‏‏‎ Church of Madre de Deus - interior

When visitors enter the Church of the Madre Deus Convent, they are amazed by the lavish decoration, which makes the convent a fine example of Portuguese Baroque in all its splendour. All available space seems to be decorated by azulejo, gilded carving or paintings. Although the church was built by King João III and Queen Catherine of Austria in the 1550s, it was lavishly decorated only after the 18th century when large gold and diamond mines were discovered in Brazil. After the initial astonishment, visitors gradually surrender to a sense of serenity and harmony. This pleasant sensation does not occur by chance. It is induced by brilliant planning and by the proportional harmony of this church’s 16th century Mannerist architecture, which resembles that of Roman buildings with rectangular shapes and arches. The church is, in fact, a large rectangular space covered by a barrel vault, with a white stone floor and many rows of dark wood benches. This is the nave, and it is connected to the chancel by a large and perfect arch flanked by two smaller arches, which resemble a Roman Triumphal Arch. Moreover, the whole edifice seems to have been designed on a human scale, neither too large nor too small. The church was also designed with worshipers in mind, since its three very tall and narrow windows, on each side of the nave, provide just enough light to create an ideal penumbra for praying. Today, visitors can climb a flight of 19th century stairs from the Lower Choir to the church. These stairs did not exist when the convent was still a cloister because, in those days, the nuns were not allowed to enter the church. To build this staircase, part of a church wall was removed. The wall originally had a large panel of Dutch tiles depicting Moses on Mount Sinai, believed to be a landscape in Egypt. When the stairs were built, the panel was removed and divided in two parts placed on either side of the stairs. As can be seen, Moses' flock of sheep was divided into two, and one sheep even has its body on one side and its head on the other. The church walls are covered half way up with Dutch tile panels in a blue design over a white background, which was ordered in the late 17th century. The tiles on the left depict a landscape of palaces, gardens and rural dances, whereas those on the right depict friars praying in a wild landscape. These scenes were meant to show churchgoers the two optional paths to be followed: a life of pleasure or a religious life. The remaining wall space and the ceiling are completely covered by Portuguese paintings framed in gilded carving -carved wood embellished by a very thin layer of gold. Interestingly, the themes represented in the paintings and their locations were not randomly selected. Immediately above the tiles, the paintings narrate the life of Saint Francis. Higher up, the paintings depict the life of Saint Clare, the founder of the Order of Saint Clare, also known as the Poor Clares. The ceiling, which symbolises the celestial and divine, features a painting depicting the life of Our Lady, the Mother of God, the patron of the convent. The Madre de Deus Church is open for worship and is selected by many Lisbon residents for their wedding ceremony.