The 16th century majolica azulejo heritage of Palácio e Quinta da Bacalhôa: imported panels and tiles

Abstract

Although the chronology of the tiling of Bacalhôa with majolica azulejos was always known to be around 1565, given the date inscribed in the panel representing the biblical episode of Susanna and the Elders, their provenance as well as the authorship of the figurative panels, remained clouded and open to personal opinion. A previous analytical study of the main panels and linings with patterned tiles of Bacalhôa concluded that some of them could not be ascribed to the workshops of Lisbon at that chronology, differing in terms of glaze and biscuit compositions and micro-morphology, suggesting that they may have been imported. The present paper presents a detailed study of those presumably imported panels and patterned tiles, firstly setting a reference based on the micro-morphological and analytical characteristics of the two panels depicting coats of arms, and then comparing the remaining items with them to verify whether they may be clustered together. Finally, we discuss their possible provenance.