Grand panorama of Lisbon - Cais do Sodré and Chiado

This extraordinary work, one of the most important in the collection of the National Azulejo Museum, is a unique iconographic document for the history of Lisbon, for it shows the most complete view of Lisbon from the River Tagus before the earthquake that destroyed it in 1755. On contemplating this panel we observe buildings and places that survived this cataclysm, as well as others that disappeared. St. George’s Castle, the Monastery of S. Vicente de Fora, Ribeira Palace, the Monastery of Jerónimos or the Tower of Belém, some of the most important buildings of this city are represented here, leading to an immediate identification of the city as the Portuguese capital. The authorship of this work has been associated to one of the first Masters of Baroque azulejo-making, the Spanish painter Gabriel del Barco (b. 1648 – d.?). Measuring nearly 23 metres in length, it depicts 14 km of coastline from Algés to Xabregas, portraying palaces, churches, convents and dwellings but also a whole living experience which can be observed from the more densely populated areas to the fields and outskirts in Alcântara or Belém. If we pay close attention we can feel the movement of the city, the hubbub of Ribeira Market, the activity of the tide windmill, the hustle and bustle of the coaches and sedan chairs, an entire world portrayed for eternity in this painting on ceramic. Formerly applied to one or more rooms in the palace of the Counts of Tentúgal in Rua de Santiago in Lisbon, it would have been applied as an ashlar, that is, on the walls above the skirting, interrupted only by doors and windows. It would provide a bird’s eye view over the city or, if we like, the eye of God, endowing the viewer with a vision of Lisbon "in the Divine" style. The disproportion of the perspective which is very clear in some of the elements in the panel may have been due to the relative importance of the buildings portrayed and to the panel’s integration in its original place. It does seem obvious, however, that the Royal Palace and Terreiro do Paço, very disproportionate, would probably have been applied to the main wall, a reference to their role as the centre of power and of the city, residence of the kings of Portugal, from which all Lisbon irradiated. On the extreme right of this panel we can see the Convent of Madre de Deus which today is home to the National Azulejo Museum.