Instrumental study of the 16th century azulejo panel decorating a public fountain in Alcácer do Sal - Portugal

Abstract

The public fountain at Largo Aragão Mascarenhas in the town of Alcácer do Sal (65 km SE of Lisbon) is adorned with a square panel of 81 azulejos with a heraldic symbol of the Municipality. The panel is particularly important in the Portuguese context for bearing a clearly inscribed date (1592), being the only Portuguese dated panel yet known from that decade. Another interesting feature is the text it bears: “SALATIA UBRS IMPERATORIA” referring to the Latin designation of the town in Roman times. The panel has been generally considered of Portuguese manufacture by art historians and in this paper we report the results of an analytical study that indicates that, indeed, it is a product of the workshops of Lisbon. Therefore, its micro-morphologic and compositional characteristics offer a chronologic anchor that may help to assign an approximate date to other azulejo panels or related archaeologic remains.