Pattern azulejo panel with the maltese cross

Pattern azulejos such as this one, made up of modules of 2x2 azulejos forming the cross of the Order of Malta, lead us to question the existence of commissions of repetitive azulejos for specific spaces throughout the 17th century. The same question could be raised concerning the production of three-dimensional faience objects in this same period. Tens of examples with heraldic motifs have reached us today, as well as inscriptions with names and mottoes, leading us to guess that although no documentary evidence exists there is a direct link between the commission and the objects. This pattern, in which each azulejo has only two halves of the arms of the cross, so that the four must be put together to show the full picture, was registered by Santos Simões as having been applied in the old Convent of Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Sacavém, of the Order of Saint Clare, and thus outside the context of a Maltese commission. Only information about the presence of this pattern in the revetment of a space belonging or related to the Order of Malta would provide any certainty as to the origin of the commission. As far as figurative azulejos are concerned, there is a panel of the first Lisbon production using the faience technique (MNAz, Inv. 7370 Az,) which has an as yet unidentified coat of arms topped by the cross of Malta. In this case, we may conclude that it indicates that the coat of arms belonged to a knight of that Order. The collection of the National Azulejo Museum also has another rare 17th century pattern, consisting of the repetition of one single azulejo with the stylised Cross of Malta (MNAz, Inv. 301 Az).