12/12: Marvelous Machado Museum & Roman Ruins in Coimbra

About two months ago I returned from being away on vacation with a friend in New Zealand and Australia for 3.5 weeks. In case you also want to follow that really fun trip, here's a link to the newest blog: www.bergersadventures7.blogspot.com

For some reason I neglected to take a photo of the exterior of Coimbra's Machado de Castro Museum and Cryptoporticus de Aeminium that was located in an elegant old bishop's palace and had two parts: the vast barren under structure, the Cryptoportico of Aeminium of the ancient Roman forum on which the palace was built, and a very large collection of art through the ages.

Surely the simplest manger scene ever:

We began by descending the steps to the Roman ruins where we discovered that Aeminium was the Roman city that became Coimbra. Two thousand years ago, the two main streets crossed here which marked the forum. There were substantial foundations of a basilica that dominated the forum which indicated it could have been used in devotions to Rome and the imperial family. 

In 1416, the facade of the cryptoporticus was collapsing so this retaining wall was erected. In the late 1500s, the now two-story  porticoed veranda was constructed on top of it.

During the 2nd century, the upper part of this stone tablet was used as offerings to the gods to guarantee their protection. 

The pillar from 39 AD was like a mile marker as there was an inscription carved on the stone that marked the distance to Aeminium and thereby confirmed the statues of the city as a capital of a political and administrative district. 

In Roman times, the stairs connected the two stories of the cryptoporticus with the forum. 

Ventilation was provided by the window at the far end and the holes near the top all along the gallery.

Roman tombstones contained the bodies of people of high social status, including the veiled Livia, the wife of Emperor Augustus, who was also represented on a coin struck in 22 AD. 

The portrait of Livia was done about 30 AD.

The statue head was of Agrippa the Elder who was the granddaughter of Augustus and the grandmother of Nero. 

After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the Iberian Peninsula experienced many waves of invaders. The first of these came from central Europe while later ones came from the Mediterranean basin and North Africa. As a result of these invasions, differing artistic and religious traditions were introduced which led to a hybrid art style called Pre-Romanesque being created. These capitals were from the 9th to the 12th centuries. 

By the 12th century, Coimbra had established itself as a major center of administrative, economic, cultural, religious, military and political power and thus the true heart of the emerging Portuguese nation. The city's monasteries and churches would have stood out from the mass of buildings. Built from the ground up or rebuilt in the Romanesque style of architecture which served the new liturgy of the Roman church. This was the period that saw the building of the Church of Santa Cruz that we'd seen earlier as well as so many other churches built outside the city walls.

Romanesque capitals:

The Mozarbic-influenced panel of the Paschal Lamb, possibly used as an altar front at the end of the 12th century, was considered as a masterpiece of the Coimbra Romanesque school.

The sculpture of the human form was very rare in the Portuguese Romanesque. The only known examples were from the 12th century. 

The remains of this incomplete Cloister, a rare example of the first phase of Romanesque architecture in Portugal, were discovered here in the 1930s and excavated.

The Gothic Workshops of Coimbra: The custom of interring prelates and nobles with recumbent effigies of the deceased in the interior of a church made a fundamental contribution to the development of sculpture from the middle of the 13th century onwards. Funerary inscriptions embellished with carving in bas-relief, which were placed on walls inside chapels and churches were only common in Coimbra and at their most common in the 14th century. 

One of the museum's most famous pieces was this magnificent Medieval Knight. Carved in the 14th century, it exalted both military and religious values and inspired medieval society. 

This was only the second time we'd seen a version of Our Lady the Expectant. Her enormous hands rested on her abdomen in a case of realism.

Alabaster's porous nature made it easy to paint and gild. During the 14th century, the easily carved and carved material gave rise to a flourishing industry in Nottingham, England, where there were extensive deposits of the best alabasters. The production of sculpted images, tombs, panels and altars reached a level of artistic quality that soon spread all over Europe. The subjects depicted were exclusively religious ones. The following pieces were executed between 1380 and 1450.

In the first few years of the 16th century, Coimbra was a place where the paths of Flemish, German, French and Spanish artists all crossed, together with the different artistic styles they brought with them. For local sculptors it was a difficult choice between tradition and innovation. However, French influence soon dominated during the Renaissance with the move of important sculptors from France. 

Museum notes described the humility of the raised gaze of the Virgin of the Annunciation and her right hand showed her surprise that she'd been chosen to be the mother of God. 

One of the museum highlights was the 14th century wooden sculpture called Cristo Negro depicted as a spindly armed, crucified Jesus. Until a decade ago, when this statue was cleaned and the candle soot was removed, it was considered to be a portrait of a black Christ. Imagine the power this dramatic statue must have had in the 14th century.

What I think was the single most largest and most impressive sight I can ever remember seeing in any museum was this Renaissance Treasurer's Chapel that formed part of the apse of the church of the Convent of Santo Domingos which was dismantled in 1963. The chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, was a monumental work in the international Mannerist style that was common when it was built between 1553 and 1564. Reconstruction of the chapel took place in what had been the internal patio of this museum.

The upper panel showed the Coronation of the Virgin flanked by Saints Peter and Paul in the niches.

The large central panel showed the unfortunately headless apostles who were present at the Assumption.

In the  court at the bottom was Christ Tied to the Column with Mary Magdalene in the background.

If you ever have a chance to visit Coimbra, I can only recommend you run, not walk to the Machado de Castro Museum so you can also delight in this stunning chapel that was thankfully not lost for future generations to see when its church was torn down.

The production of large terracotta sculptures was well documented from the middle of the 17th century and, by the end of the 18th century, such large figures were found in the Stations of the Cross made by large foundries. How the Cistercians came to learn this art is unknown but its origins probably lie in France or Italy where monumental terracotta works had been popular from the end of the 15th century.

The Last Supper by Hodart was made between 1530 and 1534 for the refectory of the Church of Santa Cruz. I could see why the unique piece in Portugal was described as an outstanding example of Renaissance sculpture. Never had either of us seen such an unusual and amazing depiction of The Last Supper. If you look at the images below, yo will see that no detail was overlooked, even down to the patches on the clothes.

I believe this figure with the serene expression and majestic pose was Jesus.

This was Judas.

I can't remember if ever we've been in a museum where there were signs pointing to something outside the museum we should pay attention to. At the Machado, it was suggested we look Through the Windows at the lantern on the cupola of the Old Cathedral "standing clear and brilliant amongst the roofs the roofs and backyards of the Old Town." It was added in the early 18th century in "bold contrast to the sobriety of the rest of the Romanesque building."

The first painting workshop was documented in Coimbra at the end of the 14th century and it remained active until the end of the 16th century. The city then saw the start of a period of great works of Renaissance painting, commissioned from Lisbon workshops following the Flemish and Italian schools.

The museum's precious metals collection consisted mainly of religious artifacts and illustrated the evolution of art from the Romanesque to the transitional period between the Baroque and Neoclassical.

The Angel Monstrance of the Sacrament was in the shape of a kneeling angel holding a shining star.

Through the museum's windows we saw some of the items collected by one of the university fraternity houses as some of the rowdier ones are often decorated with plunder from their pranks like stolen traffic signs, etc! As a result the locals say "At night many things happen in Coimbra!"

In the middle was the magnificent Jesuit Tabernacle from the early to mid 18th century.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Portugal became one of the richest countries in the world in terms of ivory sculpture because of the country's colonial expansion and overseas missionary work. 

The religious scene in Portugal soon found itself enriched with small ivory figures likely intended for niches and oratories. That was why so many surviving examples exist in museums and private collections.

The Good Shepherd and Christ on the Cross were the most frequently depicted images.

Another sign to add to my ever increasing 'bathroom sign collection!' The museum was a huge surprise to our stay in Coimbra with its stellar collections of Romanesque fragments, alabaster figures, the incomparable chapel, the terracotta figures, precious metals and so much more. 

Next post: Exploring Coimbra's Monasteries the following day.

Posted on May 30th, 2019, from our home away from home for one-twelfth of the year in a cabin at Grayton Beach State Park in Florida.