Using the past: the Middle ages in the spotlight, online conference, organized by the Institute of Medieval Studies (Universidade Nova de Lisboa), 9th December 2020
The short story entitled 'The vault (1401)', published for the first time in the journal O Panora... more The short story entitled 'The vault (1401)', published for the first time in the journal O Panorama, in 1839, by the historian, essayist and novelist Alexandre Herculano is an extraordinary case of collective memory manipulation, with even more extraordinary consequences, insofar as its glorious narrative still today supports the idea that the monastery of Batalha relies mostly on national architectural tradition. Interestingly, this tale was read by successive generations without paying attention to the fact that, here and there, Herculano, between the work of novelist and that of historian, parodies his fiction with references to nonexistent documents or even to others that he proved to be false. ‘The vault’ fell deep into the heart and soul of the Portuguese, with a particular focus during the period of Estado Novo (1926-1974), when it was a mandatory part of school curricula.
This paper is concerned with reconstructing the history of the vault legend, whose first known record dates from 1623, and accompanying its fortune, transmission and successive enrichment up to the short story by Alexandre Herculano. We will then proceed to analyze the latter in some detail, in order to ascertain its author's fine sense of authenticity, irony, fiction and idea of history. Since the background of the short story is the history of construction of the monastery of Batalha, we will compare the aforementioned analysis with the most recent advances on this subject. From there we will move on to the surreptitious influence that we understand 'The vault' had in the historiography of Portuguese medieval architecture by delaying its understanding as a result of the circulation of European and therefore also Portuguese artists, in search of jobs in big cathedral works and similar.
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Articles by Pedro Redol
This study focuses on the development of iconographic and artistic programmes for altarpieces in the presbitery and chapter house of the monastery of Batalha. It spans the period comprised between the completion of these buildings and the latest additions carried out during King João III’s rule. Circumstances regarding patronship, the circulation of artists, ideological statements and material peculiarities are examined and an altarpiece reconstruction proposed.
This article focuses on the definite contribution of Henriques to Portuguese glass painting by incorporating iconographic and formal solutions imported directly from monumental painted altarpieces in which he was followed by the subsequent generation of painters that was to finish the work in the church choir of Batalha. Although in a limited way what still remains in situ that can be assigned to Francisco Henriques also provides an idea of the way team work was organized under a major master painter. The results of material and technological research on glass and paint samples from church choir panels, including composition characterization and comparison with coeval materials, will be interpreted in the frame of this study.
A presente comunicação pretende identificar as motivações das transformações ocasionadas na paisagem e apresentar as soluções de reconciliação memorial que têm sido encontradas e implementadas localmente, tanto pelo Estado como pela autarquia.
ignorância dos frades. Para o seu lugar, fabricou-se uma imagem de obra menor e até o mito – que chegou incólume aos nossos dias – de um claustro de madeira.
O objectivo principal desta investigação é demonstrar que as edificações desaparecidas foram a materialização de um ambicioso projecto de reforma, em meados do séc. XVI, em tudo semelhante ao de outras grandes casas monásticas portuguesas, aliás pouco distantes da Batalha.
atribuído a Mateus Fernandes, tem sido o principal foco de atenção, enquanto obra pioneira da arquitectura manuelina, e a tribuna que o sobrepuja, voltada para o octógono, uma fonte de perplexidade quanto à autoria do respectivo desenho. Ambas as obras parecem surgir do nada, como, aliás, várias
outras na história da arte de Portugal. Este artigo faz o
balanço da investigação mais recente sobre o programa ou os programas artísticos para as Capelas Imperfeitas e sobre a sua concretização atribulada para depois proceder a uma nova análise do edifício, deixando de parte a já mais esclarecida campanha de obras de D. João III.
This study focuses on the development of iconographic and artistic programmes for altarpieces in the presbitery and chapter house of the monastery of Batalha. It spans the period comprised between the completion of these buildings and the latest additions carried out during King João III’s rule. Circumstances regarding patronship, the circulation of artists, ideological statements and material peculiarities are examined and an altarpiece reconstruction proposed.
This article focuses on the definite contribution of Henriques to Portuguese glass painting by incorporating iconographic and formal solutions imported directly from monumental painted altarpieces in which he was followed by the subsequent generation of painters that was to finish the work in the church choir of Batalha. Although in a limited way what still remains in situ that can be assigned to Francisco Henriques also provides an idea of the way team work was organized under a major master painter. The results of material and technological research on glass and paint samples from church choir panels, including composition characterization and comparison with coeval materials, will be interpreted in the frame of this study.
A presente comunicação pretende identificar as motivações das transformações ocasionadas na paisagem e apresentar as soluções de reconciliação memorial que têm sido encontradas e implementadas localmente, tanto pelo Estado como pela autarquia.
ignorância dos frades. Para o seu lugar, fabricou-se uma imagem de obra menor e até o mito – que chegou incólume aos nossos dias – de um claustro de madeira.
O objectivo principal desta investigação é demonstrar que as edificações desaparecidas foram a materialização de um ambicioso projecto de reforma, em meados do séc. XVI, em tudo semelhante ao de outras grandes casas monásticas portuguesas, aliás pouco distantes da Batalha.
atribuído a Mateus Fernandes, tem sido o principal foco de atenção, enquanto obra pioneira da arquitectura manuelina, e a tribuna que o sobrepuja, voltada para o octógono, uma fonte de perplexidade quanto à autoria do respectivo desenho. Ambas as obras parecem surgir do nada, como, aliás, várias
outras na história da arte de Portugal. Este artigo faz o
balanço da investigação mais recente sobre o programa ou os programas artísticos para as Capelas Imperfeitas e sobre a sua concretização atribulada para depois proceder a uma nova análise do edifício, deixando de parte a já mais esclarecida campanha de obras de D. João III.
“Avistável, por meros instantes, de uma curva de estrada secundária, nos arredores de Torres Novas, o perfil mítico dos edifícios da Quinta da Torre de Santo António logo desaparece do horizonte do viajante para se gravar na memória como um sonho. Naquele lugar, logrou o Marquês da Foz um casamento único entre arquitectura e paisagem, tornando a sua personalidade presente pela grandeza sem ostentação, pela compaginação da identidade artística nacional com a europeia, enfim pelo intimismo onírico. Mal lembrada a memória deste seu distinto proprietário, escapou a Quinta também, até ao presente, a voos maiores sobre a sua história.
Este livro pretende proporcionar ao estimado leitor uma incursão agradável na Quinta, que, para o poder ser verdadeiramente, não é superficial. Foram considerados os antecedentes da propriedade, a partir do século XVII, e períodos ulteriores ao falecimento do Marquês da Foz que tiveram impacto na configuração arquitectónica e paisagística da mesma.” (da Introdução)
Deve ainda ser realçado que a casa residencial da Quinta constitui um admirável conjunto de arquitectura revivalista do início do século XX, baseado em estudos prévios de Luigi Manini, circundado por uma mata de coníferas e elegantes jardins de buxo.
Nesta comunicação, faremos um itinerário por várias obras de arte, desde os mais antigos vitrais, no século XI, até aos primeiros exemplos de utilização da perspectiva geométrica, nos alvores de Quatrocentos. O nosso intuito é reconstituir o processo cultural que decorreu entre a vivência e a racionalização da luz como imanência divina, por um lado, e o entendimento da luz como dado objectivo, cientificamente considerado na representação do real, por outro lado.
The topic of light is quite a prolific viewpoint in the understanding of the Western Weltanschauung from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Evidence regarding the appropriation of the real as to this particular topic that also shows up in poetry, philosophy and daily life converges in painting. It illustrates the rudimentary state of scientific and technological knowledge and the setting up of a new paradigm relying on profound and slow cultural and mental change.
In this paper we invite the listener to a trip through a number of works of art ranging from the earliest stained glass evidence which dates back to the 11th century to the first known examples of geometrical perspective in the early 15th century. Our aim is to reconstruct the cultural process that took place between the experience and rationalization of light as divine immanence, on one hand, and the understanding of light as objective data, scientifically taken into account in the representation of the real, on the other hand.
Pictures relating to the text under the same title.
Nesta comunicação, propomo-nos apresentar algumas soluções acessíveis, concebidas e executadas para o Mosteiro da Batalha, no quadro de uma reprogramação geral, visando a requalificação da visita, em matéria de acessos, circulações e da afectação funcional dos espaços, por um lado, e numa estratégia de design e texto acessíveis em exposições temporárias, por outro lado.
As soluções referidas serão apresentadas como compromisso entre as necessidades dos visitantes e os valores arquitectónicos e particularidades históricas inerentes à obra, testemunhando que a partilha e vivência alargada dos valores-base do património é um objectivo atingível.
This paper is concerned with reconstructing the history of the vault legend, whose first known record dates from 1623, and accompanying its fortune, transmission and successive enrichment up to the short story by Alexandre Herculano. We will then proceed to analyze the latter in some detail, in order to ascertain its author's fine sense of authenticity, irony, fiction and idea of history. Since the background of the short story is the history of construction of the monastery of Batalha, we will compare the aforementioned analysis with the most recent advances on this subject. From there we will move on to the surreptitious influence that we understand 'The vault' had in the historiography of Portuguese medieval architecture by delaying its understanding as a result of the circulation of European and therefore also Portuguese artists, in search of jobs in big cathedral works and similar.
Summoning this dimension in the relationship with religion, devotional practices, sensibilities and representations, carries a new set of questions and necessarily calls for different knowledge in order to deepen understanding and the interpretation of the relationship between medieval religiosity and their material translations. From the images carved and painted to the buildings edified, from liturgical objects to reliquaries and tombs, from books to personal objects of piety, from temples to the inscription of the various forms of religious life, there are many domains where the relation between materiality and devotion can be a prospect and a problem. It intersects the material, functional, performative and aesthetic dimensions with the different readings it calls for, the cognitive and emotional apprehensions, the representations (erudite and popular) it associates with, the practices that it sustains, the memories that polarize and legitimize, the powers that were affirmed through it. It discloses the diversity of variants such as wealth and social position, more or less literate training, and gender differences.
The colloquium thus aims to be a broad space for debate, both in the plurality of knowledge and in the diversity of sources, historical, geographical and religious contexts (Christian, Jewish, Islamic and other), and in analytical perspectives.