The Paper's reporter Qian Xue'er compiled
The Surging News learned that the "Golden Age of the Portuguese Renaissance" was recently exhibited at the Louvre Museum in France, and the audience had the opportunity to discover the works of painters who were active in Lisbon, Portugal in the first half of the 16th century. Part of the 2022 Portuguese-French Season, the exhibition features around 15 Portuguese paintings rarely seen in France, presenting a fragment rarely mentioned in art history. The Portuguese Renaissance combined Flemish style with indigenous national traditions, blending keen and even humorous observations and narratives to develop its own unique style.
From the 15th to the 17th century, Portugal flourished as a pioneer of the Age of Discoveries era, on voyages to India, the Orient, the Americas, and Africa. This large trade network gave birth to the wealthy Portuguese nobility and royal family, who became patrons of the growing prosperity of art, culture and technology in Portugal and around the world.
Marriage of Sainte-Ursule de Cologne avec le prince Conan (Le Mariage de sainte Ursule de Cologne avec le prince Conan), Cristobalio de Figueretto, 1522-1525
The Portuguese Renaissance coincided with the global expansion of the Portuguese Empire, and although it was born in the same period as the Renaissance in Spain and Italy, the two were very different. The Portuguese Renaissance did not follow the aesthetic standards of the Italians, but incorporated the late Gothic style, the innovations of the 15th century, and the national characteristics of Portugal. Painting was one of the most special factors of the Portuguese Renaissance and the main art form that distinguished it from other Renaissances in Europe. Portuguese Renaissance painting was largely sober and highly religious, and it was more similar in nature to the Northern Renaissance than to the opulence of Italy and Spain.
In the first half of the 16th century, Lisbon was the capital of this vast empire, a multicultural city, the largest center of learning and art, where wealth and discovery from the New World surged. The city was also the seat of the court of King Manuel I. Manuel I (1495-1521) and John III (1521-1557) surrounded court painters and commissioned many altarpieces, and portuguese painting under the patronage of the two kings went through a golden age. In addition, wealthy Lisbon aristocrats commissioned a large number of paintings, which were either displayed in Lisbon's religious institutions or hung in their feudal estates.
The Adoration of The Shepherds by George Alfonso, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
In The sea-facing Lisbon, the arrival of Flemish painters changed the history of European painting, and the Flemish style made a major breakthrough in classical painting from the aspects of subject matter and style, using humorous humor and fictional reverie in oil paintings and prints. The irony of his work and the style of realist painting. In 1430, the connection between the Portuguese Renaissance and the Flemish style reached new heights. At that time, the Portuguese Isabella of Portugal was married to Philip the Good of Burgundy, and although the marriage was still under negotiation, the Burgundian court had sent the famous painter Jan van Eyck to paint portraits of Elizabeth. Van Ike spent more than a year in Portugal, where he founded an art school with Olivier de Gand and Olivier de Gand and Jean d'Ypres.
Le Départ des reliques de sainte Auta de Cologne (Altarpiece of Sainte-Otta), Cristobalio de Figueretto, 1522-1525
Nuno Gonçalves is considered one of the pioneers of the Portuguese Renaissance. He created Saint Vincent Panels and designed the Pastrana Tapestries. Regarded as one of the most important works of pictorial art in Portuguese history, his altarpiece depicts outstanding figures such as the Portuguese nobility, royalty and clergy in a realistic style, and his depiction of each figure shows the great influence of Flemish.
Vincent attaché à la colonne (Bound Saint Vincent), Nuno Gonçalves, 1470
After Nuno Gonçalves was appointed court painter, the Lisbon workshop built around Jorge Afonso took on a new approach to painting on the basis of a perfect mastery of the art of oil painting. The discovery of the New World and the contact with other civilizations brought about cultural integration, and contact with African and Eastern civilizations led to the import of ceramics, textiles and furniture, precious wood, ivory and silk, which in turn gave birth to new art forms. The Portuguese painters of this period permeated the blue-colored landscape with poetry, precious fabrics and accessories, and fine architectural details, and combined them with keen and even humorous observation and narrative, establishing a very original combination between Flemish, the invention of the Italian Renaissance image, and Portuguese culture.
Good Shepherd, by Frey Carlos
However, little is known to the public about this boom period. Because an earthquake in 1755 destroyed Lisbon, taking away its architectural and painting treasures. The "confiscation of property" inheritance that began in the 19th century was an important part of the Portuguese state's ability to restore the ecclesiastical heritage, but it also hindered its circulation abroad and limited its international influence. Among those painters that can be found are Nuno Gonçalves, Giorgio Alfonso, Cristovao de Figueiredo, and Gregorio Lopes, who are considered the fathers of the Portuguese Renaissance.
The paintings on display at the Louvre are mostly religious themes and contain pleasing details such as still lifes and a clearing leading to a poetic landscape. Even the anonymist's Altarpiece of Hell was no exception, and the retrospective of well-known sins contained precise descriptions of objects and left room for nude paintings, both of which were very rare in Portuguese painting at the time.
L'Enfer, 1510-1520
In fact, from the exhibition "Portuguese A rt in the Age of the Great Discoveries" held in 1930 at the Jeu de Paume in Paris, to "Sun and Shadow: Portuguese Art in the 19th Century" in 1987 at the Musée du Petit Palais in Paris Shadows: 19th-Century Portuguese Art), and even Red and Gold: Treasures of Portuguese Baroque, presented in 2001 at the Musée Jacquemart-André, have not been able to deal with this period of Portuguese Renaissance. Thanks to Portuguese paintings donated by collectors, the study of the history of this school began to take shape.
The exhibition "The Golden Age of the Portuguese Renaissance" will run until October 10, 2022.
(This article is compiled based on the information on the official website of the Louvre and Wikipedia English-related entries)
Editor-in-Charge: Weihua Gu
Proofreader: Luan Meng