Paineis de Sao Vicente

The Painéis de Säo Vicente consist of six panels in oak. Sixty people are depicted on the painting,
belonging to all classes of the 15th century society.
Much literature has been produced about the significance of the master work.
Controversy exists about the identity of the persons.

Sagres Promontorium, Henry the Navigator, Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe in Vila do Bispo, Algarve.
Vila do Bispo - Algarve - Portugal.

Traditionally, the figure on panel 3, right of the bishop, is supposed to be Henry the Navigator,
D. Henrique, o Navegador, the initiator, from Sagres - Algarve, of the Great Discoveries.
He lived from 1394 to 1460 and was Grandmaster of the Order of Christ,
which followed the extincted Order of the Templars.

The work is attributed to Nuno Gonçalves, who created it between 1450 and 1470.

Lam Gods, altarpiece in Ghent, Flanders, by Jan and Hubert Van Eyck, 1420s.

The painting is inspired by other works, mainly those of Flanders and Holland.
Nuno Gonçalves has visited these regions before he started working on the Painéis.
He seems to have met with the authors of the Lam Gods in Ghent, the brothers Van Eyck.

The polytriptych was 'lost' for centuries and rediscovered only in 1882,
by Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, in the former palace of the
Patriarch - Archbishop of Lisbon, called São Vicente de Fora.
In 1909 the painting were transfered to the Royal Fine Arts Academy for restoration.
Since the 24th of March 1912 they are put in exhibition
at the Museum of Ancient Art - Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga,
in the Rua das Janelas Verdes, in Lisbon.

Project
The Painéis de Säo Vicente belong to the world's top masterpieces of art.
Their value however, superseeds their conventional cultural and historic significance and function
for the world and for Portugal in particular.
The painting dates from the start period of the Discoveries, one of the main dates in human history.
During the same period the whole world underwent a fundamental transformation
in many other fields, not at least by the invention of printing in 1453.
The rediscovery, restoration and exposure of the Panels coincides with the
end of the monarchy in Portugal, a new phase in its evolution.

Art works of the level of the Painéis de Säo Vicente are not mere objects of culture and tourism,
they express underlying realities of societal and spiritual development.
They cannot be part of a collection of major paintings, however nicely displayed room after room.
Similar would be putting all fountains of a city in one exposition, taking them away from their squares,
street corners and parks..

Therefore a special venue should be created, in an appropriate location in Lisbon,
where the vibration of the Panels can flow freely, as a metaphysical source of inspiration ...
between other historic features of Portugal.

Historic landmarks of the Lisbon - Estremadura region of Portugal.
Mafra, Palacio da Pena, Ponte 25 de Abril, Cristo Rei.

P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6
Painéis HomePage - Complete Altar Piece - General Outline People on the Panels - Key Details of the Panels - DataTable of the 6 Panels Nuno Gonçalves Parallel History - Text Excerpts - References and Bibliography