Portugal 2024: Lisbon - Marvila Tile Museum, Flight Home

Our final excursion in Lisbon was in the Marvila neighbourhood north of Chiado, where the National Tile Museum of the Azulejo is housed in the former 16th Century Madre de Deus Convent.  Open since 1971, the museum's collection showcases the evolution of Portuguese azulejo tilework spanning from the 15th century to the present day, reflecting the history and culture of Portugal.  Meaning "polished stone" in Arabic, azulejo is a form of Portuguese/Spanish painted tin-glazed ceramic tile art.  Because of its distance from the city’s historic centre, we mistakenly believed that this would a less popular, off the beaten path destination.  We were surprised to arrive just before the doors opened, to find a lineup waiting ahead of us that continued to grow in length before we were let in.  We passed by many beautiful tileworks after paying our admission fees but decided to look at those later.  Noting that the Chapel would close for several hours in the afternoon, we decided to rush over and view that first.

The lavish and opulent Madres de Deus Church was built in Portuguese Baroque style during the reign of King Joao III.  It features gilded woodwork and large scaled Portuguese paintings on the walls and ceilings, as well as azulejos tilework including pieces by Dutch artists such as Jan van Oort and Willem van der Kloet.  The main altar is framed by a triumphal arch with intricate gilded carvings complemented by oil paintings and azulejo (tile) panels depicting religious scenes from the lives of Saint Francis and Saint Clare.  On the church walls, large tile panels depict rustic court scenes,  religious imagery including the lives of hermit saints Anthony and Paul, Franciscan monks praying, and allegorical scenes.  A large-scaled nativity scene (circa 1700) is attributed to Dionísio and António Ferreira.  Made from polychrome terracotta, then painted and decorated with gold and silver, the figures depict shepherds and the Magi visiting Mary and baby Jesus with cherubs and angels hovering above.

Created by Marçal de Matos in 1580, the Altarpiece of Our Lady of Life (Retábulo de Nossa Senhora da Vida) is one of the most important pieces in the collection.  Employing the trompe l’oeil technique with a wide range of tones, almost 1500 tiles are used to simulate a 3-piece altar on painted board. The centre panel depicts the “Adoration of the Shepherds” who arrive to view baby Jesus.  At the top of the altarpiece, an open space was left to let light in through a window in its original location within the Church of Santo André, where the sunbeam that shone through represented the path the dove flew to reach Mary during the Annunciation.

The museum includes two cloisters or covered walkways.  The walls of the larger one features a chronological retrospective of azueljo tiles through the centuries.  We started by touring the Small Cloister which was designed in 16th Century Manueline style and features 19th-century diamond-patterned tiles on the ground floor.  It is one of the few surviving elements of the original Madre de Deus monastery.  Baroque 17th Century set of azulejo, Portuguese painted tiles that cover the walls of the second floor come from other convents including Convento de Santa Ana.  The blue and white tileworks depict a series of seated women including a lady grasping a mask and a lute, a queen brandishing a sword while also holding a harp, and an idyllic scene of a pensive woman with a book on her lap surveying her surroundings.

The panel designed in 1630 for the staircase in the St Benedict Convent is unique because it is comprised of diamond-shaped tiles laid out to match the slope of the stairs to create the illusion of movement. The blue, white and yellow design depicts mythological figures with goat hooves who are meant to protect shepherds and their flocks.  They are surrounded by blue curlicue patterns, as well as cupids, masks, satyrs and coats of arms including the one for the Order of St. Benedict, which consists of a lion holding a shepherd’s staff.  A fake stairway was built in the museum to illustrate how the piece was mounted.

The Chicken’s Wedding panel is a large, (probably satirical) panel designed by Manuel Francisco (circa 1660-1667) and is a prime example of “Singerie”, a popular 16th Century visual trope where fashionably dressed monkeys are depicted displaying human behaviour.  The entourage of monkeys, playing musical instruments, riding on horses and in carriages, seem to be escorting a chicken in a gilded carriage which is driven by yet another monkey.  In Western art, monkeys are often associated with foolish behaviour while the chicken might represent a Queen.  One interpretation suggests that the piece is possibly criticizing the defeated side of the War of Restoration (1640-1668).

The Hunting Room is a gallery dedicated to the display of a series of 17th Century panels which were originally located in the now-demolished Praia Palace in Belém.  The works depict dynamic hunting scenes with a variety of animals (mostly dogs) chasing or attacking their prey including a lion and a bull. The animals are surrounded by yellow and green decorative scrolls and acanthus leaves.  The tiles were made of maiolica (tin-glazed pottery) which was influenced by Italian Renaissance ceramics. The Leopard Hunt (1650) continues this theme while also emphasizing Portuguese taste for exoticism in distant lands.  Depicted are native hunters wielding bows and arrows and using various types of traps to capture spotted leopards.

The Lisbon Tile Museum provides a chronological history of the evolution of azulejo tiles in Portugal, starting with probably the oldest tiles dating back to the 14th to 15th centuries which once covered the floor of Leiria Castle in Leiria Portugal.  Shaped like green stars and honey-coloured crosses, the tiles fit together to form a “chessboard-like design”.  In the early 16th Century, Muslim influence resulted in tile panels that simulated Muslim tapestries, decorated with patterns that looked like sparkling night stars from afar.  In the 17th Century, patterns resembling camellia flowers were actually inspired by Oriental porcelain decorated with peonies.  This type of pattern was usually found in areas dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  In late 17th Century, designs for works were created based on etchings, such as “Fisher of Hearts” (1697) by Gabriel del Barco, which was an allegory to the month of March, based on an engraving from Henri Bonnart representing the 12 months of the year.  Tiles of “Individual Figures” were popular from 1700-1750, featuring depictions of an entire image or scene on a single tile.  These were often made as practice tiles for apprentices before attempting more complicated patterns on multiple tiles.  This century also saw the start of satirical panels such as one from 1725 depicting a doctor administering a needle to a bare-assed patient.

The 18th century produced complex figurative tile designs that depicted religious scenes such as Saint Lawrence’s Martyrdom (1710-1730), created by Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes for the nave of the Church of St. Lawrence.  Dutch artist Willem van der Kloet (1707) depicts the daily life of aristocracy in a palatial environment in his work titled "Dancing Lesson".  In 1790, Real Fábrica de Louça ao Rato created the equivalent of a “comic strip” in tile with his series depicting the “Story of Antonio Joaquim Carneiro, Hat Maker”.  A set of seven panels in the neoclassical style narrates the rise in society of a country lad who went to work at his uncle’s shop and learned the trade of a hatter, becoming a successful and respected businessman. Carneiro built a factory in the outskirts of Lisbon for which he had these azulejo panels created.  This is one of the first times where tiles were created for and depicted the life of a middle-classed businessman.

The 19th century was the period of industrial production where figurative azulejo works were replaced by systematic patterns used for decorating façades. There was more use of molded relief in the tiles, making some of them seem more sculptural in nature.  Styles also changed, moving from Baroque and Rococo influences towards Neoclassical and Romantic with softer colours, more delicate floral motifs and themes that reflected day to day life as opposed to merely religious or historical scenes.  Tiles started to be used for other purposes including eavestroughs, drains and waterspouts.  The use of faience (decorated tin-glazed earthenware used to make azulejo tiles) began to be applied to sculptures including an ornate table centre piece with protruding sea nymphs (1896) created by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro.

Tiles produced in early 20th Century reflected the Art Nouveau style prevalent in those times with a focus on nature.  In 1905, Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro expanded his repertoire by creating a panel with patterns depicting butterflies flanked by red flowers and ears of corn with a pumpkin-orange background, as well as one with grasshoppers resting on two honey-coloured wheat sheafs on a light green background.  Both panels were done in relief and are 3-dimensional.  A beautiful peacock was also designed in the early 20th century.  The panel titled “Threshing of Wheat” (1920-25) depicts the traditional technique of processing wheat before it was replaced by modernization and machinery.  This panel covered the wall of a bakery.  “Lisbon in Many Colours” (1937) by Paolo Ferreira was created for the Paris Expo and depicts a panoramic view of Lisbon as seen from the Tagus River with Praça do Comércio at the centre and Rossio, Carmo Convent, Bairro Alto and other squares in the background.

Looking at items on display from the mid 20th century, there were several sculptures by Jorges Barradas that were on loan from the Museum of Chiado including a female head with flowers in her hair and a girl holding a yellow hat, both from 1945, as well as an allegorical ceramic relief panel from 1954. During this timeframe, tilework started to be used for advertising as shown in the panel created for Schweppes soft drinks (1956-65) and was displayed in public and commercial spaces.  The 1950s saw the beginning of construction of Lisbon’s subway lines, which was accompanied by a tile art project led by ceramist Maria Keil who created tile art for 17 stations between 1958-1972.  Her 1955 piece titled “The Shepherds” provided an example of her talent as she employed the chequered technique where triangular or trapezoidal-are arranged to form diagonal, checkerboard-like patterns to accent her reclining and sitting figures.

While there were no obvious examples of Keil’s Lisbon subway work in the museum, there were some by other artists.  Maria Helena Vieira da Silva’s "Philosopher" (1988) is a replica of a section displayed in the Cidade Universitária Metro Station.  Júlio Pomar’s stylistic depiction of renowned writer Fernando Pessoa (among other noted artists, poets and authors including Luís de Camões) ca be found at the Alto dos Moinhos Metro Station and was created in 1989. Julio Resende’s 1995 tilework at on Sete Rios Metro Station has been titled “Jardim Zoológico”, representing animals and lush plants in a style that has the feel of an Impressionist painting.  Other works from the 20th Century included a couple of sculptural panels including the 3-dimensional “Eyeballs” (1972) by Maria de Loudes Castro, and Querubim Lapa’s 1957 contribution to the Portuguese Pavilion at the Comptoir Suisse International Fair in Lausanne where his panel represented a mythological mermaid figure, surrounded by fish and other marine elements, in reference to Portugal’s fishing and canning industries.  In 1991, he also created a cubic pattern where the cubic shapes seem to rise as if made in relief.  This was achieved by using various types of clays and glazes in different white tones.  The black figurative moulding at the top seem to represent a snail, a sphinx and some towers being struck by lightning.  A more recent work on display was the vibrant 2001 piece of vase of flowers surrounded by bugs, butterflies, birds and a cheeky little money that is attributed to Bela Silva.

In viewing the retrospective of azulejo tiles through the centuries, as we approached the last 200 years, we saw many examples from the company Viúva Lamego, Portugal’s most historic and influential ceramics factory, which has been producing ceramic works since 1849. During our visit, the rotating special exhibition on display at the Lisbon Tile Museum celebrated the anniversary of 175 years of ceramic tile design and production at Viúva Lamego with techniques and patterns changing through the years from traditional to contemporary.  In this exhibit, we were drawn to the more contemporary works including another example of Maria Helena Vieira da Silva’s creations for the Cidade Universitária Metro Station, this time featuring stylized owls.  Another work that might have been by Maria Emília Araújo seemed like an amalgamation of Modigliani’s long neck/limbed females mixed with Picasso’s cubic forms and Van Gogh’s bedroom in Arles but made from tiles.  Other abstract faces appear pixelated up close but become more in focus as you walked further away included a representation of actress Rita Hayworth by Pedrita Studio and a female profile in blue and white (2024) by Alexandre Farto (aka Vhils).  We also Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s depiction of Waves (2022) made from hand-modeled, bisque-fired relief tiles which were hand painted with glazes and uniquely, displayed on the ground.

On the top floor of the museum is a monumental 23-metre-long tile panel by Spanish artist Gabriel del Barco depicts a panoramic view of Lisbon circa 1700, before the devastating 1755 earthquake.  Depicted is 14km of the city as viewed from the Tagus River, “The Great Panorama of Lisbon” serves as crucial iconographic documentation of structures that were destroyed by the earthquake such as the Royal Palace, as well as the ones that remain, including St George’s Castle, Monastry of Saint Vincente de Fora, and the Monastery and Tower of Belém.  On the far right can be seen the convent that now holds the Tile Museum.

Our final stop at the Tile Museum was in the café with an indoor space covered appropriately with food-themed azueljo tiles depicting hanging fish, fowl and other game meats.  There is also a lovely covered “Winter Garden” decorated with plants, shrubs and garden sculptures.  The café offers a range of drinks, light snacks and simple meals. We ordered cold drinks and a large fruit salad to share and rested our feet before heading back to our rental apartment.  We were very glad to have visited this museum, which gave us a better understanding about why Azulejo tiles are so important to Portugal’s history and culture and how the use, design, and subject matter of these tiles evolved through the centuries.

After 17 fun-filled days in Portugal visiting Porto, Sintra and Lisbon, it was time to head home.  We were able to make a short downhill walk to the Chiado-Baixa metro station which was so much easier with our luggage than the trek we made from the train station when arriving in Lisbon from Sintra.  The metro took us directly into the airport station with just one subway transfer so the entire journey was very smooth.  At the Aeroport Metro Station, a series of 50 caricatures of key figures from Portugal’s recent history adorned the walls.  Created by Portuguese cartoonist António Moreira Antunes, the images included pop culture icons, artists (e.g. Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro), writers (Poet Fernando Pessoa), musicians (e.g.Fado singer Amália Rodrigues), athletes (Football legend Eusébio) and other noted personalities. We became familiar with some of these names during our trip but did not know what they looked like.

Prior to boarding our flight, we were able to spend time in Lisbon’s Ana Lounge, making use of the free lounge passes that came with our credit card.  It was an uneventful flight home and at Toronto’s Pearson airport, we breezed through customs and security checks by using our recently obtained Nexxus cards for the first time.