Dada a extensão deste artigo, achei por bem publicar as versões inglesa e portuguesa em separado. Para a versão portuguesa, cliquem aqui.
PIECE OF THE MONTH II – SANTA CLARA TRIPTYCH
Collection: Machado de Castro National Museum, Coimbra
Dates: ca. 1483-1486
Provenance: Santa Clara-a-velha Monastery, Coimbra, Portugal
Local of Production: Coimbra (?), Portugal
Dimensions: 297cm in height × 342cm in width
Weight: Unknown
Materials: Oil and tempera on chestnut
Description: The Santa Clara Triptych is a set of paintings by an unknown master, part of an altarpiece which used to be housed in the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha. It is one of the greatest extant works from the 15th century in Portugal, the result of a confluence of artistical currents: undeniably Portuguese, but with traces of influences from Castilian, Aragonese, and Flemish school.
The Triptych consists of three panels and a predella (a long continuous panel at the bottom of the altarpiece), with gilded Gothic frames. The three main panels show episodes from the life of Saint Clare: the middle, the most important panel, shows the best known episode, the expulsion of Muslims from the city of Assisi by showing them a monstrance with a consecrated host – the Miracle of the Eucharist. The left panel depicts Christ in the Garden; the right panel shows a Lamentation. The predella contains portraits of the Apostles and a peculiarly off-centred Christ.
This set of paintings is one of the greatest testimonies of the wealth of power of Santa Clara-a-Velha during the Middle Ages. The central panel is of particulat interest to the military-minded reenactor, for including depictions of some standard pieces of Portuguese equipment at the time – brigandines, spears, war hats. In the central panel we have what is possibly the best depiction of an adarga in Portugal during the 1400s: not only can we clearly see the front of the shield, but its rear as well, including its straps and arm pad.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dias, P. (1986). O Gótico. História da Arte em Portugal (Vol. 5). Lisboa: Alfa
Serrão, V. (2003). “Pintura e Vitral”. In Barroca, M. and Serrão, V. O Gótico. História da Arte em Portugal (Vol. 2). Lisboa: Editorial Presença, pp. 277-291
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