This beautiful and unknown illuminated folio represents the protomartyr Saint Vincent of Saragossa, patron saint of the capital of Portugal, Lisbon, since the 12th century, boasting his attributes, a raven and the ship, as well as the palm of martyrdom, and holding a book. The saint wears a dalmatic, according to his status as deacon, and is standing on a rocky element, which seems to define a kind of wall, from which flows a fountain. It is surrounded by a wide landscape in which a representation of Lisbon and the embouchure of the Tagus river extending to Cascais. The verso of the folio has an index, in Latin (“INDEX”), which is now very difficult to read due to abrasions, preventing the deciphering of many lines and words, belonging to a volume of prayers dedicated to various Saints and episodes of Sacred History to be read during the feast days of the liturgical calendar. We posit this folio was the title page of a lectionary probably intended for the Cathedral of Lisbon, where the relics of the Saint are housed, or the monastery which was erected in his honor in the same city, São Vicente de Fora, built shortly after the conquest of the city by the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, outside the walls that surrounded Lisbon, later absorbed by urban expansion. To the right of Saint Vincent, filling the lower right side of this folio is a rare bird’s eye view of the city of Lisbon with its harbour filled with multiple ships and the Tagus estuary flowing into the Atlantic. Although the space is much compressed and the image rather schematized, the artist depicts Lisbon’s coastline which terminates at the citadel-fortress of Cascais, one of Europe’s most western points. Clearly delineated as well is the coast opposite Lisbon, which shows an aerial view of a rocky promontory and cliffs, the Cape (Cabo) Espichel where the fifteenth-century sanctuary of Nossa Senhora do Cabo (Our Lady of the Cape) is located and depicted here. Few views of Lisbon and its environs before the destructive 1755 earthquake have survived. 1 This early seventeenth-century vista is an exceptional one. The anonymous painter has deliberated chosen to depict specific edifices known in pre-earthquake Lisbon, some of which were constructed after Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) annexed the Portuguese throne in 1580. During his three-year residency in Lisbon, Philip undertook at his own expense a number of building projects to rehabilitate the city and repair the royal palace, the Paço da Ribeira, which had fallen in disrepair.2 He wanted to leave a classicizing imprint upon the city’s skyline, and elected to transform Lisbon’s waterfront, palace and other architectural sites with two court architects, Juan de Herrera (1530-1597) and the Italian military engineer, Filippo Terzi (d. 1597). The redefinition of Lisbon’s urban spaces during Philip II’s residency and subsequently under the rule of his nephew, the Viceroy Archduke Albert of Austria, from 1583 to 1593, is evident in this painting, in the far lower right, just behind St. Vincent’s ornate brocade dalmatic.3 In 1581 Philip made his official entry into Lisbon and the remodelling of the Lisbon palace adjacent the expansive square, the Terreiro do Paço, had already begun. The Ribeira palace built by King Manuel I in 1505, housed the principal governmental offices which controlled Portugal’s overseas trade empire, the Casa da Índia (the India warehouse) and served as the principal royal residence. Philip II added an impressive square tower, the Torreão, which since this date dominated Lisbon’s waterfront. The painter of this folio made sure to add this landmark, which became an architectonic symbol of Habsburg rule in Portugal. Clearly visible next to Philip II’s Torreão is the Corte-Real palace built by Philip’s Portuguese courtier, Cristóvão de Moura (1538-1613), 1st Marquis of Castelo-Rodrigo, and later Viceroy of Portugal after 1600. This seventeenth-century engraving of the Lisbon waterfront clearly shows these two residences, naïvely painted here. In the same ingenuous manner, this artist attempts to portray, in miniature, the chain of military fortifications, in particular the Manueline tower at Belém, the former royal palace at Santos and the Jerónimos Monastery which punctuated Lisbon’s western coastline to Cascais, in imitation of this panoramic view of Lisbon and its waterfront, dated ca. 1619, today in Germany. In view of the information that the folio gives us, we can surmise that it was carried out in Portugal, by an artist not yet identified, who may have had access to the panorama of the same coastline which appears on folio 7 of the Genealogy of the Kings of Portugal by António de Holanda and Simon Bening (ca. 1530-34, British Museum, Add. Mss. 12531). This folio was possibly commissioned by Cristóvão de Moura after 1600 when he was appointed Viceroy and regally received in Lisbon, on 1st May of that year. This may explain the representation of his own family palace next to Terzi’s Torreão of the Ribeira Palace, where he resided and worked as viceroy, and where he received the Senate of Lisbon, thus assuring civic leaders the continuity of the cult of Lisbon’s patron saint. Perhaps, the image of the water sprouting from the rocks through the intercession of the saint alludes to the contributions made by this new viceroy and the much-needed public improvements he approved of. With Lisbon’s municipal government, Moura supported the Senate in carrying out the rebuilding of the important local “Fountain of the King” (Chafariz d’El Rei) in 1598.
Annemarie Jordan Gschwend CHAM - Centro de Humanidades, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Fernando António Baptista Pereira Faculdade de Belas-Artes, Universidade de Lisboa
1 Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, K.J.P. Lowe, “Princess of the Seas, Queen of Empire: Configuring the City and Port of Renaissance Lisbon”, in Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, K. J. P. Lowe (eds.), The Global City. On the streets of Renaissance Lisbon, London, Paul Holberton publishing, 2015, pp. 12-35.
2 Annemarie Jordan, Archduke Albert in Lisbon (1581-1593). A question of patronage or emulation?, M. A. thesis, Brown University, Providence, R. I., 1985; Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, “In the Shadow of Philip II, El Rey Lusitano: Archduke Albert of Austria, Viceroy of Portugal (1583-1593)”, in Werner Thomas, Luc Duerloo (eds.), Albert and Isabella 1598-1621, Vol. 1 (Essays), Brussels, Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, 1998, pp. 39-46.
3 Annemarie Jordan, Portuguese Royal Collections (1505-1580): A Bibliographic and Documentary Survey, M.A. thesis, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 1985, pp. 7-15 (“The Paço da Ribeira”).