Baltazar Álvares, very great architect and draftsman

Baltazar Álvares was one of the most important Portuguese architects of all time and one of the greats of Europe in his era. Among us, in terms of impact produced, probably only the figure of João de Castilho reached comparable stature. His legacy remained a valuable source of inspiration until the 18th century, adding to the history of our monumental heritage buildings of great significance. Centered on the history of Portuguese conventual architecture between around 1550 and 1640, but focusing on the activity of Baltazar Álvares, this monograph is based on a methodology that always prioritized the confrontation of various collected documentary sources with the morphological analysis of the built heritage, allowing for the addition of new data to the most recent historiographical contributions, as well as aspects of a biographical nature of the life of this remarkable architect that are still unpublished.

The research carried out by Ricardo Lucas Branco constitutes the first retrospective of the architect's work, undoubtedly a key figure in the Portuguese artistic landscape of the late 16th century – early 17th century. A careful reading of Baltazar Álvares' biography will lead the reader to discover the environment in which he operated, guiding us through the treatises and the state of the art that he and his peers would have at hand when applying a project of symbolic power to architecture, dictated by classical rules and canons. In the study of the peak of imperial modernity that the Catholic Monarchy marked with its monumentality, Baltazar Álvares re-emerges in light of a thorough research that connects the sources to what remains of his projects. The author offers us an innovative perspective on four central examples in the architect's work: Santo Antão-o-Novo, São Vicente de Fora, São Bento da Saúde, and Nossa Senhora do Desterro; resorting not only to comparisons with architectural ensembles of the time but also to proposals for the reconstruction of elements that have since been lost over time and new concepts to apply in the interpretation of architecture in its historical context.

The stroke with which Baltazar Álvares drew, designed, and built has not been erased. His grandeur, of an artistic language strongly rooted in his classical training and the aesthetics of a true Portuguese Italianism, nuanced by the ideology of the Counter-Reformation, testifies to the expression of a time that, no matter how overshadowed it may have been, remains unforgettable in the image of the city.

Author Ricardo Lucas Branco
Presentation Rui Lobo

Preface José Sarmento de Matos
Text of the back cover Miguel Soromenho

Year of publication: 1st edition September 2021
Edition: Canto Redondo – Edição e Produção, Lda.
ISBN: 9789895306329