Page 146 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

ter of Dom Duarte of Portugal), offered her, from triz, who offered it to the convent of Nossa Sen- breast to feed his young, an emblem adopted by
his father's treasury, the relic of the body of Saint hora da Conceicjlo de Beja, which they founded in Dom Joao n; his motto was pola lei e pola grei (by
Auta, one of the 11,000 virgins martyred in Co- 1456. It is comparable to another medallion of the the law and by the people). This image, symboliz-
logne. The naval cortege bearing the relic entered Madonna by Luca in which the child is seen with ing good will and brotherly love, corresponds to
the Tagus estuary on 4 September 1517, and the his arm around his mother's neck (Pope-Hennessy the changes Dom Joao n made in the coat-of-arms
body of Saint Auta was brought in pomp to Madre 1980, cat. 27), and to numerous other works by and reflects his intention to create a modern,
de Deus. A triptych depicting the Arrival of the him, distinguished by the studied folds of the Vir- centralized monarchy, as opposed to the previous
Relics of Saint Auta at Madre de Deus Convent gin's cloak and their balanced composition (Pope- medieval conception of royal power in a frame-
(Museu Nacional de Arte Amiga, Lisbon) records Hennessy 1980, cats. 15, 32, 48, 52). It would work of feudal sovereignties. J.T.
the appearance of the church at that time and have been well known to Dona Leonor. The popu-
shows, to the right of the helicoid counterfoils larity of della Robbia terra-cottas in Portugal may
that frame the portal, the della Robbia medallions. also have been a consequence of the construction
This altarpiece is thought to have been commis- of the funerary chapel of Dom Jaime, Cardinal of
sioned at the time of the relics' arrival and com- Portugal, in San Miniato al Monte in Florence, by
pleted around 1520. It indicates that work on the Antonio Rossellino; its decoration includes medal-
church had progressed relatively swiftly from the lions by Luca della Robbia executed in 1462-1466.
foundation in 1508 and that it was essentially We know of Dona Leonor's interest in ceramics, as
complete in 1517. she had in her service a master tilemaker known
This chronology indicates that the traditional as Alle Azulejo Mouro da Rainha (The Moor
attribution of the medallion to Luca della Robbia Tilemaker of the Queen). Her last will indicates
(1399/1400-1482) is mistaken. It must have been that she continued to maintain relations with
executed by Andrea, his nephew and successor in Rome, which began during her husband's reign,
the workshop. The two angels bearing the coat-of- and with Florence. It mentions her intention to
arms are strikingly analogous to those in a della bequeath, in addition to the silver ampullas used
Robbia roundel of the Madonna and Child in the in her oratory given to her by the archbishop of
Accademia, Florence (Cavalucci and Moliner 1884, Lisbon and produced in Rome, "all things sent to
115), while the garland of fruit around the border me by the Mothers of Florence" (Belem 1750-
recalls Andrea della Robbia's Coronation of the 1755/4:85).
Virgin in the Church of the Assunta in La Spezia. The medallion shows the royal Portuguese arms
A terra-cotta roundel of the Madonna and Child as modified in 1485 by Dom Joao n, who had the
in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, of great Cross of Aviz removed, the lateral escutcheons
sculptural quality, appears to be by Luca himself. changed on the vertical level, and the number of
This piece was acquired by Dona Leonor's parents, castles fixed at seven. The pendant to this piece,
the Infante Dom Fernando, master of the Order of which is also in the Museu Nacional de Arte
Christ, duke of Beja and of Viseu, and Dona Bea- Antiga, shows a pelican in his nest opening his

26
PORTRAIT OF DOM MANUEL i

from Leitura Nova, district of Alem Douro i
1521
Portuguese
tempera and gilding on parchment
3
7
53 x 38 (2o /s x i4 /4J
references: Baido and Azevedo 1905; Dornelas 1931;
Santos 1932; Gusmdo 1951; Campos 1967; Santos
1967; Deswartes 1977; Ahes 1985
Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon

The Leitura Nova (New Reading), a corpus of
sixty-three books containing forty-three illus-
trated frontispieces, reproduces documents from
the royal Portuguese archives. Ordered by Dom
Manuel i in 1504, the series was continued under
his son Dom Joao in until 1552. The project was
described in 1566 by Damiao de Gois, the chief
keeper of the Torre do Tombo archives, in Part iv
of the Cronica do Felicissimo Rei D. Emmanuel
(Chronicle of the Most Fortunate King Emman-
uel): "He ordered most of the documents of the
Torre do Tombo to be reproduced in books of
parchment well written and illustrated." The new

EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 145