Study of the azulejo panels in Graça Church signed by João de Góis

Abstract

After the panels of Capela de São Roque in Lisbon, signed and dated, the incomplete and dispersed panels in the church of Graça are the second set of Renaissance azulejos produced in Lisbon that were found to be signed. A selection of azulejo units from the panels has now been studied by scanning-electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). The tiles making up the book bearing the signing monogram have been used to establish a morphological and analytical template aimed at identifying in the future a common officinal provenance in azulejos of the same general chronology known or presumed to have been produced in Lisbon. This paper attempts a partial reconstitution of the panels and discusses their original placement. It also reports the results of the analytical study identifying the main micro-morphological features and the compositional variations that may be ascribed to different chronologies.