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Information
Tiles can be
considered the most original expression of the Iberian ceramics.
None of the
European countries have perfected and developed ceramic tiles as Portugal
and its overseas provinces. It was first influenced by the Hispanic-Moorish
culture and later, Italian-Flemish.
Brazil had a singular role in the Portuguese ceramic tile history, because
of the intense trade of tiles into the country during the 19th
Century, which enhanced the development of many Portuguese tileries.
During the expeditions in North Africa, after the conquest of Ceuta, in
1415, the Portuguese were enchanted with the beauty of the tiles. Dom Manuel
(1469-1521) returned to Portugal fascinated with the tile work at the
Alhambra Palace, in Granada, Spain. He imported enormous collections of
tiles from Sevilla, for his Royal Palace in Cintra, as well as for the
Quinta de Bacalhoa in Azeitão.
From 1650 on, under the Dutch influence, the majority of the drawings and
decorations became richer, and the Portuguese acquired total mastery in this
art form. They also started to use polychromy.
From North to South, Portugal is filled with panels of ceramic tiles that
demonstrate the quality of drawings and workshops. Antonio de Oliveira
Bernardes and his son created Policarpo, a school specialized in this kind
of art.
Ceramic tiling was influenced by many artistic manifestations of different
cultures that arrived in Portugal through the sea, even Oriental cultures.
There were exportations of the great production from Lisbon to the entire
continent, including the Islands and many of the Portuguese colonies.
Tiling had an important role in the Portuguese architecture between the 15th
and 18th Centuries. It transformed spaces in the architectural
way as well as decorative.
At the end of the 17th Century, the diversification of tiling started to
focus on the pre-Baroque. It reverses from the polychromy to the traditional
"blue and white". We can observe that in staircases, cloisters, front panels
of altars and banners on the walls in Salvador-Brazil, Funchal-Madeiras and
others.
Until the middle of the 18th Century (the Joanina phase), the Baroque style
was spreading across the country. It was responsible for the proliferation
of ornamental elements, together with the decorative tiles in "blue and
white" in a golden frame. In the convent of São Francisco, in Salvador,
Bahia, we can find the most extraordinary collection of tiles inspired by
the Baroque art.
The art of tiles has been alive until the 20th Century thanks to the works
of the following great artists: Almada Negreiros (Hotel Ritz, Lisbon –
1950), Júlio Pomar, Carlos Botelho, Maria Keil, João Abel Manta, the great
Vieira da Silva and Carlos Viseu. In Porto, the painter Júlio Resende
developed his work in ceramics and, in 1985, he presented the panel of
Ribeira Negra to the city.
The Expo 98 brought a remarkable intervention of many young artists, who had
the chance to show off their work with tiles. Those artists were: Pedro
Cabrita Reis, Pedro Casqueiro, Fernanda Fragateiro and Ivan Chernayef with a
monumental work on the tiled walls in the Oceanarium of Lisbon.
Since the art of tiles has been written for
centuries into the Portuguese soul, governmental organizations and private
companies give incentives to the conservation and restoration of this
international treasure. A few examples: Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian (part
of the convent of Madre de Deus was transformed into the National Museum of
Tile); Foundation Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva (has sponsored wonderful
conservation and restoration of the church of Santo Antonio do Igarassu, in
Pernambuco ) and many others.
Bibliography
“Azulejos – Portugal e Brasil”.
In: Revista Oceanos October of 1998/March of 1999.
P. 36-37.
“Cem anos de tradição” – O mundo português. Newspaper report, 2003.
SANTO, Fundação Ricardo Espírito, e outros. Igreja de santo Antonio de
Igarassu – Memória e Futuro Continuidades Barrocas. Coordenação Geral,
Maria João Espírito Santo Bustorff Silva, 2000.
CAVALCANTI, Sylvia Tigre de Hollanda and CRUZ, António de Menezez. O
Azulejo na Arquitetura Civil de Pernambuco. São Paulo, Editor Metalivros,
2002.
BARADEZ, François. Uma visão retrospectiva do azulejo em Portugal.
In: Presença Portuguesa. Paris: Raízes Luzíadas. |