Carla Varela Fernandes
Carla Varela Fernandes has a degree in History of Art at Lisbon University (1993), where she presented her master thesis dedicated to Gothic Sculpture in Coimbra (1998) and her PhD thesis consecrated to the Iconology of the Royal Portuguese Family (1st dynasty, 12th to 14th centuries). She holds now a post-doc. fellowship granted by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), dedicated to study medieval Portuguese sculpture (Portuguese figurative sculpture from the 12th to the 14th centuries, knowledge transfers, "know how" and artistic itinerancy). She is an integrated member of Institute of Medieval Studies (IEM), University Nova of Lisbon).
Over the years, she has researched on medieval sculpture and iconography, regarding specially the relations between Portuguese sculpture from the 12th to 14th centuries and the ones made in other western European countries at the same time. She took part in several research projects, such as the monographic study of Lisbon’s Cathedral, Artistic Transfers in Gothic Europe, and now is researcher of the project Movilidad y Transferencia Artística en el Mediterráneo (1187-1388) Artistas, Objetos y Modelos - MAGISTRI MEDITERRANEI (MICINN: HAR2015-63883-P), directed by Manuel Castiñeiras González – University Autonoma of Barcelona.
Having published articles in scientific reviews, both in Portugal and abroad, as well as in congress (see https://unl-pt.academia.edu/CarlaVarelaFernandes ), she is the author of the following books: Tavira’s Santa Maria Church (2001); Memories of Stone: tomb sculpture in Lisbon’s Cathedral (2001); The image of a king. Analysis of the tomb of King Fernando I (2009 – bilingual) and co-author of several books and exhibition catalogues: Sculpture of Palácio de Belém; Building Memory – collections from Museu Arqueológico do Carmo or Antonio Olmo’s Collection, amoung others. Her professional life led her to be Curator of Carmo Archaeological Museum (Lisboa) and Museum’s Head Division at Cascais municipality.
Over the years, she has researched on medieval sculpture and iconography, regarding specially the relations between Portuguese sculpture from the 12th to 14th centuries and the ones made in other western European countries at the same time. She took part in several research projects, such as the monographic study of Lisbon’s Cathedral, Artistic Transfers in Gothic Europe, and now is researcher of the project Movilidad y Transferencia Artística en el Mediterráneo (1187-1388) Artistas, Objetos y Modelos - MAGISTRI MEDITERRANEI (MICINN: HAR2015-63883-P), directed by Manuel Castiñeiras González – University Autonoma of Barcelona.
Having published articles in scientific reviews, both in Portugal and abroad, as well as in congress (see https://unl-pt.academia.edu/CarlaVarelaFernandes ), she is the author of the following books: Tavira’s Santa Maria Church (2001); Memories of Stone: tomb sculpture in Lisbon’s Cathedral (2001); The image of a king. Analysis of the tomb of King Fernando I (2009 – bilingual) and co-author of several books and exhibition catalogues: Sculpture of Palácio de Belém; Building Memory – collections from Museu Arqueológico do Carmo or Antonio Olmo’s Collection, amoung others. Her professional life led her to be Curator of Carmo Archaeological Museum (Lisboa) and Museum’s Head Division at Cascais municipality.
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Papers by Carla Varela Fernandes
Autouguia da Baleia is a work carved in relief, in a light coloured
limestone, whose unique iconography is the scene of the Nativity of
Jesus. There are many reasons to consider this work as a special case
in the context of Portuguese art in the 14th century. These are stylistic
reasons – which allow it to be brought closer to other works carried out
in relevant international centres of sculptural production of those years
– and there are reasons of an iconographic nature, as it brings a small
detail to a theme already very well defined in Western and Eastern art
(very standardised); this detail sets it apart and turns it into a unicum.
propose to analyze in this brief study. Among the royal tombs of the 1st Portuguese dynasty (between the
12th and 14th centuries), the examples that should be noted in this study are those of the kings Dinis and
Fernando I, since there we find representations of beings belonging to the fantastic world, from imagination
or simply to the universe of fears. Both also represent important moments of innovation in Portuguese art,
constituting examples of rupture / advance, both in terms of forms (stylistic models) and iconographies.
Both were true innovations for Portuguese sculpture.
In this iconographic and stylistic analysis, I will try to integrate the examples of the two Portuguese tombs
in the scope of international production of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in particular the use
of both the presence of animals and hybrid figures, through necessary and very relevant comparisons
with similar or different artistic techniques (sculpture, painting and manuscript book illuminations). This
methodology allowed us to understand once again how the “journey of forms” took place between the
borders of the territory of Christendom, and how the journey of the artists themselves is also, in these
two cases, a situation to be equated.
As especificidades da imago e da mirabilia da escultura funerária régia portuguesa do século xiv é
que me proponho analisar neste breve estudo. Entre os sepulcros régios da 1.ª dinastia portuguesa (dos séculos
xii ao xiv), os exemplos em que importa deter a atenção neste estudo são os dos reis Dinis e Fernando
I, pois é neles que encontramos representações de seres pertencente ao mundo do fantástico, da imaginação
ou, simplesmente, ao universo dos medos. Ambos representam, também, importantes momentos de
inovação na arte portuguesa, constituindo exemplos de rutura/avanço, tanto ao nível das formas (modelos
estilísticos) como nas iconografias. Ambos foram verdadeiras novidades para a escultura portuguesa.
Nesta análise, iconográfica e estilística, procurarei integrar os exemplos dos dois sepulcros portugueses
no âmbito da produção internacional dos séculos xiii e xiv, em particular o recurso de ambos à presença
de animais e figuras híbridas, através de necessárias e muito relevantes comparações com semelhantes
ou diferentes técnicas artísticas (escultura, pintura e iluminuras). Esta metodologia permitiu perceber, uma
vez mais, como a «viagem das formas» se fez entre as fronteiras do território da Cristandade, e de como,
a viagem dos próprios artistas também é, nestes dois casos, uma situação a equacionar.
The aim of this work is to study a group of medieval processional crosses which I consider very relevant in the wider set of Portuguese medieval thoreutic. From previous evaluations, appreciations, reflexions and proposals made by other authors about the origins and dates of the pieces here gathered, I intend to contribute with a closer look, especially on how these works of art can be part of a wider cultural, artistic and religious reality. Because they are not mentioned in documents from medieval times, these crosses allow only a comparative study with other works of art from Portugal and elsewhere, as thorough as possible (both in a formalist and an iconographic point of view). This is the only way, for now, to understand how they can be part of a local reality (heir of both traditional and new features of different origins and times) or just a reinterpretation of imported models.
Este estudio (resumido), basado en comparaciones iconográficas e estilísticas con otras esculturas de los siglos XII e XIII existentes en Francia y en la Península Ibérica, pretende presentar datos y propuestas que permitan sostener de manera más consistente la identificación del sepulcro alcobacense con el de la reina Urraca. Además, pretende integrar la obra en un contexto más amplio, el del arte occidental tardo-románico, señalando en particular las relaciones que presenta con esculturas del Midi francés y de los reinos de Castilla y León. Este análisis se realizará teniendo en cuenta las relaciones familiares que, por los motivos referidos anteriormente, pudieron haber contribuido a la inclusión de las novedades patentes en este encargo artístico.
Autouguia da Baleia is a work carved in relief, in a light coloured
limestone, whose unique iconography is the scene of the Nativity of
Jesus. There are many reasons to consider this work as a special case
in the context of Portuguese art in the 14th century. These are stylistic
reasons – which allow it to be brought closer to other works carried out
in relevant international centres of sculptural production of those years
– and there are reasons of an iconographic nature, as it brings a small
detail to a theme already very well defined in Western and Eastern art
(very standardised); this detail sets it apart and turns it into a unicum.
propose to analyze in this brief study. Among the royal tombs of the 1st Portuguese dynasty (between the
12th and 14th centuries), the examples that should be noted in this study are those of the kings Dinis and
Fernando I, since there we find representations of beings belonging to the fantastic world, from imagination
or simply to the universe of fears. Both also represent important moments of innovation in Portuguese art,
constituting examples of rupture / advance, both in terms of forms (stylistic models) and iconographies.
Both were true innovations for Portuguese sculpture.
In this iconographic and stylistic analysis, I will try to integrate the examples of the two Portuguese tombs
in the scope of international production of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in particular the use
of both the presence of animals and hybrid figures, through necessary and very relevant comparisons
with similar or different artistic techniques (sculpture, painting and manuscript book illuminations). This
methodology allowed us to understand once again how the “journey of forms” took place between the
borders of the territory of Christendom, and how the journey of the artists themselves is also, in these
two cases, a situation to be equated.
As especificidades da imago e da mirabilia da escultura funerária régia portuguesa do século xiv é
que me proponho analisar neste breve estudo. Entre os sepulcros régios da 1.ª dinastia portuguesa (dos séculos
xii ao xiv), os exemplos em que importa deter a atenção neste estudo são os dos reis Dinis e Fernando
I, pois é neles que encontramos representações de seres pertencente ao mundo do fantástico, da imaginação
ou, simplesmente, ao universo dos medos. Ambos representam, também, importantes momentos de
inovação na arte portuguesa, constituindo exemplos de rutura/avanço, tanto ao nível das formas (modelos
estilísticos) como nas iconografias. Ambos foram verdadeiras novidades para a escultura portuguesa.
Nesta análise, iconográfica e estilística, procurarei integrar os exemplos dos dois sepulcros portugueses
no âmbito da produção internacional dos séculos xiii e xiv, em particular o recurso de ambos à presença
de animais e figuras híbridas, através de necessárias e muito relevantes comparações com semelhantes
ou diferentes técnicas artísticas (escultura, pintura e iluminuras). Esta metodologia permitiu perceber, uma
vez mais, como a «viagem das formas» se fez entre as fronteiras do território da Cristandade, e de como,
a viagem dos próprios artistas também é, nestes dois casos, uma situação a equacionar.
The aim of this work is to study a group of medieval processional crosses which I consider very relevant in the wider set of Portuguese medieval thoreutic. From previous evaluations, appreciations, reflexions and proposals made by other authors about the origins and dates of the pieces here gathered, I intend to contribute with a closer look, especially on how these works of art can be part of a wider cultural, artistic and religious reality. Because they are not mentioned in documents from medieval times, these crosses allow only a comparative study with other works of art from Portugal and elsewhere, as thorough as possible (both in a formalist and an iconographic point of view). This is the only way, for now, to understand how they can be part of a local reality (heir of both traditional and new features of different origins and times) or just a reinterpretation of imported models.
Este estudio (resumido), basado en comparaciones iconográficas e estilísticas con otras esculturas de los siglos XII e XIII existentes en Francia y en la Península Ibérica, pretende presentar datos y propuestas que permitan sostener de manera más consistente la identificación del sepulcro alcobacense con el de la reina Urraca. Además, pretende integrar la obra en un contexto más amplio, el del arte occidental tardo-románico, señalando en particular las relaciones que presenta con esculturas del Midi francés y de los reinos de Castilla y León. Este análisis se realizará teniendo en cuenta las relaciones familiares que, por los motivos referidos anteriormente, pudieron haber contribuido a la inclusión de las novedades patentes en este encargo artístico.
3rd International Seminar on History of Art
https://www.bensculturais.com/snbci-noticias/795-imagens-e-liturgia-na-idade-media
Abstract: The present study intends to bring to the debate various themes related to the works (architecture and ornaments) carried out in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in the Cathedral of Évora, under the patronage of some bishops. From an already extensive bibliography, with studies based on written documentation, as well as on the stylistic comparisons between this building and others that exist inside and outside the Portuguese borders, I consider that there are still subjects that lack further questioning and revision of positions. I was especially motivated by the tombs of the bishop-builders (and others), and of how Cathedral of Évora represents a nucleus of tomb sculpture with special features in the whole of the burials of the Portuguese bishops in the Middle Ages.
Ao longo dos séculos em que reinaram os monarcas da dinastia de Borgonha (primeira dinastia – século XII a XIV), o processo de inovação artística, no que respeita aos monumentos funerários, parece ter sido liderado pelos membros da família real. Mesmo para alguns casos de sepulturas de importantes membros da aristocracia (onde se desenvolveram iconografias inovadoras) na verdade, pertenceram também a elementos ligados à família real (filhos ilegítimos). Assim, e em especial nos séculos XIII e XIV, os grandes aristocratas, os eclesiásticos e mesmo as oligarquias urbanas, permaneceram fora do processo de inovação, tanto no que respeita às formas como aos temas escolhidos para a última morada, como também na iniciativa da escolha de artistas diferentes e que fizessem rupturas com o passado. Esta comunicação pretende fazer um percurso pelos exemplos mais emblemáticos da escultura funerária destas cronologias e verificar com estes representam factores de introdução de novas linguagens, de novos modelos e de como através deles também podemos ter uma ideia, cada vez mais aproximada, do carácter itinerante dos artistas que trabalharam nestas comendas artísticas.
Ao assinalarmos os 650 anos passados da morte do rei Pedro I, nunca é demais sublinhar a importância que estas obras tiveram no seu projecto político e de construção da memória e de como o monarca quis, através dessa pedra alva, escrever a cinzel o primeiro testemunho de alguns acontecimentos reais, contados assim, na primeira pessoa, e antecedendo o que cronistas futuros sobre ele haveriam de escrever.
Summoning this dimension in the relationship with religion, devotional practices, sensibilities and representations, carries a new set of questions and necessarily calls for different knowledge in order to deepen understanding and the interpretation of the relationship between medieval religiosity and their material translations. From the images carved and painted to the buildings edified, from liturgical objects to reliquaries and tombs, from books to personal objects of piety, from temples to the inscription of the various forms of religious life, there are many domains where the relation between materiality and devotion can be a prospect and a problem. It intersects the material, functional, performative and aesthetic dimensions with the different readings it calls for, the cognitive and emotional apprehensions, the representations (erudite and popular) it associates with, the practices that it sustains, the memories that polarize and legitimize, the powers that were affirmed through it. It discloses the diversity of variants such as wealth and social position, more or less literate training, and gender differences.
The colloquium thus aims to be a broad space for debate, both in the plurality of knowledge and in the diversity of sources, historical, geographical and religious contexts (Christian, Jewish, Islamic and other), and in analytical perspectives.