Principal investigator:
Pedro Flor (UAb/IHA- FCSH/UNL)

Principal contractor:
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas / Universidade Nova de Lisboa (IHA/FCSH-UNL)

Researchers from Az (then RTEACJMSS):
Susana Varela Flor
Rosário Salema de Carvalho

Other researchers:
João Pedro Monteiro (MNAz), Lurdes Esteves (MNAz), Ana Paula Correia (IHA/FCSH), Paulo Oliveira Ramos (IHA/FCSH), Fátima Vaz (ICEMS/IST) Pedro Miguel Amaral (ICEMS/IST), Ana Paula Carvalho (CQB/FCUL)


Summary [original]:
The present research project envisages an in depth study of the development of the city of Lisbon iconography, during the Modern Age (16th-18th century). It includes a survey of the capital's iconography in order to establish the traditional traits of its representation through the ages as well as the specific material, which has been used in its depiction.

The panel was probably painted around 1700 to decorate the main hall of a Lisbon palace and it represents a large number of religious, civil and public buildings, together with the sites where social and economic activities of the city took place and various quays and piers as well as boats anchored along the river Tagus. Within the context of Portuguese tilework, this panel is a unique piece not only because it has been preserved to this day in a remarkable condition, but also due to its considerable size and the visual impact caused by the representation of the Lisbon coastline stretching eastwards from the Belém area. The detailed analysis of these tiles makes it possible to recover an image of everyday life in Lisbon at the turn of the 17th century by comparing the past and present cityscape, which gives a clear picture of the urban development of the city to the present day. Above all, this View enables us to reconstruct a considerable part of the Lisbon portrayal later destroyed by the 1755 Earthquake disaster.

The absence of scholarly studies that simultaneously comprehend such diverse disciplines as History, History of Art, Iconography, Materials Engineering, Restoration, Conservation and Museology implies a close cooperation between various institutions, which is only possible through the scientific networking around a research project. Although, in recent years, there has been a considerable increase in the number of tile studies, the View of Lisbon still needs to be thoroughly examined so as to interpret its various aspects.


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