PROJET 14 | Mémoire des Pierres

Batalha Monastery

gothic art from portugal

On August 14, 1385, near the village of Aljubarrota, King John I of Portugal, with his faithful Constable Nuno Alvares Pereira inflicted on the Castilians the defeat that forged the Portuguese nation.

To thank God, the king built one of the most beautiful monasteries in the Iberian Peninsula: the Monastery of Our Lady of Victory, in Batalha, whose work began immediately, in 1386, and will have lasted nearly two centuries.

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We are here in what represents the soul of Portuguese independence. Its beauty, its rich heritage make it one of the most incredible monuments of Humanity, according to UNESCO criteria. This place of commemoration, of sad memory ultimately for the Spaniards, is the symbol of the definitive Portuguese military victory over Castile, hence its official name of Our Lady of Victory.

I suggest you set off on a discovery, in history and in photos, of this place so dear to the hearts of the Portuguese, symbol of a glorious past.

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We can observe in detail the portal surmounted by a tympanum where we find Christ in Majesty surrounded by the evangelists. On the sides are represented the twelve apostles.

The arches are decorated with a multitude of angels, prophets, kings and saints ... We endeavor to detail more particularly the many musical angels.

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

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The originality of this Portuguese church is not obvious at first glance, due to its Gothic style.

Gothic is quite rare in Portugal, rather covered with Romanesque or Baroque churches. We are here in front of the most beautiful example of Portuguese Gothic art, with the monastery of Alcobaça .

The two monuments may be both Gothic, they are very different:

the simplicity of Alcobaça is contrasted with the decorations of Batalha, so thin that they look like lace.

This is the difference between the early Gothic of Alcobaça and the late Gothic of Batalha, already strongly influenced by the beginnings of the Renaissance.

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This masterpiece will be started by the architect Afonso Domingues, a specialist in radiant Gothic, then taken over by the French (or Catalan) Master David Huguet who will take command of the site from 1402 to 1438.

It is the work of a lifetime. Work that had almost no longer existed today, with the ravages of Marshal Masséna and the Napoleonic invasions, and after the expulsion of the Dominican friars from the monastery in 1834, following the extinction of religious orders ordered by the Minister of the justice of the time, Joaquim Antonio de Aguiar.

The intervention of the “artist king” Fernando II will be essential for the rescue of the Portuguese architectural heritage: in 1840, he begins a program of restoration of the monastery of Batalha.

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The inscription in 1983 of the monument as a UNESCO World Heritage Site enhances and protects, we hope, definitively the Batalha Monastery from possible future degradation.

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Founder's Chapel

Tomb of the Kings of Portugal

This place carries a strong symbolic charge for the Portuguese people: it is here that King Dom João I (John I of Portugal) and his wife, Queen Filipa de Lencastre, are buried, as well as their children, those who are calls it the “ínclita geração”, or “wonderful generation”.

These rulers correspond to the beginning of the heyday of Portugal, and marked their time and our civilization, for having initiated the beginning of the Great Discoveries. The monument dedicated to them had to be up to the task.

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Master Huguet mastered the art of Flamboyant Gothic, with large stained-glass windows which bring a lot of light to the Chapel, with a very particular impact on the central tombs.

Still under construction in 1426, it will be ready when the monarch dies in 1433. It is in 1434 that the remains of John I and Queen Filipa de Lencastre will be transferred to the Founder's Chapel.

Huguet had designed a square chapel, with an octagonal central body, covered by a star-shaped dome.

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Royal cloister

What could be more emblematic for a monastery than its cloister? Batalha is no exception, and its Royal Cloister is the focal point of the religious establishment. Manueline Art finds all its splendor in this courtyard, frequented by monks until the 19th century.

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

The monastery of Batalha is therefore articulated around the Royal Cloister, with the church on one side, the other buildings sharing the other sides of 50m each of this square courtyard.

Surrounded by pointed arches arranged on a single floor, the first architect of the cloister is Afonso Domingues, the initial creator of the architectural project of the monastery. From him, we keep the start of the work in 1386, and the first two galleries of the cloister.