Figueira da Foz, Casa do Paço - 18th century glazed tiles from Delft (cont.) - The 6th of June 2015

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The Biblical glazed tiles painted with manganese oxide covering the centre part of the walls, whose edges are covered by cobalt blue tiles of landscapes, were quite interesting in as much as their 63 scenes were divided in those pertaining to the Old Testament with 36 of the New Testament, all of which  are represented within a double circle with an ossenkop in every corner.

 

I didn't manage to photograph them all but amongst the ones I did manage to are those representing Jonas killing Absalaham, Jesus presenting himself to Mary Magdalene, Elias feeding the crows, the return of Jephthah, Judas' kiss, Abraham's sacrifice, Jesus curing a woman and a blind, the 3rd negation, Moses being found by the Pharaoh's daughter, St. Saul's conversion, the annunciation, the execution of St. John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river, the circumcision, the sacrifice of Abel and Caim, Esther in the presence of King Ahasuerus, the flight to Egypt, Jesus being tempted in the desert, Jesus washing the Apostles' feet, David and Goliath, Hagar with Ismael in the desert, the whale vomiting Jonah onto dry land, etc.

 

Most of those Biblical scene glazed tiles were placed in a precinct that very much resembled a former chapel precinct with two side cupboard-like divisions.

Because of the interest we had shown throughout the visit we were exceptionally allowed to go up onto the second floor which despite not having been refurbished and clearly in need of being made available for the public, had typical Portuguese floral motifs glazed tiles on one of its walls. Its dome had visible seahorse fresco paintings encircling it with rather exquisite huge shells placed in its corners underneath. 

 

 

 

We carefully treaded up onto the open patio, which again is not open to the public, following the Museum guide who made this extra visits possible. The view over the Mondego fishing harbour was outstandingly beautiful.

 

 

 

We did particularly enjoy our morning, which was almost entirely spent at Casa do Paço, we both felt needs more  cultural "visibility", because not only has it witnessed several different cultural manifestations in the past with the diverse structural changes it had to go through but also and mainly because it deserves being recognised as the site that houses one of the largest collections of Dutch glazed tiles in the world.

 

Figueira da Foz, Casa do Paço - 18th century glazed tiles from Delft - The 6th of June 2015

Being in Figueira da Foz, I decided to venture into Casa do Paço together with my brother, so as to revisit one of our childhood memories, the glazed tile covered walls that had impressed us so much in the past.

We didn't understand the importance of what has been considered one of the largest collections of Dutch figurative tiles in the world then, despite having been told so, because what did seem to catch our attention at the epoch was the Dutch vessel shipwreck story reinforcing the idea as to why they were housed at Casa do Paço.

 

Whether it is true or not those who defend this theory base it on the fact that they were recovered from a shipwreck involving a Dutch vessel off this coast in 1706 having been subsequently auctioned by the Customs Authorities, and in turn acquired by the owners of Caso do Paço. 

 

The almost 6700 Dutch tiles decorate four of the seven rooms in the so called noble floor, being assembled by themes - the walls of two rooms  are covered in tiles depicting typical Dutch landscapes, the walls of another room, believed to have been a chapel precint, in Biblical scenes from both the Old and New Testament and the other ones covered in horsemen engaged in battle.

 

There were quite a few remarkable aspects to note, amongst which was the arrangement of the colours of the glazed tiles - walls fully covered in cobalt blue glazed tiles bordered by manganese coloured ones depicting horsemen and the opposite in some of the other rooms - manganese coloured glazed tiles covering the walls bordered by cobalt blue painted ones.

 

 

 

There are 89 different scene oriented glazed tiles in total, from landscapes depicting everyday life activities related to herding, fishing and hunting to typical Dutch landscapes with views of seaports and cities. The designs on the tiles are said to have been based on well known engravings by Anthonie Waterloo and Esaias van de Velde.

A rather curious aspect seems to have been the fact that despite not having been randomly placed on the wall one of the glazed tiles was put upside down whilst fitting in the colour sequence and some seem to have been cut to adapt to the corner or to fit the size of the wall, which in the last case seems to be a real pity though. 

 

 

In the room where the rarest collection seem to have been housed, once more covering the walls, one could see glazed manganese oxided tiles depicting horsemen (both male and female princes and warriors) brandishing their weapons and heraldic flags. A few could be seen falling from their horses or clearly wounded in battle.

 

To create the idea of movement on the battlefield some of the tiles were done using the same design in a mirror-like mode and having subsequently been placed on the wall facing one another, thus creating a line of combat approach.

 

The glazed tiles depicting princes were placed on the outside edges of the walls, as if to show the warriors they represented were positioned in the rear part of the fighting group, as in accordance with their lineage rank.

 

Many have been identified as representing well known figures such as Cyrus, the great, Julius Caeser and Alexander Magnus, amongst others. They have been apparently based on existing sketches made by Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630).

 

 

 

Prince van Orange (left).Cyrus, the Great - The King of Persia during the VI century B.C. (right)

 

 

 

Alexander Magnus - The King of Macedonia during the IV century B.C. (left). Julius Caeser - the well known Roman Emperor  in the I century B.C. (right)

 

 

 

 

Cassandane, the wife of Cyrus, the Great (left). Mary the Second from England.

Ninus, the legendary King of Assyria Semíramis, the legendary Queen of Assyria, who married King Ninus in the XX century B.C. (right)

(To be continued)