It is a trip back in time to some of the most emblematic pieces of Portuguese jewelery from the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 19th century, in Funchal's Museum of Sacred Art, through the in-depth knowledge of Francisco Clode,Regional director of Museums and Heritage Services of the Regional Directorate for Culture, in that which was the last cultural talk of the project "Give and see".
The jewelery collection of the Museum of Sacred Art is of great importance not only for its quality and diversity and for its historical legacy, but also for unveiling the history of the Portuguese jewelery. There is a set of works of art of absolute exception, there are four pieces direct offer of the court of King D. Manuel I, whose most emblematic work has circulated around the world for numerous exhibitions, since the nineteenth century, for its representation of Manueline goldsmiths, why is this cross, the king's centerpiece of donation, which dies in 1521, but leaves expressly in a royal charter that this work of liturgical jewelery and the rest would remain for the chancel at the Cathedral, is so important? This processional cross, as the word indicates, that to say that it is taken in the procession, is unique, because the other similar and documented works that are known have disappeared, the one of Jerónimos is one of these examples and the other processional cross that is similar is much older in terms of time and is now in the Alberto Sampaio Museum, in Guimarães.
The piece is constituted by the typical elements of the processional crosses, one of them is a knot and it is as in many cases of Manueline goldsmithing is a mixture of achivements, that is, it both represents a final gothic in progressive disappearance, but is in itself the Expansion and openness to the world, is a Renaissance opening to Europe. It is important to observe already at the time that the allusion was made of architecture to the Roman, which is the new emerging art, the rebirth that comes to mix with the Gothic. Manueline art is this crucible between the union of this sacred-mediaval tradition that meets the art of rebirth. The apparatus always constitutes the works connected with the royal orders, for now the constant presence of the symbols of the king, the amilar sphere, the adjustments, the Portuguese royal crown, are represented either in the portals of civil architecture, or religious, in the crowning of the arches and it is very interesting that in the Manueline goldsmith these elements appear again.
There is also another piece of information, often in the Portuguese silversmith's, much of it was made in the street of the goldsmiths in Lisbon, there were masters dedicated only to gold and others to silver, the street of gold and silver appears in the city of Pombal, in the circle of the court, among the nearest goldsmiths of the king who executes this cross. I also want to draw attention to the fact that these crosses are often models for architecture, if we notice the knot of the cross, it has counter-strongholds, butarus and pinnacles, all these vertical elements that give the effect of a construction that is Near the Jerónimos Church, with its Manueline architecture.
Then there is another interesting element, besides the details of Gothic root, also has leaked in these portals that are developing in the hexagon of the base, are open elements, which identify with Diogo de Castilho, the author of the cloister of the Jeronimos monastery, therefore, these are elements that have to do with this new decorative grammar, through the Flemish and Italian engraving that began to arrive in Portugal, often through Spanish models, or even through the presence of foreign goldsmiths who came to work for the court of Lisbon.
Another aspect to mention, the enormous delicacy and technological predicament, and that is how it should be said, the silver piece is very advanced for its time, such is the quality of all its symbolic grammar and thematic exposed, as well as the plight drawing and working of silver. The representation of the scourging of Christ, the betrayal of Judas, there is a main story and the narrative that develops, on one side we have the crucified Christ, on the other the redeeming and savior Christ.
The king's second offer, which is included in the 21 pieces that were placed in a box in Lisbon, of which only these four survived to this day, is also a very rare work of Portuguese jewelery, the peace case, this piece further distances itself from a final gothic language and assumes a modern taste. There are plunderings, Corinthian capitals, the application of precious stones in the goldsmith's shop comes to the conclusion that these are the tombs of St. James of Compostela, has to do with this symbolic idea of offering peace, a moving piece, which represents the epiphany .
Then there is a double meaning, the pilgrims were those who move to the places of greatest pilgrimage, which is the sense of the presence of the stone deposit that flanks the main scene, but also has some regal symbols, the tritans, mythical figures half-human, half-fish who are holding the crown, we do not know if the upper figure would be an angel-lieutenant, or God the Father, because it is broken. However, there is one thing we know is that the scene of the kings that has two representations, one in the altarpiece of St. Benedict, by Gergório Lopes, and another of the altarpiece of Sétubal by Jorge Afonso, most probably the goldsmiths of the silver had for model Flemish and Italian engravings, but were influenced by the Portuguese primitive painters, both names mentioned were royal court artists and very close to this innovation that the Renaissance presentations have in the Portuguese gold and silver.
Our Lady of the Rosary, is another of the works of the estate, the rosary is thought to be of coral, is a piece that can be dated between 25 to 35 years of the sixteenth century, contrary to what was thought, is also unique in National context, at its base presents one of the symbols of being our lady of the bud, which is a flower and it opens, is the idea of being mother not only of God, but of all of us, because it brought us the divine descendants. I approach this work of sculpture because it makes a framing of time and how the other arts react to the goldsmith.
The gold chalice at the end of the sixteenth century no longer has bells, because when the chalice was lifted it redouble the attention of the gesture, but instead have pendants of rock crystal, which is considered a gemstone and it is very interesting to realize that this results from the maritime expansion of Portugal in the Orient. These materials come from those parts of the globe that allow them to be adapted and applied to these pieces of jewelery. The chalice comes from the Cathedral of Funchal, but its origin is a ruined chapel, which is St John of Lateran, near the International Airport of Madeira.
The last pieces are from Antwerp, it is the chalice of the Matrix of Machico and the named platter of Figueira, no one knows who this man was, since it is nicknamed as the basin of Figueira, is a Flemish work of the third quarter of the sixteenth century and has the representation of the god Janus, who is the god of the two worlds, of the two faces, of the gate to the way of heaven, or of sin. It is very interesting to see how classical mythology and all this symbolic grammar of rebirth are also introduced in the pieces of Christianity. Do not forget that Antwerp was until 1587 one of the most important centers of commerce in Europe and why this date? Because the Spanish empire takes the city, destroys it in that year and stops being the center of the European goldsmithery.
The small calderon is also a meeting of two worlds, the near disappearance of the final Gothic and these classicist ideas of the Renaissance and here we have the importance of the regal symbols, one of the greatest amilar spheres of the Portuguese context, the world sphere, symbol of the Portuguese king thought of him self very highly and and self-called the hope of the world and was presented as a redeemer. It is very interesting to see that the ball covers the entire bottom of the piece.
The other set of pieces that represents the extraordinary richness and typological diversity of the museum, in the last quarter of the sixteenth century and most of the seventeenth, all of them, or the vast majority represent the wealth of goldsmith workshops and reveal them that the masters of silver while working for religious confraternities demonstrate a great vitality of this business in Portugal.
Most goldsmiths in Madeira approach the national mannerism and often translate into a language devoid of great apparatus, but have a formal delicacy and engraving work that is very characteristic of the goldsmith of the time. The salvo with foot was executed by someone who saw the work of the Flemings and established it in the tray of the Figueira, there was an ability to observe the goldsmith from other sides and later to translate it to the national and regional taste. Another element that brings this piece closer to architecture is that Portuguese art has an idea of simplicity, of discourment, of formal rigor, which is rare in the European context, but which is interesting in the Iberian context and especially in the national context. We cannot forget that in 1580 we lost our independence, which we only recovered in 1640 and therefore we will see ourselves in Portugal, which is designated as a chantry architecture, which is stripped down, creates an idea of great formal and decorative simplicity and then has this Functionalist effect.
The nave, which served to transport the incense, there is a great presence of the jewelery of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, but are integrated other artistic elements and help to perceive the decorative context, in this case, is the idea of th baroque. At this time we have the filling of this art by baroque elements. The word baroque seems to be of Portuguese origin, according to some European countries it arises in the way the Portuguese called deformed stones of Arabia, baroque, pearls that were not perfect, but also in the Alentejo there are stones in the plains called barrocais, in the background what lies at the base of this movement is a visual dispersion.
When we looked at the pieces that were marked by visual restraint in space with their decorative sobriety, the Baroque brings the spectacle of the triumph, of a church that is renewed, after the schism of Europe and the Council of Trent that will bring a new expression and propaganda of faith. This visual language is linked to an appropriation of space, there is a kind of broad, unbalanced gesture that begins to develop in all works of art to architecture and goldsmithing.
The great seat of Baroque art is Rome and it is from Italy that models come to be expanded in Portugal and that we will translate our way. The piece is of extraordinary chiseled, is one of the works of the baroque court, of 1747, previous to the earthquake of Lisbon, there is an illusory formal attention, but that later is revolutionized by these borders and "labéus" and bring space within the own object.
Madeira has the largest collection of navetas at the national level, the piece in question is a kind of representation of the baroque, the definition of the ship disappeared almost completely, took off from the work and is a formal revolution of appropriation of space, organized chaos, the disappearance of the basic form and the creation of a formal authority that is very idetificative of the Portuguese baroque art. A series of sacra, worthy of its architectural meaning, by the optical illusion, but in the background were a cheat sheet, so that the priests were not deceived was written exactly what was to be said, the repetition of moments of the Mass.
The gold custodian of a French goldsmith who lived in Lisbon, Paul Malle, is dated 1799, is the first example of neo-classical goldsmiths in Portugal, in addition, we have some elements of neo-classicism that will mark the eighteenth century and a part of the XIX. I draw attention to the delicacy of the work of engraving gold, from the cuts of the paintings of the classic.
