Ornamental ashlar with portait of a lady

This panel was one of a series of four existing in a private house on the outskirts of Lisbon. It announces the end of the neoclassical aesthetic in Portuguese azulejos, one of the richest phases in ceramic production, which emphasised the ingenuity of its painters, given the multiple configurations of possible elements characterising it. Each of the panels in this series represented a female figure, one of them an older woman, and traditionally they were referred to as the portraits of a mother and three daughters, the one shown here being the most attractive of the group. The disconcerting conjugation of the peacock feathers with the exotic oriental heads do not however overshadow the imposing medallion with the portrait of a young lady wearing an extravagant wide-brimmed hat ornamented with plumes. This prop, albeit with variations, appears in all the panels, as does the veil that partially conceals the girl’s face, without preventing her observation. This very difficult technique of simulation of transparencies has few parallels in ceramic painting, given the difficulty in knowing beforehand if the intended result would be achieved when the azulejos were fired. It is equally present, with identical mastery, in a previous phase in the so-called Cycle of the Masters of the first quarter of the 18th century, in what is considered the pinnacle of Portuguese baroque azulejos. Although we cannot guarantee that we are in the presence of a real portrait some examples of this practice can be found in Portuguese azulejo ware from the 18th century onwards, but more evident in subsequent periods. However, it is important to highlight this possibility, showing the versatility of languages employed in azulejos in Portugal. Lisbon production.