Convent of São Pedro de Alcântara: The Chapel of the Lencasters

A deep look at the Chapel of the Lencastres of the Arrábida complex of São Pedro de Alcântara, its description and analysis, presentation of the decorative options adopted and interventions made over time. This research work carried out by Maria João Pereira Coutinho reveals how the memory of the 'Cardinal Inquisitor', D. Veríssimo de Lencastre, as referred to in contemporary documentation, was perpetuated with a work of great erudition in the artistic domain, and is remembered solely for it. Thus, the chapel dedicated to Saints Veríssimo, Máxima, and Júlia, in the convent of São Pedro de Alcântara, in Lisbon, demonstrates the power of a 17th-century ecclesiastic and reflects the magnificence of an Archbishop of Braga and Primate of Spain, a descendant of D. João II. The space, belonging to the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, is an example of the cohesion between different manifestations of decorative arts of the Portuguese Baroque, and particularly an example of conformity regarding the ornamental program of polychrome marbles that adorn it. The testimonies from different eras and the light brought through unpublished documents provide a new reading of the place. The historical and artistic contextualization of the work, and subsequent analysis of it, reinforces the importance of the artistic heritage of the Misericórdia de Lisboa and adds new relationships with other similar spaces.

Author: Maria João Pereira Coutinho

Year of publication: 2006
Publisher: Livros Horizonte
ISBN: 9729722414838