analytical study of the 16th century azulejo panel "Nossa Senhora da Vida" and related archaeologic findings

Abstract

One of the jewels in the collections of the Museu Nacional do Azulejo is a renaissance azulejo panel representing the Annunciation and the Adoration of the Shepherds, originally from the Capela de Nossa Senhora da Vida (Chapel of Our Lady of Life) of the now demolished Igreja de Santo André (Church of Saint Andrew) in Lisbon. Before the chapel was demolished, in 1845, the panel was removed and put in storage, while a second panel, considered of lesser value, was left in place and presumably destroyed. An archaeological excavation in 2018 on the site of the church unearthed a number of fragments from figurative azulejos, thought to be part of the lost panel. This paper includes the results of an analytical study of azulejos from both the Nossa Senhora da Vida panel and from the excavated shards, compares the results and discusses the possibility that the findings were indeed once part of the lost azulejo panel.