Graça Church revisited

Abstract

The important set of azulejos that can be seen today in the ante-sacristy of the Graça Church, in Lisbon, dated from between circa 1565 (year when the building of the new complex was finished) and 1580, is probably one of the most relevant indications of a local production of azulejos in the faience technique during the 2nd half of the 16th century. In the course of a research conducted to determine the origin of this technique in Portugal we tried to regroup these azulejos, some of them randomly set on the walls, using digital techniques. It is now possible to see some of the coherent images that once they represented. At the same time an important monogram was found in one of the panels, which helped to formulate an hypothesis on the possible author of these panels and brings to light the significant role that Flemish artisans had in the spreading of the faience technique in the manufacture of azulejos by the Lisbon workshops during the 2nd half of the 16th century.