Bologne et le Portugal. Mille ans de rapports d'art et de culture

Cultural relations between Portugal and Bologna go back as early as the Kingdom's appearance as an independent country, at the beginning of 12th century. Bolognese art is a constant influence along the Middle Ages, and its technological achievements were much praised during the 14th and 15th centuries. Artistic relations reach momentum with Sebastiano Serlio books' multiple impact, after Francisco de Holanda brought back to Portugal a copy of the Terzo Libro (1540) from Venice. It lasts from Diogo de Torralva's "world masterpiece" (Kubler) of 1558, the Geat Cloister of Tomar's convent of Christ, to master António Rodrigues chapels, churches and manuscript Treatise (1576-79), until late-17th century structures and many ornaments, in Portugal as well as in Brazil, Goa (India) and Macau (China). But its highest point is the Settecento, when many Bolognese architects come to work in Portugal, attracted by the richness and Italianate taste of the court and high nobility. The various essays along this volume study the most important of them - from Filippo Terzi to Giovanni Antonio Landi, the Bibienas, Giacomo Azzolini and Fortunato Lodi -, offering us a good survey of this very special relationship.