Departamento de História, Arqueologia e Artes

A apresentação, intitulada “Do Absolutismo ao Liberalismo – da Execução à Dispersão”, procurará estruturar-se em torno da imagem de Santa Escolástica, desenvolvendo-se o processo criativo, no âmbito histórico e artístico (especificidades da obra e do seu executor), a localização da obra (local para onde a obra foi executada – a antiga Igreja do Colégio de São Bento de Coimbra) até à dispersão desta com a implementação do liberalismo no século XIX e a consequente extinção das Ordens Religiosas (identificação do percurso da obra desde o seu local de origem, século XVII até à sua redescoberta numa pequena capela no século XXI).

Um dos principais legados culturais da implantação da República em Portugal, acontecimento ocorrido há precisamente cem anos, foi a renovação e o estabelecimento de um importante conjunto de museus, nacionais e regionais, responsáveis pela salvaguarda e divulgação da História pátria.

A homologação do decreto-lei de 20 de Abril de 1911 colocou à disposição do novo poder central um numeroso rol de edifícios históricos aptos para receber, abrigar e disponibilizar ao grande público um incomensurável espólio artístico proveniente das extintas casas monásticas e conventuais, catedrais, igrejas paroquiais e até das próprias residências episcopais nacionalizadas.

Simultaneamente, os ideais republicanos eram agora disseminados através da implementação de uma arguta acção político-cultural, amparada com o decreto de 26 de Maio de 1911, necessária para atrair todas as camadas sociais e círculos políticos, sem contudo enfrentarem uma grande onda de contestação por parte dos sectores monárquicos e católicos.

Pretendemos, assim, contextualizar os paços episcopais nacionais transformados em unidades museológicas, entre 1911 e 1926, compreender os mecanismos das diferentes fases de ocupação e analisar o impacto destes organismos culturais no reforço do republicanismo português.

After the brilliant interventions at the Concilium Tridentinum, Friar Bartolomeu dos Mártires, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Braga between 1559 and 1590, had returned to Portugal to apply the new resolutions determined by the Roman Catholic Churchs’ most important council.
In possession of a profound religious consciousness and opting for a conduct aimed at the new emergent values, which reflects the connection to the Order of Friars Preachers, the primate of Spain promoted on his archdiocese several reforms to overcome the increasing Protestant movements. The huge necessity of a major renewal of religious structures imposed the foundation of colleges and monasteries, to educate the clergy, and determined the aesthetic restoration of churches and the creation of numerous works of devotional art, to instruct the people. The Counter-Reformation started under the Mannerism influence.
The main goal of our conference approach is to present and analyse artistically all of the interventions planned by the holy figure of the archbishop of Braga during the sixteenth century and the connections to the recommended disciplinary reforms determined in Trent.

Saint Bernard College was integrated at the university college’s network of the city of Coimbra in the 16th century. Intended to promote the spiritual formation of Cistercian monks initially, and to prepare the future intellectual and administration generations for the state and ecclesiastical institutions after, this college embodied the patronage educational program outlined by Prince-Cardinal Henry.
As main research lines we propose to present the College of Saint Bernard foundational origins, in order to understand the architectural programs executed under Henry’s seal, according to the Cistercian selflessness spirit and in the corresponding period of the emergence of the first Tridentine doctrinal guidelines.

“De vossa Real presença desejada”:
Uma apologia político-alegórica a D. Filipe II de Portugal


Após um longo período de anseio, D. Filipe II de Portugal/ III de Espanha entrava triunfalmente em Lisboa a 29 de Junho de 1619 com o propósito de reunir as Cortes do Reino e fazer jurar o príncipe herdeiro. Incumbida de organizar a visita régia, a Câmara de Lisboa promoveu a construção de um aparatoso arco comemorativo, uma composição arquitectónica efémera imbuída de um forte discurso político, através do qual exaltava a vassalagem prestada pela capital do vasto império português ao monarca espanhol.
Propomo-nos, assim, analisar o simbolismo alegórico e interpretar os textos encomiásticos presentes nesse arco triunfal de modo a compreender a estratégia implementada pela Casa de Habsburgo para garantir uma firme manutenção política e tranquilidade social no Reino, numa época em que se faziam sentir já algumas tensões que viriam a desencadear a Restauração da Independência em 1 de Dezembro de 1640.

Greek mythology has been along the centuries a fruitful source of inspiration to artists and writers, as it possesses the strength of expressing symbolically the most common circumstances of life that affect in general all mankind. Regarding the threats that in every age put in danger human life the most popular figure was maybe the Hydra that infested the neighborhood of the Lake of Lerna in Argolis. This mythical figure may still have an older origin as it is connected with chthonic dangers. Besides its terrifying aspect, reptilian traits and poisonous breath and blood, it was related to the evil and the domains of Hell, as beneath the waters where it lived it was supposed to find the entrance to the underworld, of which it was considered the guardian.
Later, in Christian times, Hydra significance became larger and deeper as it represented the infidel and all the heresies that could affect the religious orthodoxy. According to this point of view, every defender of the Catholic Faith was immediately compared to Hercules, the mythical hero who succeeded in killing the mythological monster. In this way, it is easy to understand why the representation of Hercules killing the Hydra was often used in connection with the Habsburg Kings of Spain and Portugal, as it worked as a political strategy of Representatio Majestatis of this dynasty, in which the Spanish Habsburgs were faced as the guardians and defenders of the Church of Rom, mainly in times when the Inquisition developed a determinative role.
An illustrative example of this was the decoration of the Arch built by the Inquisition in Lisbon, when King Philip the 3.rd visited the Portuguese capital, in his honor. There, allegorical compositions could be seen, exploring the symbolism of the defeat of the Hydra, in a clear allusion to the decisive role fulfilled by Inquisition and the king himself. Thus, within the evolution of the symbolic load of this myth in the Mediterranean basin has to take into account the Christianization of it in the European southern countries emphasizing its religious allegorical meaning.

Commonly known as the Cardinal-King, D. Henrique of Portugal was a Portuguese royal-blood infant who was destined to become a prince of the Church. He was a preeminent figure of the sixteenth century: the period of the political, economic, religious, and cultural
expansion of the Portuguese Empire, and of the Counter-Reformation. During his service to the Roman Catholic Church, D. Henrique occupied the seats of the three Portuguese archdioceses, was chosen to govern some of the wealthiest religious orders, and represented
the Holy Office in Portugal. He was also nominated cardinal and legate a latere to Portugal. The Cardinal-Infant was responsible for an unprecedented architectural innovation in Portugal and
beyond, reforming, expanding, and erecting several buildings. This study focuses on the institutional projects and material reforms in Portugal initiated by Cardinal-King D. Henrique through complex diplomatic relations between the Portuguese Crown and the Holy See during the sixteenth century. Its main objective is to create a basis for further research into his architectural patronage while occupying his several positions of ecclesiastical and lay authority.

Although the Lisbon’s Estaus Palace served as the main stage for relevant ceremonial performances for the diplomatic politics of the Portuguese Crown, it has always been linked to the most fanatic and religious violence procedures promoted by the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition.
According to Portuguese medieval chronicles, the Estaus Palace was ordered to be built in the 15th century, during the regency of the Duke of Coimbra, for the retirement of the court, which was still itinerant, and for the many foreigners embassies and national deputations that were directed to Lisbon in diplomatic affairs. However, the rereading of some documents allows for the distinguishing of the establishment of two different building destined to the retirements authorized and supported by the Portuguese monarchs of the House of Avis.
Based on the consultation of published documentary sources and the analysis of a set of paintings and architectural and urban drawings, made between the 16th and 18th centuries, we intend in the present article to prove the existence of the two Estaus established in Lisbon in the end of the first half of the 15th century, one under the responsibility of the regent D. Pedro, and the other, under the responsibility of the monarch D. Afonso V, where the Inquisition Tribunal was actually installed.