Azulejos
Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellij ???? is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tile work. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries. There is also a tradition of their production in former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in Latin America.
In Portugal, azulejos are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses and even train stations or subway stations. They constitute a major aspect of Portuguese architecture as they are applied on walls, floors and even ceilings. They were not only used as an ornamental art form, but also had a specific functional capacity like temperature control at homes. Many azulejos chronicle major historical and cultural aspects of Portuguese history.
15th century
The art was introduced to Portugal, via Spain, by the Moors and the craft is still in use in the Arab world in two main traditions the "Egyptian Zalij" and the "Morrocan Zalij" the latter being the most famous. The word azulejo is derived from the Arabic word: ?????? (al zulayj) : Zellige, meaning "polished stone". This origin explains the unmistakable Arab influences in many tiles: interlocking curvilinear, geometric or floral motifs. The Spanish city of Seville had become the major centre of the Hispano-Moresque tile industry, employing the old techniques of cuerda seca ('dry string') and cuenca.
The earliest azulejos in the 15th century were dry-string tiles (cuerda seca) and azulejos alicatados (panels of tile-mosaic) in Moorish tradition, imported from Seville by king Manuel I after a visit to that town in 1503. They were glazed in a single colour and decorated with geometric patterns. They were applied on walls and used for paving floors, such as can be seen in several rooms, and especially the Arab Room of the Sintra National Palace (including the famous cuenca tiles with the armillary sphere, symbol of king Manuel I). The Portuguese adopted the Moorish tradition of horror vacui ('fear of empty spaces') and covered the walls completely with azulejos.
16th century
Azulejos were used in large quantities to cover walls from the late 15th to early 16th century. A fine collection of 16th-century Hispano-Moorish azulejos (azulejos Hispano-mouriscos) can be found in the Museu da Reinha D. Leonor in Beja, Portugal (the former Convento da Conceição).
After the Portuguese had captured Ceuta (North Africa) in 1415 they became acquainted with the azulejo technique themselves. But until the mid-16th century the Portuguese continued to rely on foreign imports - mostly from Spain, but also on a smaller scale from Antwerp (Flanders) (such as the two panels by Jan Bogaerts in the Paço Ducal, Vila Viscose Alentejo) and Italy (such as the Annunciation by Francisco Niculoso in Évora, and Orazio Fontana).
When potters from Spain, Flanders and Italy came to Portugal in the early 16th century and established workshops there, they brought with them the maiolica techniques (which made it possible to paint directly on the tiles). This technique allowed the artists to represent a much larger number of figurative themes in their compositions.
One of the early local masters of the 16th century was Marçal de Matos, to whom Susanna and the Elders (1565), in Quinta da Bacalhoa, Azeitão, is attributed, as well as the Adoration of the Shepperds (in the National Museum of Azulejos in Lisbon). The Miracle of St. Roque (in the Church of S. Roque, Lisbon) is the first dated Portuguese azulejo composition (1584). It is the work of Francisco de Matos, probably the nephew and pupil of Marçal de Matos. Both drew their inspiration on Renaissance and Mannerist paintings and engravings from Italy and Flanders.
This had an important repercussion on the ceramic industry, leading to polychrome tin-glazed tile panels in Renaissance style (azulejo renascentista), such as in the Church of S. Roque, Lisbon, and later Hispano-Flemish Mannerist styles (azulejo maneirista), such as in the Capela de Sto. Amaro, Lisbon. Most of the azulejos depict allegorical or mythological scenes, biblical scenes, scenes from the lives of saints or hunting scenes. In the same church of São Roque, we can also find diamond-point azulejos (ponta de diamante) with diamonds shown in trompe l'oeil- effect and grotesques, in the style of a Seville workshop. These grotesques with their bizarre representations would be frequently used until the end of the 18th century.
In the late 16th century, checkered azulejos (azulejos enxaquetado) were used as decoration for large surfaces, such as in churches and monasteries. Diagonally placed plain white tiles were surrounded by blue square ones and narrow border tiles.
17th century
Shortly afterwards, these plain white tiles were replaced by polychrome tiles (enxaquetado rico) often giving a complex framework such as in the Church of Santa Maria de Marvila in Santarém with one of the most outstanding tile-based interior decorations in Portugal.
When the diagonal tiles were replaced by a repetitive pattern of horizontal polychrome tiles, one could obtain a new design with different motifs, interlacing Mannerist drawings with representations of roses and camelias (sometimes roses and garlands). An inset votive usually depicts a scene from the life of Christ or a saint. These carpet compositions (azulejo de tapete), as they were called, elaborately framed with friezes and borders, were produced in great numbers during the 17th century. The best examples are to be found in the Igreja do Salvador, Évora, Igreja de S. Quintino, Obral de Monte Agraço, Igreja de S. Vicente, Cuba (Portugal) and the university chapel in Coimbra.
The use of azulejos for the decoration of antependia (front of an altar), imitating precious altar cloths, is typical for Portugal. The panel may be in one piece, or composed of two or three sections. They were used in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Some antependia of the 17th century imitate oriental fabrics (calico, chintz). The golden fringes of the altar cloth were imitated by yellow motifs on the painted border tiles. Excellent examples can be found in the Hospital de Sta. Marta, Lisbon, or in the church of Almoster and the Convent of Buçaco
During the same period another motif in friezes was introduced: floral vases flanked by birds, dolphins or putti, the so-called albarradas. They were probably inspired by Flemish paintings of flower vases, such as by Jan Brueghel the Elder. These were still free-standing in the 17th century, but they would be used in repetitive modules in the 18th century.
20th century
At the turn of the century, Art Nouveau azulejos started to appear from artists such as Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, Júlio César da Silva and José António Jorge Pinto. In 1885 Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro founded a ceramics factory in Caldas da Rainha, where he created many of the pottery designs for which this city is known. In this factory he has his own a museum São Rafael devoted to his fantastically imaginative work, especially the decorative plates and his satirical stone figures, such as the Zé Povinho (a representation of the worrying common man).
Around the 1930s, Art Deco-azulejos made their appearance with their principal artist António Costa. The monumental decorations, consisting of 20,000 azulejos, in the vestibule of the São Bento railway station in Porto, created by Jorge Colaço, show in its historical themes the narrative style of the romantic 'picture-postcard'. This one of the most notable creations with azulejos of the 20th century. The façades of the churches of Santo Ildefonso and Congregados equally attest to the artistic mastery of Jorge Colaço. Other artists from this period include Mário Branco and Silvestre Silvestri, who decorated in 1912 the lateral façade of the Carmo Church, and Eduardo Leite for his work on the Almas Chapel (imitating the style of the 18th century), both in Porto.
Leading contemporary artists include Jorge Nicholson Moore Barradas, Jorge Martins, Menez and Paula Rego. Maria Keil designed the large abstract panels in nineteen stations of the Lisbon Underground over a period of 25 years (1957-1982). Through these works she became a driving force in the revival and the updating of the art of the azulejo, which had gone in some decline. Her decorations of the station Intendente is considered a masterpiece of contemporary tile art. In 1988 the following contemporary artists were commissioned to decorate the newer subway stations Júlio Pomar (the Alto dos Moinhos station), Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (the Cidade Universitária station), Rolando Sá Nogueira (Laranjeiras station) and Manuel Cargaleiro (the Colégio Militar station).
The Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisbon houses the largest collection of Portuguese tiles in the world.