Painting as time goes by

Despite the fact that this panel is from the 16th century polyptych from the Convento de Santa Maria de Celas, it displays the most remarkable characteristics of the gothic painture: the exhaustive reliance on gold leaf in the halo and the realistic portrayal of contemporary goldsmithery. The concentration of figures in a reduced space, the treatment of the garments and the the anatomies, all reveal this to be a work from the Coimbra workshop, founded by Vicente Gil.

This oil painting on an oak panel belonged to the grand altarpiece by Cristovão de Figueiredo for the main altar of the Monastery of Santa Cruz, and was commissioned by King Manuel but only finished nine years later during the reign of King João III.

The story of the Emperor Heraclius bearing the Cross in a procession is one of the many of the iconographic themes related to portrayals of the Holy Cross. The foreshortening of the figure in the foreground shows an awareness of the engravings of Durer.

Possibly dated from 1530–32, the iconography on this panel portrays something very similar to the description of the life and miracles of two physician brothers, martyred in the 3rd century. The Golden Legend (ca. 1275) describes this posthumous miracle: the vestry-keeper of a church in Rome had gangrenous leg; whilst he slept, the Saints cured him by amputating the offending member, replacing it with that of a recently buried Ethiopian.

This small altarpiece of Queen Saint Isabel painted on wood comes from the Monastery of Celas in Coimbra. Considered to be the first Portuguese ex-voto, it was commissioned by Martin de Azpilcueta to thank the Queen for curing his niece Ana, who was a nun there. Two scenes representing miracles can be seen on the right, one of which relates to the vow of the commissioner (The Miracle of the Gangrened Leg), whilst, on the left, is the outline of Renaissance Coimbra.

The central panel of this triptych by Garcia Fernandes bears the date of 1531 on the entablature of the large window on the right.

Divided into two panels – which is rare in 16th century Portuguese painting – this theme frames the central one of the Apparition of Christ to the Virgin. On the interior side of the wings, the Archangel Gabriel appears in the compartment where the Virgin sits reading the prophecy of Isaiah. With the triptych closed one may observe the Quo Vadis in grisaille.

Painting representing Saint Mary Magdalene secluded in a cave that on the right side, allows foreseeing the exterior, through the clouds over a blue sky. The Saint personalizes the sorrow and penitence, suggesting the meditation away from the world. On her right hand she holds a skull, symbol of the secular values; she gently holds her long face on her left hand, while looking towards the observer. By her side stands the vase of perfumes that might be used to anoint the feet of Christ. Her dense wig, described by the Holy Scriptures, loose and falls over her shoulders and her back, but doesn’t hide her nudity. Her right arm forms a symmetrical diagonal with the contour of the cave’s entrance. The light pointing strongly on the face of Magdalene, enhances the perfection of the lines and pearly face, highlighting her from the shadow of the background.

Night exterior scene, representing the Fire of Troy, arising from the struggles between Greeks and Trojans, narrated by Homer.

In an environment of shadows, strongly illuminated by flames coming from the interior of the towers, on the left stands out the colossal statue of the Trojan’s horse and a little on the right the portal of entrance in the fortress. Far from the city and in the foreground, Aeneas flees, supporting his father Anchises on his back.

This manuscript, illustrated with two illuminations - one presenting his royal coat of arms and the other with the figure of Queen Santa Isabel - speaks of the "good life that the Queen of Portugal, D. Isabel, has done, and of her good deeds and miracles in his life and after his death."

Oil Painting on canvas, with vertical rectangular shape, representing The Lactatio Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.

The composition is pyramidal, symmetrical, representing four Cistercian friars and four nuns of the same religious order. In the middle, in an upper level, Our Lady crowned holds in her lap the Infant.

Oil painting on canvas depicting allegorically, the feelings of Hope and Sorrow, through two female figures. According to the exhibition catalog of Miguel Lupi, this work was begun in Rome and finished in Lisbon.

Oil painting on wood (thin board), representing a street of Malestroit, canton of the region of Bretagne. This painting is inserted in his training as a painter, showing a realistic register of the spaces and its people. Work with signature, place and date signed in the lower right corner: "Salgado / Malestroit / 7 bre 88".

Oil painting on wood, depicting a female figure, half-body, inserted in a greenish background. Simultaneously it confers mystery, drama and an introspection that prepare the observer for the psychological portrait that this painting contains.

Focusing the attention on the character’s face: oblong face, with long chin, fleshy bottom lip and strangely small eyes that stare the viewer through a bezel, or "lorgnon", that she holds gently in her right gloved hand.

Manuel Jardim, a contemporary of Sousa Cardozo, Santa-Rita, Almada Negreiros, and other painters, was part of the first phase of Portuguese Modernism. This painting, presented at the (Paris) Salon of 1911, evokes a piece by Edouard Manet and is the most well-known and appreciated of his creations, out of a total of 424 works in various formats, using different artistic techniques.