir and cloister, leaving the round navestanding free. The outside of the circle is two stories in height, divided by a plain cornice carried round the pilasters which mark therecessed chapels within. The face of the wall above this cornice is seta little back, and the pilaster strips are carried up a short distanceto form a kind of pedestal, and are then set back with a volute andobelisk masking the offset. The main cornice has two large corbels toeach bay, and carries a picturesque balustrading within which rises atile roof covering the dome and crowned by a small lantern at the top. The west door has two Ionic columns on each side; a curious niche withcorbelled sides rises above it to the lower cornice; and the church islit by a square-headed window pierced through the upper part of eachbay. Only the pilasters, cornices, door and window dressings are ofgranite ashlar, all the rest being of rubble plastered and whitewashed. 

[Illustration: PLAN OF NOSSA SENHORA DO PILAR]

Now the eucalyptus-trees planted round the church have grown so tallthat only the parapet can be seen rising above the tree-tops. 

Though much of the detail of the outside is far from being classical orcorrect, the whole is well proportioned and well put together, but thesame cannot be said of the inside. Pilasters of inordinate height havebeen seen in some of the Lisbon churches, but compared with these whichhere stand in couples between the chapels they are short and wellproportioned. These pilasters, which are quite seventeen diameters high, have for capitals coarse copies of those in São Vicente de Fora inLisbon. In São Vicente the cornice was carried on corbels crossing thefrieze, and so was continuous and unbroken. Here all the lowermouldings of the cornice are carried round the corbels and the pilastersso that only the two upper are continuous, an arrangement which isanything but an improvement. Another unpleasing feature are the threeniches which, with hideous painted figures, are placed one above theother between the pilasters. The chancel arch reaches up to the maincornice, but those of the door and chapel recesses are low enough toleave room for the windows. The dome is divided into panels of variousshapes by broad flat ribs with coarse mouldings. The chancel and choirbeyond have barrel vaults divided into simple square panels. 

The church then, though interesting from its plan, is--insideespecially--remarkably unpleasing, though it is perhaps only fair toattribute a considerable part of this disagreeable effect to the stateof decay into which it has fallen--a state which has only advanced farenough to be squalid and dirty without being in the least picturesque. Far more pleasing than the church is the round cloister behind. In itthe thirty-six Ionic columns are much better proportioned, and thecapitals better carved; on the cornice stands an attic, renderednecessary by the barrel vault, heavy indeed, but not too heavy for thecolumns below. This attic is panelled, and on it stand obelisk-bearingpedestals, one above each column, and between them pediments ofstrapwork. (Fig. 98. )

Had this cloister been square it would have been in no way veryremarkable, but its round shape as well as the fig-trees that now growin the garth, and the many plants which sprout from joints in thecornice, make it one of the most picturesque buildings in the country. The rest of the monastic buildings have been in ruins since the siege of1832. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Santa Cruz Sacristy. ]

The sacristy of Santa Cruz at Coimbra must have been begun before NossaSenhora da Serra had been finished. Though so much later--for it isdated 1622--the architect of this sacristy has followed much moreclosely the good Italian forms introduced by Terzi. Like that of the SéVelha, the sacristy of Santa Cruz is a rectangular building, andmeasures about 52 feet long by 26 wide; each of the longer sides isdivided into three bays by Doric pilasters which have good capitals, butare themselves cut up into many small panels. The cornice is partlycarried on corbels as in the Serra church, but here the effect is muchbetter. There are large semicircular windows, divided into three lightsat each end, and

[Illustration: FIG. 98. 

OPORTO. 

CLOISTER, NOSSA SENHORA DA SERRA DO PILAR. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 99. 

COIMBRA. 

SACRISTY OF STA. CRUZ. ]

the barrel vault is covered with deep eight-sided coffers. One curiousfeature is the way the pilasters in the north-east corner are carried oncorbels, so as to leave room for two doors, one of which leads into thechapter-house behind the chancel. (Fig. 99. )

[Sidenote: Lisbon, Santa Engracia. ]

Twenty years later was begun the church of Santa Engracia in Lisbon. Itwas planned on a great scale; a vast dome in the centre surrounded byfour equal apses, and by four square towers. It has never been finished, and now only rises to the level of the main cornice; but had the domebeen built it would undoubtedly have been one of the very finest of therenaissance buildings in the country. 

Like the Serra church it is, outside, two stories in height having Doricpilasters below--coupled at the angles of the towers--and Ionic above. In the western apse, the pilasters are replaced by tall detached Doriccolumns, and the Ionic pilasters above by buttresses which grow out ofvoluted curves. Large, simply moulded windows are placed between theupper pilasters, with smaller blank windows above them, while in thewestern apse arches with niches set between pediment-bearing pilasterslead into the church. 

Here, in Santa Engracia, is a church designed in the simplest and mostsevere classic form, and absolutely free of all the fantastic misuse offragments of classic detail which had by that time become so common, andwhich characterise such fronts as those of the Sé Nova at Coimbra or theCollegio Novo at Oporto. The niches over the entrance arches are severebut well designed, as are the windows in the towers and all themouldings. Perhaps the only fault of the detail is that the Doricpilasters and columns are too tall. 

Now in its unfinished state the whole is heavy and clumsy, but at thesame time imposing and stately from its great size; but it is scarcelyfair to judge so unfinished a building, which would have been verydifferent had its dome and four encompassing towers risen high above thesurrounding apses and the red roofs of the houses which climb steeply upthe hillside. 

[Sidenote: Coimbra, Santa Clara. ]

The new convent of Santa Clara at Coimbra was begun about the sametime--in 1640--on the hillside overlooking the Mondego and the oldchurch which the stream has almost buried; and, more fortunate thanSanta Engracia, it has been finished, but unlike it is a building oflittle interest. 

The church is a rectangle with huge Doric pilasters on either sidesupporting a heavy coffered roof. There are no aisles, but shallow altarrecesses with square-headed windows above. The chancel at the south endis like the nave but narrower; the two-storied nuns' choir is to thenorth. As the convent is still occupied it cannot be visited, butcontains the tomb of St. Isabel, brought from the old church, in thelower choir, and her silver shrine in the upper. Except for thecloister, which, designed after the manner of the Claustro dos Filippesat Thomar, has coupled Doric columns between the arches, and above, niches flanked by Ionic columns between square windows, the rest of thenunnery is even heavier and more barrack-like than the church. Indeedalmost the only interest of the church is the use of the huge Doricpilasters, since from that time onward such pilasters, usually as clumsyand as large, are found in almost every church. 

This fondness for Doric is probably due to the influence of Terzi, whoseems to have preferred it to all the other orders, though he alwaysgave his pilasters a beautiful and intricate capital. In any case fromabout 1580 onwards scarcely any other order on a large scale is usedeither inside or outside, and by 1640 it had grown to the ugly size usedin Santa Clara and in nearly all later buildings, the only realexception being perhaps in the work of the German who designed Mafra andrebuilt the Capella Mor at Evora. Such pilasters are found forming piersin the church built about 1600 to be the cathedral of Leiria, in thewest front of the cathedral of Portalegre, where they are piled aboveeach other in three stories, huge and tall below, short and thinnerabove, and in endless churches all over the country. Later still theydegenerated into mere angle strips, as in the cathedral of Angra doHeroismo in the Azores and elsewhere. 

Such a building as Santa Engracia is the real ending of Architecture inPortugal, and its unfinished state is typical of the poverty which hadovertaken the country during the Spanish usurpation, when robbed of hercommerce by Holland and by England, united against her will to adecaying power, she was unable to finish her last great work, while suchbuildings as she did herself finish--for it must not be forgotten thatMafra was designed by a foreigner--show a meanness of invention anddesign scarcely to be equalled in any other land, a strange contrast tothe exuberance of fancy lavished on the buildings of a happier age. 

CHAPTER XIX

THE RESTORATION AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

When elected at Thomar in 1580, Philip II. Of Spain had sworn to governPortugal only through Portuguese ministers, a promise which he seems tohave kept. He was fully alive to the importance of commanding the mouthof the Tagus and the splendid harbour of Lisbon, and had he fixed hiscapital there instead of at Madrid it is quite possible that the twocountries might have remained united. 

For sixty years the people endured the ever-growing oppression andmisgovernment. The duque de Lerma, minister to Philip III. , or II. OfPortugal, and still more the Conde duque de Olivares under Philip IV. , treated Portugal as if it were a conquered province. 

In 1640, the very year in which Santa Engracia was begun, the regent wasMargaret of Savoy, whose ministers, with hardly an exception, wereSpaniards. 

It will be remembered that when Philip II. Was elected in 1580, DonaCatharina, duchess of Braganza and daughter of Dom Manoel's sixth son, Duarte, duke of Guimarães, had been the real heir to the throne of heruncle, the Cardinal King. Her Philip had bought off by a promise of thesovereignty of Brazil, a promise which he never kept, and now in 1640her grandson Dom João, eighth duke of Braganza and direct descendant ofAffonso, a bastard son of Dom João I. , had succeeded to all her rights. 

He was an unambitious and weak man, fond only of hunting and music, soOlivares had thought it safe to restore to him his ancestral lands; andto bind him still closer to Spain had given him a Spanish wife, LuisaGuzman, daughter of the duke of Medina Sidonia. Matters, however, turnedout very differently from what he had expected. A gypsy had once toldDona Luisa that she would be a queen, and a queen she was determined tobe. With difficulty she persuaded her husband to become the nominal headof the conspiracy for the expulsion of the Spaniards, and on the 1st ofDecember 1640 the first blow was struck by the capture of the regent andher ministers in the palace at Lisbon. Next day, December 2nd, the dukeof Braganza was saluted as King Dom João IV. At Villa Viçosa, hiscountry home beyond Evora. 

The moment of the revolution was well chosen, for Spain was at that timestruggling with a revolt which had broken out in Cataluña, and so wasunable to send any large force to crush Dom João. All the Indian andAfrican colonies at once drove out the Spaniards, and in Brazil theDutch garrisons which had been established there by Count Maurice ofNassau were soon expelled. 

Though a victory was soon gained over the Spaniards at Montijo, the wardragged on for twenty-eight years, and it was only some years after DonJohn of Austria[168] had been defeated at Almeixial by Schomberg (whoafterwards took service under William of Orange) that peace was finallymade in 1668. Portugal then ceded Ceuta, and Spain acknowledged theindependence of the revolted kingdom, and granted to its sovereign thetitle of Majesty. 

It is no great wonder, then, that with such a long-continued war and anexhausted treasury a building like Santa Engracia should have remainedunfinished, and it would have been well for the architecture of thecountry had this state of poverty continued, for then far more oldbuildings would have survived unaltered and unspoiled. 

Unfortunately by the end of the seventeenth century trade had revived, and the discovery of diamonds and of gold in Brazil had again broughtmuch wealth to the king. 

Of the innumerable churches and palaces built during the eighteenthcentury scarcely any are worthy of mention, for perhaps the greatconvent palace of Mafra and the Capella Mor of the Sé at Evora are theonly exceptions. 

In the early years of that century King João V. Made a vow that if a sonwas born to him, he would, on the site of the poorest monastery in thecountry, build the largest and the richest. At the same time anxious toemulate the glories of the Escorial, he determined that his buildingshould contain a palace as well as a monastery--indeed it may almost besaid to contain two palaces, one for the king on the south, and one onthe north for the queen. 

[Sidenote: Mafra. ]

A son was born, and the poorest monastery in the kingdom was found atMafra, where a few Franciscans lived in some miserable buildings. Havingfound his site, King João had next to find an architect able to carryout his great scheme, and so low had native talent fallen, that thearchitect chosen was a foreigner, Frederic Ludovici or Ludwig, a German. 

The first stone of the vast building was laid in 1717, and the churchwas dedicated thirteen years later, in 1730. [169]

The whole building may be divided into two main parts. One to the east, measuring some 560 feet by 350, and built round a large squarecourtyard, was devoted to the friars, and contained the convententrance, the refectory, chapter-house, kitchen, and cells for twohundred and eighty brothers, as well as a vast library on the firstfloor. 

The other and more extensive part to the west comprises the king'sapartments on the south side, the queen's on the north, and between themthe church. 

It is not without interest to compare the plan of this palace ormonastery with the more famous Escorial. Both cover almost exactly thesame area, [170] but while in the Escorial the church is thrust back atthe end of a vast patio, here it is brought forward to the very front. There the royal palace occupies only a comparatively small area in thenorth-west corner of the site, and the monastic part the whole lyingsouth of the entrance patio and of the church; here the monastic part isthrust back almost out of sight, and the palace stretches all along thewest front except where it is interrupted in the middle by the church. 

Indeed the two buildings differ from one another much as did thecharacters of their builders. The gloomy fanaticism of Philip of Spainis exemplified by the preponderance of the monastic buildings no lessthan by his own small dark bed-closet opening only to the church closeto the high altar. João V. , pleasure-loving and luxurious, pushed thefriars to the back, and made his own and the queen's rooms the mostprominent part of the whole building, and one cannot but feel that, though a monastery had to be built to fulfil a vow, the king wasactuated not so much by religious zeal as by an ostentatious megalomaniawhich led him to try and surpass the size of the Escorial. 

[Illustration: PLAN OF MAFRA]

To take the plan rather more in detail. The west front, about 740 feetlong, is flanked by huge square projecting pavilions. The king's and thequeen's apartments are each entered by rather low and insignificantdoorways in the middle of the long straight blocks which join thesepavilions to the church. These doors lead under the palace to largesquare courtyards, one on each side of the church, and forming on theground floor a cloister with a well-designed arcading of round arches, separated by Roman Doric shafts. The king's and the queen's blocks arepractically identical, except that in the king's a great oval hallcalled the Sala dos actos takes the place of some smaller rooms betweenthe cloister and the outer wall. 

Between these blocks stands the church reached by a great flight ofsteps. It has a nave and aisles of three large and one small bay, a domeat the crossing, and transepts and chancel ending in apses. In front, flanking towers projecting beyond the aisles are united by a longentrance porch. 

Between the secular and the monastic parts a great corridor runs northand south, and immediately beyond it a range of great halls, includingthe refectory at the north end and the chapter-house at the south. Further east the great central court with its surrounding cells dividesthe monastic entrance and great stair from such domestic buildings asthe kitchen, the bakery, and the lavatory. Four stories of cells occupythe whole east side. 

Though some parts of the palace and monastery such as the two entrancecourts, the library, and the interior of the church, may be better thanmight have been expected from the date, it is quite impossible to speakat all highly of the building as a whole. 

It is nearly all of the same height with flat paved roofs; indeed theonly breaks are the corner pavilions and the towers and dome of thechurch. 

The west side consists of two monotonous blocks, one on each side of thechurch, with three stories of windows. At either end is a great squareprojecting mass, rusticated on the lowest floor, with short pilasterstrips between the windows on the first, and Corinthian pilasters on thesecond. The poor cornice is surmounted by a low attic, within whichrises a hideous ogee plastered roof. (Fig. 100. )

The church in the centre loses much by not rising above the rest of thefront, and the two towers, though graceful enough in outline, are poorin detail, and are finished off with a very ugly combination of hollowcurves and bulbous domes. 

The centre dome, too, is very poor in outline with a drum and lanternfar too tall for its size; though of course, had the drum been of abetter proportion, it would hardly have shown above the palace roof. 

Still more monotonous are the other sides with endless rows of windowsset in a pink plastered wall. 

Very different is the outline of the Escorial, whose very plainness andwant of detail suits well the rugged mountain side in which it is set. The main front with its high corner towers and their steep slate roofs, and with its high centre-piece, is far more impressive, and the merereiteration of its endless featureless windows gives the Escorial anappearance of size quite wanting to Mafra. Above all the great churchwith massive dome and towers rises high above all the rest, and givesthe whole a sense of unity and completeness which the smaller church ofMafra, though in a far more prominent place, entirely fails to do. 

Poor though the church at Mafra is outside, inside there is much toadmire, and but little to betray the late date. The porch has aneffective vault of black and white marble, and domes with black andwhite panels cover the spaces under the towers. Inside the church is allbuilt of white marble with panels and pilasters of pink marble from PeroPinheiro on the road to Cintra. (Fig. 101. )

The whole church measures about 200 feet long by 100 wide, with a navealso 100 feet long. The central aisle is over 40 feet wide, and has twovery well-proportioned Corinthian pilasters between each bay. Almost theonly trace of the eighteenth century is found in the mouldings of thependentive panels, and in the marble vault, but on the whole the churchis stately and the detail refined and restrained. 

The refectory, a very plain room with plastered barrel vault, 160 feetlong by 40 wide, is remarkable only for the splendid slabs of Brazilwood which form the tables, and for the beautiful brass lamps which hangfrom the ceiling. 

Much more interesting is the library which occupies the central part ofthe floor above. Over 200 feet long, it has a dome-surmounted transeptin the middle, and a barrel vault divided into panels. All the walls arelined with bookcases painted white like the barrel vault and like theprojecting gallery from which the upper shelves are reached. One half isdevoted to religious, and one half to secular books, and in the lattereach country has a space more or less large allotted to it. As scarcelyany books seem to have been added since the building was finished, itshould contain many a rare and valuable volume, and as all seem to be inexcellent condition, [Illustration: FIG. 100. 

MAFRA. 

W. FRONT OF PALACE. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 101. 

MAFRA. 

INTERIOR OF CHURCH. ]

they might well deserve a visit from some learned book-lover. 

Mafra does not seem to have ever had any interesting history. Within thelines of Torres Vedras, the palace escaped the worst ravages of theFrench invasion. In 1834 the two hundred and eighty friars were turnedout, and since then most of the vast building has been turned intobarracks, while the palace is but occasionally inhabited by the kingwhen he comes to shoot in the great wooded _tapada_ or enclosure whichstretches back towards the east. 

[Sidenote: Evora, Capella Mor. ]

Just about the time that João V. Was beginning his great palace atMafra, the chapter of the cathedral of Evora came to the conclusion thatthe old Capella Mor was too small, and altogether unworthy of thedignity of an archiepiscopal see. So they determined to pull it down, and naturally enough employed Ludovici to design the new one. The firststone was laid in 1717, and the chancel was consecrated in 1746 at thecost of about £27, 000. 

The outside, of white marble, is enriched with two orders of pilasters, Corinthian and Composite. Inside, white, pink and black marbles areused, the columns are composite, but the whole design is far poorer thananything at Mafra. 

King João V. Died in 1750 after a long and prosperous reign. Besidesbuilding Mafra he gave great sums of money to the Pope, and obtained inreturn the division of Lisbon into two bishoprics, and the title ofPatriarch for the archbishop of Lisboa Oriental, or Eastern Lisbon. 

When he died he was succeeded by Dom José, whose reign is noted for theterrible earthquake of 1755, and for the administration of the greatMarques de Pombal. 

It was on the 1st of November, when the population of Lisbon wasassembled in the churches for the services of All Saints' day, that thefirst shock was felt. This was soon followed by two others which laidthe city in ruins, killing many people. Most who had escaped rushed tothe river bank, where they with the splendid palace at the water's edgewere all overwhelmed by an immense tidal wave. 

The damage done to the city was almost incalculable. Scarcely a houseremained uninjured, and of the churches nearly all were ruined. Thecathedral was almost entirely destroyed, leaving only the low chapelsand the romanesque nave and transepts standing, and of the laterchurches all were ruined, and only São Roque and São Vicente deFora--which lost its dome--remained to show what manner of churches werebuilt at the end of the sixteenth century. 

This is not the place to tell of the administration of the Marques dePombal, who rose to eminence owing to the great ability he showed afterthis awful calamity, or to give a history of how he expelled theJesuits, subdued the nobles, attempted to make Portugal a manufacturingcountry, abolished slavery and the differences between the _Old_ and the_New Christians_, reformed the administration and the teaching of theUniversity of Coimbra, and robbed the Inquisition of half its terrors bymaking its trials public. In Lisbon he rebuilt the central part of thetown, laying out parallel streets, and surrounding the Praça doCommercio with great arcaded government offices; buildings remarkablerather for the fine white stone of which they are made, than for anyarchitectural beauty. Indeed it is impossible to admire any of thebuildings erected in Portugal since the earthquake; the palaces of theNecessidades and the Ajuda are but great masses of pink-washed plasterpierced with endless windows, and without any beauty of detail or ofdesign. 

[Sidenote: Lisbon, Estrella. ]

Nor does the church of the Coração de Jesus, usually called theEstrella, call for any admiration. It copies the faults of Mafra, thetall drum, the poor dome, and the towers with bulbous tops. 

[Sidenote: Oporto, Torre dos Clerigos. ]

More vicious, indeed, than the Estrella, but much more original andpicturesque, is the Torre dos Clerigos at Oporto, built by the clergy in1755. It stands at the top of a steep hill leading down to the busiestpart of the town. The tower is a square with rounded corners, and is ofvery considerable height. The main part is four stories in height, ofwhich the lowest is the tallest and the one above it the shortest. Allare adorned with pilasters or pilaster strips, and the third, in whichis a large belfry window, has an elaborate cornice, rising over thewindow in a rounded pediment to enclose a great shield of arms. Thefourth story is finished by a globe-bearing parapet, within which thetower rises to another parapet much corbelled out. The last or sixthstory is set still further back and ends in a fantastic dome-shapedroof. In short, the tower is a good example of the wonderful andingenious way in which the eighteenth-century builders of Portugal oftencontrived the strangest results by a use--or misuse--of pieces ofclassic detail, forming a whole often more Chinese than Western inappearance, but at the same time not unpicturesque. [171]

[Sidenote: Oporto, Quinta do Freixo. ]

A much more pleasing example of the same school--a school doubtlessinfluenced by the bad example of Churriguera in Spain--is the housecalled the Quinta do Freixo on the Douro a mile or so above the town. Here the four towers with their pointed slate roofs rise in sopicturesque a way at the four corners, and the whole house blends sowell with the parapets and terraces of the garden, that one can almostforgive the broken pediments which form so strange a gable over thedoor, and the still more strange shapes of the windows. Now that factorychimneys rise close on either side the charm is spoiled, but once thehouse, with its turrets, its vase-laden parapets, its rococo windows, and the slates painted pale blue that cover its walls, must have been afit setting for the artificial civilisation of a hundred and fifty yearsago, and for the ladies in dresses of silk brocade and gentlemen inflowered waistcoats and powdered hair who once must have gone up anddown the terrace steps, or sat in the shell grottoes of the garden. 

[Sidenote: Queluz. ]

Though less picturesque and fantastic, the royal palace at Queluz, between Lisbon and Cintra, is another really pleasing example of themore sober rococo. Built by Dom Pedro III. About 1780, the palace is along building with a low tiled roof, and the gardens are rich infountains and statues. 

[Sidenote: Guimarães, Quinta. ]

Somewhat similar, but unfinished, and enriched with niches and statues, is a Quinta near the station at Guimarães. Standing on a slope, thegarden descends northwards in beautiful terraces, whose fronts arecovered with tiles. Being well cared for, it is rich in beautiful treesand shrubs. 

[Sidenote: Oporto, Hospital and Factory. ]

Much more correct, and it must be said commonplace, are the hospital andthe English factory--or club-house--in Oporto. The plans of both haveclearly been sent out from England, the hospital especially beingthoroughly English in design. Planned on so vast a scale that it hasnever been completed, with the pediment of its Doric portico unfinished, the hospital is yet a fine building, simple and severe, not unlike whatmight have been designed by some pupil of Chambers. 

The main front has a rusticated ground floor with round-headed windowsand doors. On this in the centre stands a Doric portico of six columns, and at the ends narrower colonnades of four shafts each. Between themstretches a long range of windows with simple, well-designedarchitraves. The only thing, apart from its unfinished condition, whichshows that the hospital is not in England, are some colossal figures ofsaints which stand above the cornice, and are entirely un-English instyle. 

Of later buildings little can be said. Many country houses are pleasingfrom their complete simplicity; plastered, and washed pink, yellow, orwhite, they are devoid of all architectural pretension, and their lowroofs of red pantiles look much more natural than do the steep slatedroofs of some of the more modern villas. 

The only unusual point about these Portuguese houses is that, as a rule, they have sash windows, a form of window so rare in the South that oneis tempted to see in them one of the results of the Methuen Treaty andof the long intercourse with England. The chimneys, too, are ofteninteresting. Near Lisbon they are long, narrow oblongs, with a curvedtop--not unlike a tombstone in shape--from which the smoke escapes by along narrow slit. Elsewhere the smoke escapes through a picturesquearrangement of tiles, and hardly anywhere is there to be seen a simplestraight shaft with a chimney can at the top. 

For twenty years after the end of the Peninsular War the country was ina more or less disturbed state. And it was only after Dom Miguel hadbeen defeated and expelled, and the more liberal party who supportedDona Maria II. Had won the day, that Portugal again began to revive. 

In 1834, the year which saw Dom Miguel's surrender, all monasteriesthroughout the country were suppressed, and the monks turned out. Evenmore melancholy was the fate of the nuns, for they were allowed to stayon till the last should have died. In some cases one or two survivednearly seventy years, watching the gradual decay of their homes, a decaythey were powerless to arrest, till, when their death at last set theconvents free, they were found, with leaking roofs, and rotten floors, almost too ruinous to be put to any use. 

The Gothic revival has not been altogether without its effects inPortugal. Batalha has been, and Alcobaça is being, saved from ruin. TheSé Velha at Coimbra has been purged--too drastically perhaps--of all theadditions and disfigurements of the eighteenth century, and the same isbeing done with the cathedral of Lisbon. 

Such new buildings as have been put up are usually much less successful. Nothing can exceed the ugliness of the new domed tower of the church ofBelem, or of the upper story imposed on the long undercroft. Nor can thenew railway station in the Manoelino style be admired. 

Probably the best of such attempts to copy the art of Portugal'sgreatest age is found at Bussaco, where the hotel, with its arcadedgalleries and its great sphere-bearing spire, is not unworthy of thesixteenth century, and where the carving, usually the spontaneous workof uninstructed men, shows that some of the mediæval skill, as well assome of the mediæval methods, have survived till the present century. 

BOOKS CONSULTED

Hieronymi Osorii Lusitani, Silvensis in Algarviis Episcopi: _Derebus Emmanuelis, etc. _ Cologne, 1597. 

Padre Ignacio da Piedade e Vasconcellos: _Historia de SantaremEdificada_. Lisboa Occidental, 1790. 

J. Murphy: _History and Description of the Royal Convent ofBatalha_. London, 1792. 

Raczynski: _Les Arts en Portugal_. Paris, 1846. 

Raczynski: _Diccionaire Historico-Artistique du Portugal_. Paris, 1847. 

J. C. Robinson: 'Portuguese School of Painting' in the _Fine ArtsQuarterly Review_. 1866. 

Simões, A. F. : _Architectura Religiosa em Coimbra na Idade Meia_. 

Ignacio de Vilhena Barbosa: _Monumentos de Portugal Historicos, etc. _ Lisboa, 1886. 

Oliveira Martims: _Historia de Portugal_. 

Pinho Leal: _Diccionario Geographico de Portugal_. 

Albrecht Haupt: _Die Baukunst der Renaissance in Portugal_. Frankfurt A. M. , 1890. 

Visconde de Condeixa: _O Mosteiro da Batalha em Portugal_. Lisboa &Paris. 

Justi: 'Die Portugiesische Malerei des 16ten Jahrhunderts' in the_Jahrbuch der K. Preuss. Kunstsammlung_, vol. Ix. Berlin, 1888. 

Joaquim Rasteiro: _Quinta e Palacio de Bacalhôa em Azeitão_. Lisboa, 1895. 

Joaquim de Vasconcellos: 'Batalha' & 'São Marcos' from _A Arte e aNatureza em Portugal. _ Ed. E. Biel e Cie. Porto. 

L. R. D. : _Roteiro Illustrado do Viajante em Coimbra_. Coimbra, 1894. 

Caetano da Camara Manoel: _Atravez a Cidade de Evora, etc. _ Evora, 1900. 

Conde de Sabugosa: _O Paço de Cintra_. Lisboa, 1903. 

Augusto Fuschini: _A Architectura Religiosa da Edade Média_. Lisboa, 1904. 

José Queiroz: _Ceramica Portugueza_. Lisboa, 1907. 

INDEX

A

Abd-el-Melik, 244. 

Abrantes, 41, 103. 

Abreu, L. L. D', 233. 

Abu-Zakariah, the vezir, 44. 

Affonso II. , 64, 65. ---- III. , 7, 64, 67, 68, 75, 116. ---- IV. , 43, 73, 74, 76. ---- V. , 92, 101, 102, 127, 134, 143, 161, 171, 176. ---- VI. , 24, 127. ---- I. , Henriques, 6, 31, 38, 40, 41, 44, 51, 117, 166, 196, 197. ---- of Portugal, Bishop of Evora, 19. ---- son of João I. , 261. ---- son of João II. , 144. 

Africa, 66, 144, 161. 

Aguas Santas, 33, 136. 

Agua de Peixes, 131. 

Ahmedabad, 159, 176, 180. 

Albuquerque, Affonso de, 25, 144, 158, 170, 183, 255. ---- Luis de, 180, 183 _n. _

Alcacer-Quebir, battle of, 216, 244. 

Alcacer Seguer, 102. 

Alcantara, 28. 

Alcobaça, 44, 45, 48, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 68, 70, 71, 75-78, 82, 166, 204, 206, 223, 227, 231, 270. 

Al-Coraxi, emir, 42. 

Alemquer, 217. 

Alemtejo, 1, 10, 51, 100, 129, 143. 

Alexander VI. , Pope, 158. 

Alfonso VI. Of Castile and Leon, 6, 117. ---- VII. Of Castile and Leon, 6, 7, 38, 39. ---- X. Of Castile and Leon, 68. 

Alga, San Giorgio in, 133. 

Algarve, the, 7, 67, 68, 116, 219. 

Alhambra, the, 120, 128. 

Aljubarrota, battle of, 7, 18, 80, 93, 98. 

Almada, Rodrigo Ruy de, 11. 

Almansor, 30, 42. 

Almeida, Bishop Jorge d', 21, 48, 206, 208, 209, 210. 

Almeirim, palace of, 122, 144, 229, 240. 

Almeixial, battle of, 262. 

Almourol, 41. 

Almoravides, the, 6. 

Alvares, the, 49, 242, 244. ---- Baltazar, 252, 253. ---- Fernando, 19. 

Alvito, 27, 100, 129-132, 255. 

Amarante, 237. 

Amaro, Sant', 27. 

Amboise, Georges d', 202. 

Ançã, 204. 

Andalucia, 4. 

Andrade, Fernão Peres de, 144. 

Angra do Heroismo, in the Azores, 260. 

Annes, Canon Gonçalo, 20 _n. _ ---- Margarida, 91 _n. _ ---- Pedro, 197. 

Antunes, Aleixo, 228. 

Antwerp, 11. 

Arabes, Sala dos, Cintra, 23, 24, 124. 

Aragon, 5. 

Arganil, Counts of, 206, 207. 

Arraes, Frey Amador, 252. 

Arruda, Diogo de, 162. 

Astorga, 41. 

Asturias, 5. ---- Enrique, Prince of the, 81. 

Augustus, reign of, 3. 

Ave, river, 2, 29, 31, 107. 

Aveiro, convent at, 142. ---- the Duque d', 140. ---- Dukes of, 251. 

Avignon, 161. 

Aviz, House of, 8. 

Azeitão, 255. 

Azila, in Morocco, 134, 243, 244. 

Azurara, 63, 107, 108, 136. 

B

Bacalhôa, Quinta de, 22, 25, 27, 176 _n. _, 183, 255. 

Barbosa, Francisco, 212. ---- Gonzalo Gil, 212. 

Barcellos, 127. 

Barcelona, 5. 

Batalha, 24, 61 _n. _, 62, 63, 65, 70, 78, 80-92, 95, 96, 97, 99, 109, 159, 171-181, 193, 194, 204, 224, 227, 230-233, 270. 

Bayão, Gonçalo, 240. 

Bayona, in Galicia, 39. 

Beatriz, Dona, wife of Charles III. Of Savoy, 14. ---- Queen of Affonso III. , 68, 75. ---- ---- Affonso IV. , 117. 

Bebedim, 116, 168 _n. _

Beckford, 59. 

Beira, 1, 7, 64. 

Beja, 7, 51, 69, 148, 255, 256. ---- Luis, Duke of, 14. 

Belem, 14, 15, 16, 20, 28, 100, 104, 162, 164, 166, 171, 172, 177, 183-195, 221, 222, 227, 231, 241, 271. 

 ---- Tower of São Vicente, 146, 179, 181-183, 194. 

Bernardo (of Santiago), 36, 48 _n. _ ---- Master, 48. 

Bernard, St. , of Clairvaux, 59. 

Boelhe, 32. 

Bonacofú, 102. 

Boulogne, Countess of, 68, 75. 

Boutaca, or Boitaca, 147, 149, 184, 231. 

Braga, 2, 3, 18, 19, 31, 34-40, 52, 62, 67, 98, 99, 104, 112-115. 

Braganza, Archbishop José de, 114 _n. _ ---- Catherine, Duchess of, 244, 261. ---- Duke of, 143. ---- Dukes of, 127. ---- João, Duke of, 261. 

Brandão, Francisco, 11. 

Brazil, 8, 66, 144, 158, 160, 222, 243, 244, 261, 262. 

Brazil, Pedro of, 8. 

Brazões, Sala dos, Cintra, 24, 126, 138, 151. 

Brites, Dona, daughter of Fernando I. , 80. ---- ---- mother of D. Manoel, 25, 183 _n. _

Buchanan, George, 198 _n. _

Bugimaa, 116, 168 _n. _

Burgos, 90. 

Burgundy, Count Henry of, 6, 37, 41, 42, 114, 117. ---- Isabel, Duchess of, 11, 98 _n. _, 120. 

Bussaco, 271. 

C

Cabral, Pedro Alvares, 8, 101, 144, 158, 170, 206. 

Caldas da Rainha, 27, 146, 147. 

Cales, 6. 

Calicut, Portuguese at, 8, 144, 157, 158, 183. 

Calixtus III. , Pope, 161. 

Câmara, Luis Gonçalves de, 243. 

Caminha, 27, 109, 110, 136, 137, 218, 220. 

Cantabrian Mountains, 1, 5. 

Cantanhede, 215 _n. _

Canterbury Cathedral, 82. 

Canton, Portuguese at, 144. 

Cão, Diogo, 143. 

Cardiga, 229. 

Carlos, Frey, painter, 12. 

Carnide, Pero de, 149. 

Carreira, house of Visconde de, 254. 

Carreiro, Pero, 212. 

Carta, Diogo da, 192. 

Carvalho, Pero, 229. 

Castello Branco, Cardinal Affonso de, 19, 20, 140, 250. 

Castile, 5, 6, 7, 44, 80. ---- Constance of, 80, 81. 

Castilho, Diogo de, 188, 196, 198, 199. ---- João de, 22, 28, 72, 162, 164-166, 169, 171, 172, 184, 195, 196, 199, 200, 212, 222-239. ---- Maria de, 162. 

Castro de Avelans, 58. ---- Guiomar de, 213, 215. ---- Inez de, 38, 62, 76-78, 88. ---- Isabel de, 102. 

Castro-Marim, 161. 

Cataluña, 5, 262. 

Catharina, queen of João III. , 240, 243. 

Cavado, river, 29. 

Cellas, 70. 

Cêras, 55. 

Cetobriga, 2, 4. 

Ceuta, 88, 100, 101, 262. 

Ceylon, loss of, 244. 

Chambers, 269. 

Chantranez, Nicolas. See Nicolas, Master. 

Chelb. See Silves. 

Chillenden, Prior, 82. 

Chimneys, 270. 

China, Portuguese in, 158. 

Christo de la Luz, 116. 

Churriguera, 269. 

Cintra, 21, 22, 23, 28, 116-128, 130, 136-138, 148, 184, 215, 216. 

Citania, 2, 3. 

Clairvaux, 59, 60. 

Claustro Real, Batalha, 178-180. 

Clement v. , Pope, 161. 

Coca, in Spain, 183. 

Cochin, Portuguese in, 158. 

Cogominho, Pedro Esteves, 94. 

Coimbra, 16, 17, 19, 30, 40, 44, 79, 80, 109, 184, 239, 244. ---- Archdeacon João de, 114. ---- Carmo, 252. ---- County of, 6. ---- Episcopal palace, 250. ---- Graça, 252. ---- Misericordia, 140, 250. ---- Pedro, Duke of, 88, 101. ---- São Bento, 252. ---- São Domingos, 251. ---- São Thomaz, 237. ---- Sta. Clara, 72. New, 259. ---- Sta. Cruz, 12, 13, 20, 151, 153, 160, 188, 192, 196-200, 214, 215, 234, 258. ---- Sé Nova, 248, 253, 259. ---- Sé Velha, 19, 23, 41, 45, 49-51, 54, 62, 63, 71, 110, 206-210, 251, 270. ---- University, 59, 141, 153, 198, 268. 

Columbus, Christopher, 8, 143. 

Condeixa, 2, 3. ---- Visconde de, 89. 

Conimbriga, 2, 3. 

Conselbo, Sala do, Cintra, 24, 121. 

Cordeiro, Johan, 149. 

Cordoba, 116. 

Coro, the, Thomar, 161-170. 

Coutinho, Beatriz, 101. 

Crato, Prior of, 244. 

Cunha, João Lourenço da, 74 _n. _ ---- Tristão da, 170. 

Cyprus, 89. 

Cysnes, Sala de. See Swan Hall. 

D

Dartmouth, 44. 

David, Gerhard, 12. 

Delhi, Old, Kutub at, 176. 

Diana, Pateo de, Cintra, 24, 125. 

Diaz, Bartholomeu, 143, 170. 

Diniz, Dom, King, 7, 59, 62, 69, 72, 117, 161, 167, 223. ---- ---- son of Inez de Castro, 79. 

Diogo, Duke of Vizen, 143, 161. 

D'ipri, João, 49, 287. 

Diu, 158. 

Domingues, Affonso, 71, 82, 90. ---- Domingo, 71, 82. 

Douro, river, 1, 2, 5, 6, 44, 256. 

Dralia, Johannes, 13. 

Duarte, Dom, 88, 91, 101, 122, 171, 172. 

Durando, Bishop of Evora, 51, 54. 

Dürer, Albert, 11. 

E

Eannes, Affonso, 98. ---- Diogo, 109. ---- Gonçalo, 98. ---- Rodrigo, 98. 

Earthquake at Lisbon, 8, 98, 192, 267, 268. 

Ebro, river, 5. 

Eduard, Felipe, 239. See Uduarte. 

Ega, 117. 

Egas Moniz, 7, 38, 39, 41. 

Eja, 32. 

El-Kasar-el-Kebir, 244. 

Elsden, William, 60. 

Elvas, 28, 152, 236. 

English influence, supposed, 82-92. 

Entre Minho e Douro, 29, 30. 

Escorial, the, 247, 263-266. 

Escudos, Sala dos. See Sala dos Brazões. 

Espinheiro, 12. 

Essex, Earl of, 68. 

Estaço, Gaspar, 93 _n. _

Esteves, Pedro, 94. 

Estrella, Serra d', 1. 

Estremadura, 1, 2, 64. 

Estremoz, 219. 

Eugenius IV. , Pope, 161. 

Evora, 2, 9 _n. _, 12, 51, 129, 143, 183, 198, 241. ---- Cartuxa, 255. ---- Fernão d', 92. ---- Graça, 242. ---- Henrique, Archbishop of, 14, 20. ---- Monte, 9. ---- Morgado de Cordovis, 132. ---- Paços Reaes, 132. ---- Resende, House of, 146, 148, 179. ---- São Braz, 135. ---- São Domingos, 219. ---- São Francisco, 134, 163. ---- Sé, 17, 19, 30, 51-55, 62, 64, 71, 72, 89, 192, 260, 262, 267. ---- Temple, 4. ---- University, 243. 

Eyck, J. Van, 11. 

F

Familicão, 32. 

Faro, 68 _n. _, 237. 

Felix, the goldsmith, 18. 

Fenacho, João, 154. 

Fernandes, Antonius, 200. ---- Diogo, 159. ---- Lourenço, 184. ---- Matheus, sen. , 171, 172, 175, 200, 222, 230. ---- Matheus, jun. , 171, 175, 178, 179, 200, 222, 230. ---- Thomas, 159. ---- Vasco, 12. 

Ferdinand and Isabella (the Catholic king), 87, 144, 189. 

Fernando I. Of Castile and Leon, 5, 6, 44, 47. ---- I. , Dom, 7, 74, 76, 78, 79. ---- son of João I. , 88. ---- ---- Dom Duarte, 161. 

Figueira de Foz, 212. 

Figueredo, Christovão de, 198, 200, 201. 

Flanders, Isabel of. See Burgundy, Duchess of. 

Fontenay, 59, 71. 

Fontfroide, 71. 

Furness, 59. 

Funchal, in Madeira, 67, 110, 136, 137, 192, 206, 211. 

G

Galicia, 2, 5, 6, 7, 29, 42, 44, 67. 

Gama, Vasco da, 8, 125, 143, 144, 157, 170, 183, 185, 188, 195, 206. 

Gandara, 32. 

Garcia, King of Galicia, 6. 

Gata, Sierra de, 1. 

Gaunt, John of, 80, 81. ---- ---- Philippa, daughter of. See Lancaster, Philippa of. 

Gerez, the, 1, 3, 29. 

Gilberto, Bishop. See Hastings, Gilbert of. 

Giraldo, São, 18. 

Giustiniani, San Lorenzo, 28, 133. 

Gôa (India), 20, 144, 158, 200, 234 _n. _

Goes, 219. ---- Damião de, 11, 145. 

Gollegã, 151, 152, 153. 

Gomes, Gonçalo, 149. 

Gonsalves, André, 149. ---- Eytor, 198. 

Goth, Bertrand de. See Clement V. 

Granada, 116, 161. 

Guadiana, river, 1. 

Guarda, 33, 61 _n. _, 62, 95-99, 151, 238. ---- Fernando, Duke of, 14. 

Guadelete, 5. 

Guimarães, 2, 3, 7, 17, 18, 19, 20, 31, 38, 41, 42, 63, 65, 70, 80, 93, 94, 103, 127, 269. ---- Duarte, Duke of, 14, 244, 261. 

Gujerat, 159, 183. 

Guntino, Abbot, 73. 

Guzman, Beatriz de, 68. See Beatriz, Queen of Affonso III. ---- Luisa, Queen of João IV. , 261. 

H

Haro, Dona Mencia de, 67. 

Hastings, Gilbert of, 45, 55. 

Haupt, Albrecht, 82, 85, 130, 159, 176, 177, 183. 

Henares, Alcalá de, 234. 

Henriques, Francisco, 135. 

Henry, Cardinal King, 14, 20, 59, 72, 144, 222, 223, 241-244, 261. ---- Prince, the Navigator, Duke of Vizen, 8, 70, 88, 102, 103, 161, 169, 170, 183, 188, 195. ---- VII. Of England, 166. 

Herculano, 185. 

Herrera, 247. 

Hollanda, Antonio de, 16, 17. ---- Francisco de, 17. 

Holy Constable. See Pereira, Nuno Alvares. 

Huguet (Ouguet, or Huet), 82, 90, 91, 98, 178. 

I

Idacius, 4. 

Idanha a Velha, 57. 

India, 66, 144, 159, 243. 

Indian influence, supposed, 159, 183. 

Inquisition, the, 222, 248. 

Isabel, St. , Queen, 19, 20, 72, 117, 260. ---- Queen of D. Manoel, 87, 144, 189. ---- Queen of Charles V. , 14, 244. 

Italian influence, 219. 

J

Jantar, Sala de, Cintra, 24, 123. 

Japan, Portuguese in, 158. 

Jeronymo, 203. 

Jews, expulsion of the, 144. 

João I. , 1, 8, 11, 18, 23, 24, 42, 80, 81, 84, 88, 93, 95, 101, 117, 122, 123, 178, 244. ---- II. , 8, 25, 92, 97, 93, 130, 131, 143, 144, 161, 171, 176, 179, 181. ---- III. , 17, 95, 162, 185, 196, 198, 216, 218, 219, 221, 222, 224, 225, 236, 242, 243, 248, 251, 256. ---- IV. , 59, 261, 262. ---- V. , 262, 263, 267. ---- Dom, son of Inez de Castro, 79, 80. ---- ---- son of João I. , 88. 

John, Don, of Austria, son of Philip of Spain, 262. 

John XXII. , Pope, 161. 

José, Dom, 267. 

Junot, Marshal, 8. 

Justi, 12, 13. 

L

Lagos, São Sebastião at, 219. 

Lagrimas, Quinta das, 76. 

Lamego, 4, 9 _n. _, 44, 111, 237. 

Lancaster, Philippa of, 81, 84, 88, 89, 100, 122. 

Leça do Balio, 41, 42 _n. _, 63, 67, 73, 74, 79. 

Leiria, 33, 69, 260. 

Leyre, S. Salvador de, 35 _n. _

Lemos family, 219. 

Leo X. , Pope, 122. 

Leon, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 29, 44, 80. 

Leonor, Queen of João II. , 146, 153, 171. ---- Queen of D. Manoel, 14, 189. 

Lerma, Duque de, 261. 

Lima, river, 29. 

Lis, river, 69. 

Lisbon, 6, 9, 65, 157, 158, 159, 192, 227, 251, 261, 267. ---- Ajuda Palace, 268. ---- Carmo, 98, 99, 206. ---- ---- Museum, 78, 99. 

 ---- Cathedral, 38, 45-47, 49, 50, 52, 54, 61 _n. _, 71, 72, 74, 271. ---- Conceição Velha, 195. ---- Estrella, 268. ---- Madre de Deus, 26, 153, 155, 156. ---- Necessidades, Palace, 268. ---- São Bento, 253. ---- São Roque, 26, 242, 244, 245, 268. ---- São Vicente de Fora, 241, 245, 247, 253, 257, 268. ---- ---- house of Conde de, 236. ---- Santo Antão, 245, 247-248, 249, 250. ---- Sta. Maria do Desterro, 245, 248. ---- Torre do Tombo, 226 _n. _ ---- Torreão do Paço, 248. ---- University, 248. ---- Affonso, Archbishop of, 14. 

Lobo, Diogo, Barão d'Alvito, 131. 

Lobos, Ruy de Villa, 75. 

Loches, St. Ours, 126. 

Lopez, João, 254-255. 

Lorvão, 20, 237. 

Longuim, 202. 

Lourenço, Gregorio, 196, 197, 198, 201, 202. ---- Thereza, 76, 80. 

Louzã, 10 _n. _, 219. 

Loyos, the, 99, 133, 260. 

Ludovici, Frederic, 263, 267. 

Lupiana, Spain, 234 _n. _

Lusitania, 1, 4. 

M

Madrid, 10, 261. 

Mafamede, 116, 168. 

Mafra, 52, 260, 262, 263, 268. 

Malabar Coast, 157. 

Malacca, 158. 

Manoel, Dom, 11, 12, 14, 20, 24, 26, 54, 56, 71, 83, 87, 95, 97, 104, 105, 108-111, 117-119, 144, 157, 159, 162-169, 171-172, 189, 196, 198, 199, 205, 216, 218, 222, 244. 

Manuel, Jorge, 226 _n. _

Marão Mts. , 1, 29. 

Marceana, 217. 

Maria I. , 119, 121. ---- II. , da Gloria, 8, 256, 270. ---- Queen of Dom Manoel, 144, 189. 

Massena, General, 180. 

Matsys, Quentin, 13. 

Mattos, Francisco de, 22, 26, 28, 245 _n. _

Mazagão, Morocco, 227, 231. 

Meca, Terreiro da, 125, 127. 

Mecca, 158. 

Medina del Campo, Spain, 183. ---- Sidonia, Duke of, 261. 

Mello, family, 219. ---- Rodrigo Affonso de, 133, 134. 

Melrose, 59. 

Mendes, Hermengildo, Count of Tuy and Porto, 41. 

Menendes, Geda, 18. 

Menezes, Brites de, 212-215. ---- Duarte de, 57, 101, 102. ---- Fernão Telles de, 213. ---- Dona Leonor Telles de, 74 _n. _, 79. ---- Leonor de, daughter of D. Pedro, 100. ---- Pedro de, 100, 101. 

Merida, 4. 

Mertola, 116. 

Miguel, Dom, 8, 182, 256, 270. ---- Prince, son of D. Manoel, 144. ---- bishop of Coimbra, 18, 47, 48. 

Minho, river, 1, 64, 109. 

Miranda de Douro, 241. 

Moissac, 72. 

Moncorvo, 220. 

Mondego, river, 5, 30, 44, 73, 212, 251, 259. 

Montemor-o-Velho, 217. 

Montijo, battle of, 262. 

Morocco, 5, 21, 55, 88, 100, 121, 143, 171. 

Mulay-Ahmed, 243. 

Mumadona, Countess of Tuy and Porto, 41. 

Muñoz, assistant of Olivel of Ghent, 163. 

Murillo, 10. 

Murça, Diogo de, 252. 

Murphy, J. , 90 _n. _, 177. 

N

Nabantia. See Thomar. 

Nabão, river, 66, 234. 

Napier, Captain Charles, 9. 

Nassau, Maurice of, 262. 

Navarre, 5, 35 _n. _

Nicolas, Master, 164, 184, 196, 198, 199, 200, 215, 216, 218, 221, 222, 223, 238, 239. ---- V. , Pope, 161. 

Noronha, Bishop Manoel, 237. 

Noya, 254 _n. _

O

Oliva, Antonio ab, 28. 

Olivares, Conde, Duque de, 261. 

Olivel of Ghent, 135, 163. 

Oporto, 6, 9, 22, 41, 73, 80. ---- Cathedral, 37, 39, 71, 72. ---- Cedofeita, 5, 32. ---- Collegio Novo, 249, 259. ---- Hospital and Factory, 269, ---- Misericordia, 13, 19. ---- Nossa Senhors da Serra do Pilar, 256-8. ---- Quinta ado Freixo, 269. ---- São Bento, 253. ---- São Francisco, 63. ---- Torre dos Clerigos, 268. 

Order of Christ, the. See Thomar. 

Orense, in Galicia, 6, 66 _n. _, 254. 

Ormuz, Portuguese in, 144, 158. 

Ouguet. See Huguet. 

Ourem, Count of, 100. 

Ourique, 7, 51. 

Ovidio, Archbishop, 18. 

P

Pacheco, Lopo Fernandes, 75. ---- Maria Rodrigues, 75. 

Paço de Souza, 38, 40. 

Paes, Gualdim, 55, 56, 66, 117, 160, 167. 

Palmella, 28, 62. 

Pax Julia, the. See Beja. 

Payo, Bishop, of Evora, 51 _n. _

Pedro I. , 62, 76, 77, 79, 88. ---- II. , 25. ---- III. , 269. ---- son of João I. , Duke of Coimbra, 88. ---- the Cruel, Constance, daughter of, 80. 

Pegas, Sala das, Cintra, 24, 122, 145, 152. 

Pekin, Portuguese in, 144. 

Pelayo, Don, 5. 

Penafiel, Constança de, 76. 

Penha Longa, 236-237. ---- Verde, 236. 

Pereira, Nuno Alvares, 11, 98. 

Pero Pinheiro, 266. 

Persia, 124. 

Philip I. And II. , 7, 14, 144, 222, 240-244, 261, 263. ---- III. And IV. , 261. 

Philippe le Bel, 161. 

Pimentel, Frei Estevão Vasques, 73. 

Pinhal, 80. 

Pinheiro, Diogo, Bishop of Funchal, 211, 212. 

Pires Marcos, 153, 196-198, 200. 

Po, Fernando, 143. 

Pombal, Marques de, 8, 122, 151, 195, 243, 267. 

Pombeiro, 39, 40, 62. 

Ponza, Carlos de. See Captain Napier, 9. 

Pontigny, 60. 

Portalegre, 219, 260. 

Ptolomeu, Master, 18, 48 _n. _

Q

Queluz, 269. 

Quintal, Ayres do, 166, 168, 169. 

R

Rabat, minaret at, 168 _n. _, 180. 

Raczynski, Count, 11, 13, 160 _n. _, 214. 

Raimundes Alfonso. See Alfonso VII. 

Ranulph, Abbot, 59. 

Rates, São Pedro de, 3, 34, 36. 

Raymond, Count of Toulouse, 6. 

Resende, Garcia de, 146, 179, 181, 183. 

Restello, Nossa Senhora do, 183. 

Rio Mau, São Christovão do, 34. 

Robbia, della, 26, 176 _n. _

Robert, Master, 49, 50. 

Roderick, King, 5. 

Rodrigues, Alvaro, 162. ---- João, 171. ---- Jorge, 255. ---- Justa, 13, 147, 184. 

Roliça, battle of, 62 _n. _

Romans in Portugal, 2, 3, 4. 

Rome, embassy to, 1514, 183. 

Rouen, Jean de. See next. 

Ruão, João de, 192, 202-205, 215, 218, 238, 239. 

S

Sabrosa, 3. 

Salamanca, 54. 

Saldanha, Manoel de, 141. 

Sancha, Dona, 64, 70. 

Sancho, King of Castile, 6. 

Sancho I. , 7, 51, 52, 59, 64, 95, 197. ---- II. , 64, 67. 

Sansovino, Andrea da, 25, 130, 144, 164, 198, 214. 

São Marcos, 177, 184, 185, 211-216. ---- Theotonio, 196. ---- Thiago d'Antas, 32. ---- Torquato, 18, 33, 94. 

Santa Cruz. See Coimbra. ---- Maria da Victoria. See Batalha. 

Santarem, 6, 44, 55, 56, 229. ---- Graça, 53, 100, 104, 105, 211, 212. ---- Marvilla, 27, 152, 153, 156, 235. ---- Milagre, 234. ---- São Francisco, 57. 65, 67, 78, 83. ---- São João de Alporão, 56-57, 63, 64, 101. ---- Sta. Clara, 238. ---- Frey Martinho de, 101. 

Santiago, 36, 45, 47, 72, 254. 

Santos, 227 _n. _

Santo Thyrso, 70, 103. 

Sash windows, 270. 

Savoy, Margaret of, 261. 

Schomberg, Marshal, 262. 

Sebastião, Dom, 100, 121, 185, 240-244. 

Sem Pavor, Giraldo, 51. 

Sempre Noiva, 123, 133, 146. 

Sereias, Sala das, Cintra, 24, 122. 

Sesnando, Count, 5, 47. 

Setubal, 2, 4, 13, 147, 148, 154-156, 184. 

Seville, 42, 116, 157, 197. 

Silvas, the da, 211-215. 

Silva, Ayres Gomes da, 212, 213. ---- Miguel da, Bishop of Vizeu, 236. ---- Diogo da, 213, 217. ---- João da, 213, 218. ---- Lourenço da, 213, 216, 217. 

Silveira family, 219. 

Silves, 63, 67, 68, 116. 

Simão, 203. 

Sodre, Vicente, 158. 

Soeire, 48. 

Soult, Marshal, 17, 256. 

Soure, 55. 

Souza, Diogo de, Archbishop of Braga, 19, 113. ---- Gil de, 213. 

Sta. Maria a Velha, 59. 

St. James, 3. 

St. Vincent, Cape, battle of, 9. 

Suevi, 2, 4, 5, 32. 

Swan Hall, the, Cintra, 24, 119, 120, 137. 

T

Taipas, 3. 

Tagus, river, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 30, 51, 72 _n. _, 129, 144, 261. 

Tangier, 243. 

Tarragona, 37, 55. 

Tavira, 219, 236. 

Telles, Maria, 79. 

Templars, the, 55, 117, 160, 161. 

Tentugal, 212. 

Terzi, Filippo, 241, 242, 243, 244-253, 258, 260. 

Tetuan, in Morocco, 21. 

Theodomir, Suevic King, 5, 32. 

Theotonio, Archbishop of Evora, 255. 

Theresa, Dona, wife of Henry of Burgundy, 6, 37, 114. 

Thomar, 56, 116, 222, 244, 261. ---- Convent of the Order of Christ, 12, 17, 28, 50, 51, 55, 70, 103, 151, 157-170, 194, 206, 224-230, 240, 250, 255, 260. ---- Conceição, 231-234, 242. ---- Nossa Senhora do Olival, 63, 66, 68, 73, 74 _n. _, 211. ---- São João Baptista, 13, 105. 

Tinouco, João Nunes, 242, 247. 

Toledo, 6, 37, 48, 58, 116. ---- Juan Garcia de, 42, 93, 94. 

Torralva, Diogo de, 185, 226, 240-243, 250. 

Torre de Murta, 117. ---- de São Vicente. See Belem. 

Torres, Pero de, 149. ---- Pedro Fernandes de, 241. ---- Vedras, 267. 

Toulouse, St. Sernin at, 36, 45, 47. 

Trancoso, 33. 

Trava, Fernando Peres de, 6, 7. 

Traz os Montes, 1, 29, 220. 

Trofa, near Agueda, 219, 220. 

Troya, 3. 

Tua, river, 2. 

Turianno, 242. 

Tuy, 6, 41. 

U

Urraca, Queen of Castile and Leon, 6, 41. ---- Queen of Affonso II. , 11, 65. 

Uduarte, Philipo, 202. 

V

Vagos, Lords. See the da Silvas, 211. 

Valladolid, 247. 

Vandals, the, 4. 

Varziella, 215 _n. _

Vasari, 130. 

Vasco, Grão, 11, 12, 14, 112, 201. 

Vasconcellos, Senhora de, 174. 

Vasquez, Master, 91. 

Vaz, Leonardo, 185. 

Velasquez, 10. 

Vianna d'Alemtejo, 135. ---- do Castello, 254. 

Vicente, family of goldsmiths, 20. ---- João, 99. 

Vigo, 9. 

Viegas, Godinho, 34. 

Vilhegas, Diogo Ortiz de, Bishop of Vizeu, 16, 111. 

Vilhelmus, Doñus, 27. 

Vilhena, Antonia de, 213, 216. ---- Henrique de, 117. ---- Maria de, 213. 

Villa do Conde, 29 _n. _, 63, 106-108, 109, 136, 141, 142. ---- da Feira, 127, 128. ---- nova de Gaya, 256-258. 

Villa Viçosa, 202. 

Villar de Frades, 34-36, 99. 

Villarinho, 31. 

Vimaranes, 41. 

Visigoths, 1, 4, 5. 

Viterbo, San Martino al Cimino, near 60 _n. _

Vizeu, 11, 14, 16, 44, 111, 112, 143, 161, 206, 236, 237. ---- Diogo, Duke of, 143, 161. 

Vizella, 31. 

Vlimer, Master, 49, 110, 207. 

Vouga, river, 29. 

W

Walis, palace of, 117. 

Wellington, Duke of, 62, 77 _n. _, 241, 256. 

Windsor, Treaty of, 1386, 80. 

Y

Yakub, Emir of Morocco, 51, 56. 

Yokes, ox, 29 _n. _

Ypres, John of. See D'ipri. 

Yusuf, Emir of Morocco, 51. 

Z

Zalaca, battle of, 6. 

Zezere, river, 234. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The most noticeable difference in pronunciation, the Castilianguttural soft G and J, and the lisping of the Z or soft C seems to be ofcomparatively modern origin. However different such words as 'chave' and'llave, ' 'filho' and 'hijo, ' 'mão' and 'mano' may seem they are reallythe same in origin and derived from _clavis_, _filius_, and _manus_. 

[2] From the name of this dynasty Moabitin, which means fanatic, isderived the word Maravedi or Morabitino, long given in the Peninsula toa coin which was first struck in Morocco. 

[3] The last nun in a convent at Evora only died in 1903, which musthave been at least seventy years after she had taken the veil. 

[4] A narcissus triandrus with a white perianth and yellow cup is foundnear Lamego and at Louzã, not far from Coimbra. 

[5] See article by C. Justi, 'Die Portugesische Malerei des xvi. Jahrhunderts, ' in vol. Ix. Of the _Jahrbuch der K. PreussischenKunstsammlungen_. 

[6] Raczynski, _Les Arts en Portugal_. 

[7] These are the 'Annunciation, ' the 'Risen Lord appearing to HisMother, ' the 'Ascension, ' the 'Assumption, ' the 'Good Shepherd, ' andperhaps a 'Pentecost' and a 'Nativity. '

[8] V. Guimarães, _A Ordem de Christo_, p. 155. 

[9] A. Hapt, _Die Baukunst, etc. , in Portugal_, vol. Ii. P. 36. 

[10] These may perhaps be by the so-called Master of São Bento, to whomare attributed a 'Visitation'--in which Chastity, Poverty, and Humilityfollow the Virgin--and a 'Presentation, ' both now in Lisbon. Somepaintings in São Francisco Evora seem to be by the same hand. 

[11] Misericordia=the corporation that owns and manages all thehospitals, asylums, and other charitable institutions in the town. Thereis one in almost every town in the country. 

[12] She seems almost too old to be Dona Leonor and may be Dona Maria. 

[13] His first wife was Dona Isabel, eldest daughter and heiress to theCatholic Kings. She died in 1498 leaving an infant son Dom Miguel, heirto Castile and Aragon as well as to Portugal. He died two years laterwhen Dom Manoel married his first wife's sister, Dona Maria, by whom hehad six sons and two daughters. She died in 1517, and next year hemarried her niece Dona Leonor, sister of Charles V. And daughter of MadJuana. She had at first been betrothed to his eldest son Dom João. Allthese marriages were made in the hope of succeeding to the Spanishthrone. 

[14] Some authorities doubt the identification of the king and queen. But there is a distinct likeness between the figures of Dom Manoel andhis queen which adorn the west door of the church at Belem, and theportrait of the king and queen in this picture. 

[15] It has been reproduced by the Arundel Society, but the copyist hasentirely missed the splendid solemnity of St. Peter's face. 

[16] See 'Portuguese School of Painting, ' by J. C. Robinson, in the_Fine Arts Quarterly_ of 1866. 

[17] Vieira Guimarães, _A Ordem de Christo_, p. 150. 

[18] _Ibid. _, p. 157. 

[19] Carriage hire is still cheap in Portugal, for in 1904 only 6$000was paid for a carriage from Thomar to Leiria, a distance of overthirty-five miles, though the driver and horses had to stay at Leiriaall night and return next day. 6$000 was then barely over twentyshillings. 

[20] It was the gift of Bishop Affonso of Portugal who held the see from1485 to 1522. 

[21] This monstrance was given by Bishop Dom Jorge d'Almeida who died in1543, having governed the see for sixty-two years. (Fig. 7. )

[22] Presented by Canon Gonçalo Annes in 1534. 

[23] D. Francisco Simonet, professor of Arabic at Granada. Note in _Paçode Cintra_, p. 206. 

[24] See Miss I. Savory, _In the Tail of the Peacock_. 

[25] A common pattern found at Bacalhôa, near Setubal, in the Museum atOporto, and in the Corporation Galleries of Glasgow, where it is said tohave come from Valencia in Spain. 

[26] Joaquim Rasteiro, _Palacio e Quinta de Bacalhôa em Azeitão_. Lisbon, 1895. 

[27] Columns with corbel capitals support a house on the right. Suchcapitals were common in Spain, so it is just possible that these tilesmay have been made in Spain. 

[28] Antonio ab Oliva=Antonio de Oliveira Bernardes, who also paintedthe tiles in São Pedro de Rates. 

[29] _E. G. _ in the church of the Misericordia Vianna do Castello, thecloister at Oporto, the Graça Santarem, Sta. Cruz Coimbra, the Sé, Lisbon, and in many other places. 

[30] Paço de Cintra, _Cond. De Sabugosa_. Lisbon, 1903. 

[31] These yokes are about 4 or 5 feet long by 18 inches or 2 feetbroad, are made of walnut, and covered with the most intricate piercedpatterns. Each parish or district, though no two are ever exactly alike, has its own design. The most elaborate, which are also often paintedbright red, green, and yellow are found south of the Douro near Espinho. Further north at Villa do Conde they are much less elaborate, thepiercings being fewer and larger. Nor do they extend far up the Douro asin the wine country in Tras-os-Montes the oxen, darker and with shorterhorns, pull not from the shoulder but from the forehead, to which arefastened large black leather cushions trimmed with red wool. 

[32] Originally there was a bell-gable above the narthex door, sincereplaced by a low square tower resting on the north-west corner of thenarthex and capped by a plastered spire. 

[33]

Theodomir rex gloriosus v. Erex. & contrux. Hoc. Monast. Can. B. Aug. Ad. Gl. D. Et V. M. G. D. & B. Martini et fecit ita so: lemnit:sacrari ab Lucrec. Ep. Brac. Et alliis sub. J. III. P. M. Prid. Idus. Nov. An. D. DLIX. Post id. Rex in hac eccl. Ab. Eod. Ep. Palam bapt. Et fil. Ariamir cum magnat. Suis. Omnes conversi adfid. Ob. V. Reg. & mirab. In fil. Ex sacr. Reliq. B. M. A Galiis eo. Reg. Postul translatis & hic asservatis Kal. Jan. An. D. DLX. 

[34] From M. Bernardes, _Tratados Varios_, vol. Ii. P. 4. The same storyis told of the monastery of San Salvador de Leyre in Navarre, whoseabbot, Virila, wondering how it could be possible to listen to theheavenly choirs for ever without weariness, sat down to rest by a springwhich may still be seen, and there listened, enchanted, to the singingof a bird for three hundred years. 

[35] _E. G. _ the west door of Ste. Croix, Bordeaux, though it is ofcourse very much more elaborate. 

[36] Namely, to give back some Galician towns which had been captured. 

[37] Bayona is one of the most curious and unusual churches in the northof Spain. Unfortunately, during a restoration made a few years ago aplaster groined vault was added hiding the old wooden roof. 

[38]

The tomb is inscribed: Hic requiescit Fys: Dei: Egas: Monis: Vir: Inclitus: era: millesima: centesima: LXXXII _i. E. _ Era of Caesar 1182, A. D. 1144. 

[39] He died soon after at Medinaceli, and a Christian contemporarywriter records the fact saying: 'This day died Al-Mansor. He desecratedSantiago, and destroyed Pampluna, Leon and Barcelona. He was buried inHell. '

[40] Another cloister-like building of even earlier date is to be foundbehind the fourteenth-century church of Leça de Balio: it was builtprobably after the decayed church had been granted to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. (Fig. 17. )

[41] A careful restoration is now being carried out under the directionof Senhor Fuschini. 

[42] The inscription is mutilated at both ends and seems to read, 'Ahmed-ben-Ishmael built it strongly by order of ... '

[43] It is a pity that the difference in date makes it impossible toidentify this Bernardo with the Bernardo who built Santiago. For thework Dom Miguel gave 500 morabitinos, besides a yoke of oxen worth 12, also silver altar fronts made by Master Ptolomeu. Besides the moneyBernardo received a suit of clothes worth 3 morabitinos and food at theepiscopal table, while Soeiro his successor got a suit of clothes, aquintal of wine, and a mora of bread. The bishop also gave a great dealof church plate showing that the cathedral was practically finishedbefore his death. 

[44] Compare the doorlike window of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira atGuimarães. 

[45] The small church of São Salvador has also an old door, plainer andsmaller than São Thiago. 

[46] The five small shields with the Wounds of Christ on the Portuguesecoat are supposed to have been adopted because on the eve of this battleChrist crucified appeared to Affonso and promised him victory, andbecause five kings were defeated. 

[47] Andre de Rezende, a fifteenth-century antiquary, says, quoting froman old 'book of anniversaries': 'Each year an anniversary is held inmemory of Bishop D. Payo on St. Mark's Day, that is May 21st, on whichday he laid the first stone for the foundation of this cathedral, on thespot where now is St. Mark's Altar, and he lies behind the said placeand altar in the Chapel of St. John. This church was founded Era 1224, '_i. E. _ 1186 A. D. D. Payo became bishop in 1181. Another stone in thechancel records the death, in era 1321, _i. E. _ 1283 A. D. , of Bishop D. Durando, 'who built and enriched this cathedral with his alms, ' butprobably he only made some additions, perhaps the central lantern. 

[48] It was built 1718-1746 by Ludovici or Ludwig the architect of Mafraand cost 160:000$000 or about £30, 000. 

[49] The whole inscription, the first part occurring also on a stone inthe castle, runs thus:--

E (i. E. Era) MC : L[~X]. VIII. Regnant : Afonso : illustrisimo regePortugalis : magister : galdinus : Portugalensium : Militum Templi : cumfratribus suis Primo : die : Marcii : cepit edificari : hoc : castellu :n[=m]e Thomar : q[=o]d : prefatus rex obtulit : Deo : et militibus :Templi : E. M. CC. XX. VIII : III. Mens. : Julii : venit rex de maroqisducens : CCCC milia equit[=u] : et quingenta milia : pedit[=u]m : etobsedit castrum istud : per sex Dies : et delevit : quantum extra :murum invenit : castell[=u] : et prefatus : magister : c[=u] : fratribussuis liberavit Deus : de manibus : suis Idem : rex : remeavit : inpatri[=a] : su[=a] : cu : innumerabili : detrimento : homin[=u] etbestiarum. 

[50] Cf. Templar church at Segovia, Old Castile, where, however, theinterior octagon is nearly solid with very small openings, and a vaultover the lower story; it has also three eastern apses. 

[51] There is a corbel table like it but more elaborate at Vezelay inBurgundy. 

[52] _E. G. _ in S. Martino al Cimino near Viterbo. 

[53] So says Murray. Vilhena Barbosa says 1676. 1770 seems the moreprobable. 

[54] Indeed to the end the native builders have been very chary ofbuilding churches with a high-groined vault and a well-developedclerestory. The nave of Batalha and of the cathedral of Guarda seem tobe almost the only examples which have survived, for Lisbon choir wasdestroyed by the great earthquake of 1755, as was also the church of theCarmo in the same city, which perhaps shows that they were right inrejecting such a method of construction in a country so liable to beshaken. 

[55] Cf. Similar corbel capitals in the nave of the cathedral of Orensein Galicia. 

[56] Before the Black Death, which reduced the number to eight, thereare said to have sometimes been as many as 999 monks!

[57] It was a monk of Alcobaça who came to General Wellesley on thenight of 16th August 1808, and told him that if he wished to catch theFrench he must be quick as they meant to retire early in the morning, thus enabling him to win the battle of Roliça, the first fight of thePeninsular War. 

[58] Cf. The clerestory windows of Burgos Cathedral, or those atDunblane, where as at Guimarães the circle merely rests on the lightsbelow without being properly united with them. 

[59] From the north-east corner of the narthex a door leads to thecloisters, which have a row of coupled shafts and small pointed arches. From the east walk a good doorway of Dom Manoel's time led into thechapter-house, now the barrack kitchen, the smoke from which hasentirely blackened alike the doorway and the cloister near. 

[60] Compare the horseshoe moulding on the south door of the cathedralof Orense, Galicia, begun 1120, where, however, each horseshoe isseparated from the next by a deep groove. 

[61] The town having much decayed owing to fevers and to the gradualshallowing of the river the see was transferred to Faro in 1579. Thecathedral there, sacked by Essex in 1596, and shattered by theearthquake of 1755, has little left of its original work except thestump of a west tower standing on a porch open on three sides with plainpointed arches, and leading to the church on the fourth by a door onlyremarkable for the dog-tooth of its hood-mould. 

[62] The towers stand quite separate from the walls and are united tothem by wide round arches. 

[63] In the dilapidated courtyard of the castle there is one verypicturesque window of Dom Manoel's time (his father the duke of Beja isburied in the church of the Conceição in the town). 

[64] An inscription says:--

'Era 1362 [i. E. A. D. 1324] anos foiesta tore co (meçad) a (aos) 8dias demaio. é mandou a faze (ro muito) nobre Dom Dinizrei de P... '

[65] Just outside the castle there is a good romanesque door belongingto a now desecrated church. 

[66] Some of the distinctive features of Norman such as cushion capitalsseem to be unknown in Normandy and not to be found any nearer thanLombardy. 

[67] Sub Era MCCCXLVIII. Idus Aprilis, Dnus Nuni Abbas monasterij deAlcobatie posuit primam lapidem in fundamento Claustri ejusdem loci. Presente Dominico Dominici magistro operis dicti Claustri. Era 1348 =A. D. 1310. 

[68] It is interesting to notice that the master builder was calledDomingo Domingues, who, if Domingues was already a proper name and notstill merely a patronymic, may have been the ancestor of AffonsoDomingues who built Batalha some eighty years later and died 1402. 

[69] In this cloister are kept in a cage some unhappy ravens in memoryof their ancestors having guided the boat which miraculously brought St. Vincent's body to the Tagus. 

[70] Cf. The aisle windows of Sta. Maria dos Olivaes at Thomar. 

[71] It was at Leça that Dom Fernando in 1372 announced his marriagewith Dona Leonor Telles de Menezes, the wife of João Lourenço da Cunha, whom he had seen at his sister's wedding, and whom he married though hewas himself betrothed to a daughter of the Castilian king, and thoughDona Leonor's husband was still alive: a marriage which nearly ruinedPortugal, and caused the extinction of the legitimate branch of thehouse of Burgundy. 

[72] Opening off the north-west corner of the cathedral is an apsidalchapel of about the same period, entered by a fine pointed door, one ofwhose mouldings is enriched by an early-looking chevron, but whose realdate is shown by the leaf-carving of its capitals. 

[73] A note in Sir H. Maxwell's _Life of Wellington_, vol. I. P. 215, says of Alcobaça: 'They had burned what they could and destroyed theremainder with an immense deal of trouble. The embalmed kings and queenswere taken out of their tombs, and I saw them lying in as greatpreservation as the day they were interred. The fine tesselatedpavement, from the entrance to the Altar, was picked up, the facings ofthe stone pillars were destroyed nearly to the top, scaffolding havingbeen erected for that purpose. An orderly book found near the placeshowed that regular parties had been ordered for the purpose'(Tomkinson, 77). 

[74] There is in the Carmo Museum at Lisbon a fine tomb to Dom Fernando, Dom Pedro's unfortunate successor. It was brought from São Francisco atSantarem, but is very much less elaborate, having three panels on eachside filled with variously shaped cuspings, enclosing shields, allbeautifully wrought. 

[75] Another trophy is now at Alcobaça in the shape of a huge coppercaldron some four feet in diameter. 

[76] This site at Pinhal was bought from one Egas Coelho. 

[77] Though a good deal larger than most Portuguese churches, except ofcourse Alcobaça, the church is not really very large. Its total lengthis about 265 feet with a transept of about 109 feet long. The centralaisle is about 25 feet wide by 106 high--an unusual proportion anywhere. 

[78] Albrecht Haupt, _Die Baukunst der Renaissance in Portugal_, saysthat 'Der Plan durchaus englisch ist (Lang-und Querschiff fast ganzidentisch mit dener der Kathedral zu Canterbury, nur thurmlos). '

[79] This spire has been rebuilt since the earthquake of 1755, and somay be quite different from that originally intended. 

[80] In his book on Batalha, Murphy, who stayed in the abbey for somemonths towards the end of the eighteenth century, gives an engraving ofan open-work spire on this chapel, saying it had been destroyed in 1755. 

[81] Huguet witnessed a document dated December 7, 1402, concerning apiece of land belonging to Margarida Annes, servant to AffonsoDomingues, master of the works, and his name also occurs in a documentof 1450 as having had a house granted to him by Dom Duarte, but he musthave been dead some time before that as his successor as master of theworks, Master Vasquez, was already dead before 1448. Probably Huguetdied about 1440. 

[82] Caspar Estaço, writing in the sixteenth century, says that thistriptych was made of the silver against which King João weighed himself, but the story of its capture at Aljubarrota seems the older tradition. 

[83] These capitals have the distinctive Manoelino feature of themoulding just under the eight-sided abacus, being twisted like a rope orlike two interlacing branches. 

[84] The church was about 236 feet long with a transept of over 100feet, which is about the length of the Batalha transept. 

[85] She also sent the beautiful bronze tomb in which her eldest brotherAffonso, who died young, lies in the cathedral, Braga. The bronze effigylies on the top of an altar-tomb under a canopy upheld by two slenderbronze shafts. Unfortunately it is much damaged and stands in so dark acorner that it can scarcely be seen. 

[86] In one transept there is a very large blue tile picture. 

[87] The Aleo is still at Ceuta. In the cathedral Our Lady of Africaholds it in her hand, and it is given to each new governor on hisarrival as a symbol of office. 

[88] The inscription is:--

 Memoria de D. Duarte de Menezes Terceiro conde de Viana, Tronco dos condes de Tarouca. PrimeiroCapitão de Alcacer-Seguer, em Africa, que com quinhentos soldados defendeu esta praça contra cemmil Mouros, com os quaes teve muitos encontros, ficando n'ellescom grande honra e gloria. Morreu na serra de Bonacofú per salvar a vida do seu rei D. Affonso o Quinto. 

[89] When the tomb was moved from São Francisco, only one tooth, not afinger, was found inside. 

[90] Besides the church there is in Caminha a street in which most ofthe houses have charming doors and windows of about the same date as thechurch. 

[91] 1524 seems too early by some forty years. 

[92] The rest of the west front was rebuilt and the inside altered byArchbishop Dom José de Braganza, a son of Dom Pedro II. , about twohundred years ago. 

[93] A chapel was added at the back, and at a higher level some timeduring the seventeenth century to cover in one of the statues, that ofSt. Anthony of Padua, who was then becoming very popular. 

[94] This winding stair was built by Dom Manoel: cf. Some stairs atThomar. 

[95] A 'pelourinho' is a market cross. 

[96] The kitchens in the houses at Marrakesh and elsewhere in Moroccohave somewhat similar chimneys. See B. Meakin, _The Land of the Moors_. 

[97] 'Esta fortaleza se começou a xiij dagosto de mil cccc. L. P[N. Of T. Horizonal line through it] iiij por mãdado del Rey dõ Joam o segundonosso sõr e acabouse em tpõ del Rey dom Manoel o primeiro nosso Sñorfela per seus mãdados dom Diogo Lobo baram dalvito. '

[98] The house of the duke of Cadaval called 'Agua de Peixes, ' not veryfar off, has several windows in the same Moorish style. 

[99] Vilhena Barbosa, _Monumentos de Portugal_, p. 324. 

[100] Though the grammar seems a little doubtful this seems to mean

Since these by service wereAnd loyal efforts gained, By these and others like to themThey ought to be maintained. 

[101] One blank space in one of the corners is pointed out as havingcontained the arms of the Duque d'Aveiro beheaded for conspiracy in1758. In reality it was painted with the arms of the Coelhos, but theold boarding fell out and has never been replaced. 

[102] Affonso de Albuquerque took Ormuz in 1509 and Gôa next year. 

[103] Sumatra was visited in 1509. 

[104] Fernão Peres de Andrade established himself at Canton in 1517 andreached Pekin in 1521. 

[105] Compare the elaborate outlines of some Arab arches at the Alhambraor in Morocco. 

[106] Some have supposed that Boutaca was a foreigner, but there is aplace called Boutaca near Batalha, so he probably came from there. 

[107] Once the Madre de Deus was adorned with several della Robbiaplacques. They are now all gone. 

[108] Danver's _Portuguese in India_, vol. I. 

[109] See in Oliveira Martims' _Historia de Portugal_, vol. II. Ch. I. , the account of the Embassy sent to Pope Leo IX. By Dom Manoel in 1514. No such procession had been seen since the days of the Roman Empire. There were besides endless wealth, leopards from India, also an elephantwhich, on reaching the Castle of S. Angelo, filled its trunk withscented water and 'asperged' first the Pope and then the people. Thesewith a horse from Ormuz represented the East. Unfortunately therepresentative of Africa, a rhinoceros, died on the way. 

[110] Danver's _Portuguese in India_, vol. I. 

[111] Unfortunately Fernandes was one of the commonest of names. In hislist of Portuguese artists, Count Raczynski mentions an enormous number. 

[112] In the year 1512 Olivel was paid 25$000. He had previouslyreceived 12$000 a month. He died soon after and his widow undertook tofinish his work with the help of his assistant Muñoz. 

[113] See the drawing in _A Ordem de Christo_ by Vieira Guimarães. 

[114] The last two figures look like 15 but the first two are scarcelylegible; it may not be a date at all. 

[115] All the statues are rather Northern in appearance, not unlikethose on the royal tombs in Santa Cruz, Coimbra, and may be the work ofthe two Flemings mentioned among those employed at Thomar, Antonio andGabriel. 

[116] The door--notwithstanding the supposed date, 1515--was probablyfinished by João after 1523. 

[117] Cf. The carving on the jambs of the Allah-ud-din gate at Delhi. 

[118] Such heads of many curves may have been derived from suchelaborate Moorish arches as may be seen in the Alhambra, or, forexample, in the Hasan tower at Rabat in Morocco, and it is worthnoticing that there were men with Moorish names among the workmen atThomar--Omar, Mafamede, Bugimaa, and Bebedim. 

[119] Esp(h)era=_sphere_; Espera=_hope_, present imperative. 

[120] The inscription says: 'Aqui jaz Matheus Fernandes mestre que foidestas obras, e sua mulher Izabel Guilherme e levou-o nosso Senhor a dezdias de Abril de 1515. Ella levou-a a.... '

[121] Fig. 57. 

[122] _As Capellas Imperfeitas e a lenda das devisas Gregas. _ PorCaroline Michaëlis de Vasconcellos. Porto, 1905. 

[123] The frieze is now filled up and plastered, but not long ago wasempty and recessed as if prepared for letting in reliefs. Can these havebeen of terra cotta of the della Robbia school? Dom Manoel imported manywhich are now all gone but one in the Museum at Lisbon. There are alsosome della Robbia medallions at the Quinta de Bacalhôa at Azeitão nearSetubal. 

[124] J. Murphy, _History of the Royal Convent of Batalha_. London, 1792. 

[125] One of the first was probably the chapel dos Reys Magos at SãoMarcos near Coimbra. 

[126] A conto = 1. 000$000. 

[127] It is no use telling a tramway conductor to stop near the Torre deSão Vicente. He has never heard of it, but if one says 'Fabrica de Gas'the car will stop at the right place. 

[128] Similar roofs cap the larger angle turrets in the house of theQuinta de Bacalhôa near Setubal, built by Dona Brites, mother of DomManoel, about 1490, and rebuilt or altered by the younger Albuquerqueafter 1528 when he bought the Quinta. 

[129] Raczynski says 1517, Haupt 1522. 

[130] According to Raczynski, João de Castilho in 1517 undertook tocarry on the work for 140$000 per month, at the rate of $50 per day perman. 140$000=now about £31. 

[131] Nicolas was the first of the French renaissance artists to come toPortugal. 

[132] _E. G. _ on the Hotel Bourgthéroulde, Rouen. 

[133] Cf. The top of a turret at St. Wulfram, Abbeville. 

[134] Haupt. 

[135] The university was first accommodated in Sta. Cruz, till Dom Joãogave up the palace where it still is. It was after the return of theuniversity to Coimbra that George Buchanan was for a time professor. Hegot into difficulties with the Inquisition and had to leave. 

[136] Nicolas the Frenchman is first mentioned in 1517 as working atBelem. He therefore was probably the first to introduce the renaissanceinto Portugal, for Sansovino had no lasting influence. 

[137] 'To give room and licence to Dioguo de Castylho, master of thework of my palace at Coimbra, to ride on a mule and a nag seeing that hehas no horse, and notwithstanding my decrees to the contrary. '--Sept. 18, 1526. 

[138] _Vilhena Barbosa Monumentes de Portugal_, p. 411. 

[139] Other men from Rouen are also mentioned, Jeronymo and Simão. 

[140] The stone used at Batalha and at Alcobaça is of similar fineness, but seems better able to stand exposure, as the front of Santa Cruz atCoimbra is much more decayed than are any parts of the buildings ateither Batalha or Alcobaça. The stone resembles Caen stone, but is evenfiner. 

[141] João de Ruão also made some bookcases for the monastery library. 

[142] 'Aqui jas o muito honrado Pero Rodrigues Porto Carreiro, ayo quefoy do Conde D. Henrique, Cavalleiro da Ordem de San Tiago, e o muytohonrado Gonzalo Gil Barbosa seu genro, Cavalleiro da Ordem de X^to, eassim o muito honrado seu filho Francisco Barbosa: os quaes forãotrasladados a esta sepultura no anno de 1532. '--Fr. _Historia deSantarem edificada_. By Ignacio da Piedade e Vasconcellos. LisboaOccidental, MDCCXXXX. 

[143] The date 1522 is found on a tablet on Ayres' tomb, so the threemust have been worked while the chancel was being built. 

[144] _Les Arts en Portugal:_ letters to the Berlin Academy of Arts. Paris, 1846. 

[145] _São Marcos:_ E. Biel. Porto, in _A arte e a natureza emPortugal:_ text by J. De Vasconcellos. 

[146] There is also a fine reredos of somewhat later date in the churchof Varziella near Cantanhede not far off: but it belongs rather to theschool of the chapel dos Reis Magos; there is another in the Matriz ofCantanhede itself. 

[147] Johannis III. Emanuelis filius, Ferdinandi nep. Eduardi pronep. Johannis I. Abnep. Portugal. Et Alg. Rex. Affric. Aethiop. Arabic. Persic. Indi. Ob felicem partum Catherinae reginae conjugisincomparabilis suscepto Emanuele filio principi, aram cum signis pos. Dedicavitque anno MDXXXII. Divae Mariae Virgini et Matri sac. 

[148] The only other object of any interest in the São Marcos is a smallearly renaissance pulpit on the north side of the nave, not unlike thatat Caminha. 

[149] During the French invasion much church plate was hidden on the topof capitals and so escaped discovery. 

[150] João then bought a house in the Rua de Corredoura for 80$000 ornearly £18. --Vieira Guimarães, _A Ordem de Christo_, p. 167. 

[151] There is preserved in the Torre do Tombo at Lisbon a long accountof the trial of a 'new Christian' of Thomar, Jorge Manuel, begun on July15, 1543, in the office of the Holy Inquisition within the convent ofThomar. --Vieira Guimarães, p. 179. 

[152] From book 34 of João III. 's Chancery a 'quitaçã' or dischargegiven to João de Castilho for all the work done for Dom João or for hisfather, viz. --'In Monastery of Belem; in palace by the sea--swallowed upby the earthquake in 1755--balconies in hall, stair, chapel, and roomsof Queen Catherine, chapel of monastery of São Francisco in Lisbon, foundation of Arsenal Chapel; a balcony at Santos, and divers otherlesser works. Then a door, window, well balustrade, garden repairs; workin pest house; stone buildings at the arsenal for a dry dock for theIndian ships; the work he has executed at Thomar, as well as the work hehas done at Alcobaça and Batalha; besides he made a bastion at Mazagãoso strong, ' etc. --Raczynski's _Les Artistes Portugais_. 

[153] Vieira Guimarães, _A Ordem de Christo_, pp. 184, 185. 

[154] Foi erecta esta cap. No A. D. 1572 sed prof. E. 1810 foi restaur E. 1848 por L. L. D'Abreu Monis. Serrão, E. Po. D Roure, Pietraconcra. Muitas Pessoas ds. Cid^{eç}. 

[155] Ferguson (_History of Modern Architecture_, vol. Ii. P. 287) saysthat some of the cloisters at Gôa reminded him of Lupiana, so no doubtthey are not unlike those here mentioned. 

[156] An inscription over a door outside says:

DNS. EMANVELNORONHA EPVSLAMACEN. 1557. 

[157] One chapel, that of São Martin, has an iron screen like a poorSpanish _reja_. 

[158] It has been pulled down quite lately. Lorvão, in a beautifulvalley some fifteen miles from Coimbra, was a very famous nunnery. Thechurch was rebuilt in the eighteenth century, has a dome, a nuns' choirto the west full of stalls, but in style, except the ruined cloister, which was older, all is very rococo. 

[159] This reredos is in the chapel on the south of the Capella Mor. 

[160] This aqueduct begun by Terzi in 1593 was finished in 1613 by PedroFernandes de Torres, who also designed the fountain in the centre of thecloister. 

[161] It was here that Wellington was slung across the river in a basketon his way to confer with the Portuguese general during the advance onSalamanca. 

[162] Terzi was taken prisoner at Alcacer-Quebir in 1578 and ransomed byKing Henry, who made him court architect, a position he held till hisdeath in 1598. 

[163] Some of the most elaborate dated 1584 are by Francisco de Mattos. 

[164] It was handed over to the cathedral chapter on the expulsion ofthe Jesuits in 1772. 

[165] São Bento is now used as a store for drain-pipes. 

[166] The Matriz at Vianna has a fifteenth-century pointed door, withhalf figures on the voussoirs arranged as are the four-and-twenty elderson the great door at Santiago, a curious arrangement found also atOrense and at Noya. 

[167] There was only one other house of this order in Portugal, atLaveiras. 

[168] Not of course the famous son of Charles V. , but a son of PhilipIV. 

[169] In that year from June to October 45, 000 men are inscribed asworking on the building, and 1266 oxen were bought to haul stones!

[170] The area of the Escorial, excluding the many patios and cloisters, is over 300, 000 square feet; that of Mafra, also excluding all openspaces, is nearly 290, 000. 

[171] Compare also the front of the Misericordia in Oporto.