An ode to Lisbon and its tiles
I was blown away by the beauty of Lisbon not only as a city but also because of its distinct feature of tiles. Locally knows as azuleijos, interiors and exteriors of Lisbon’s buildings are adorned with multicoloured tin-glazed squares. After my trip to the city this weekend, I was so inspired by how the tiles’ rich history and unique aesthetic continues to be embraced in and beyond the city’s borders.
Beyond their decorative function, tiles have served many purposes such as for controlling temperature and humidity in buildings, for religious purposes and for displays of wealth. Considering this interesting history, I decided to write this piece as an ode to their beauty.
Lisbon, you are amazing! Looking out from the Miradouro de Castelo de S. Jorge.
The Azuleijo Museum and Hispano-Moresque origins
The fact that the history of azuleijos, or tiles, have been recognised with an Azuleijo Museum says a lot about their position in Portugal’s cultural heritage. The museum has done a great job in showing a neat chronological overview of how they have development over the centuries. I learnt that wall tiles started to be disseminated across Portugal from early 16th century onwards. Earlier examples found in Portugal were imported from the centres of tile making in Spain, such as Sevilla and Toledo.
Detail from a larger Hispano-Moresque wall probably from Sevilla, late 15th century.
With increased demand later in the same century, Portuguese workshops adopted the Hispano-Moresque tile making techniques and aesthetic themselves. The word for tile in Portuguese azuleijo and Spanish azulejo, illustrates its clear Moorish/Arabic roots from words such as azzelij or al zuleycha, meaning small polished stone.
Portuguese tiles in the making
Not only patterned Moorish tiles were produced in Portugal. The 16th to 17th centuries popularised Gothic/Renaissance narratives and animalistic/vegetal motifs. Large scale commissions from the Church and wealthy noblemen meant the development of a specialised craftsmanship. However, tile painting was mostly completed by craftsmen of no academic art training such as drawing, the luxury of a few selected gentlemen at the time, resulting in a more naive, simplified style that was quicker to produce. For important commissions, compositions for the tiles were copied from popular European engravings of mythological or religious topics. Imports of Indian silk motifs also inspired many craftsmen to decorate with birds or blossoms. The practice of replacing fabric altar pieces with tile became commonplace already in the late 16th century in Portugal.
Polychrome faience tile work from Lisbon, ca 1600-1650.
Golden Age of Azuleijos
If you think about it, the fact that the most powerful and wealthy institutions in society, such as the Catholic Church, supported tiles as prestigious enough to decorate its places of worship, the results are bound to be spectacular. Consequently, respect for the craftsmanship is only to increase then too. It is no surprise that soon after tile production was widely known across the country, a period often referred to as the Golden Age of Azuleijos boomed between late 17th and early 18th century in Portugal.
It was impressive to recognise this development in real life. You could see an increased complexity of compositions, improved faience painting techniques, and clear use of the colours of the popular blue and white of Dutch Delftware. Tile painters became artists in their own right as the use of tiles spread to home interiors and exteriors too. The museum mentions one of the most renowned tile painters, Manuel dos Santos, as a master of religious scenes. One of his works of Franciscan monk scenes is visible at the museum, in the navel of Convent of Sant’Anna.
Inside the large D. Manuel Hall, from the museum’s nave of Convent of the Madre de Deus. Blue white tiles of Franciscan scenes to the right are by Manuel dos Santos.
From 18th century onwards
Below I have put a few examples showing international decorative and fine art taste becaming considerably more integrated into the production of Portuguese tiles. These include everything from theatrical Baroque, neoclassical and up until the present day. Personally I did not find that the technical advancements of the late 19th century and Art Nouveau tiles produced more beautiful tiles than earlier periods. I really liked what the museum called “naive style of painting” of some of the 16th century examples. However, the museum had a this one tile of roses with an impressive 3D effect which I thought was a good illustration to include here. And then of course I had to include the geometric grasshoppers, an obvious choice of wall decor for any house…
A lady at her dressing table, Lisbon, ca 1700-1730. A late Baroque style work attributed to monogrammist PMP.
Late 18th century neoclassical style tiles depicting foliage, doves and flowers.
Frontal view of a mid-19th century tile with risen rose and leaf motifs from the Azuleijo Museum in Lisbon.
Detailed shot of a mid-19th century rose tile.
Art Nouveau grasshopper tiles, obviously.
Work by Querubim Lapa, (1925-2016), a section of the Portuguese Pavilion Comptoir Suisse held in Lausanne, modelled and glazed panel, 1957.
Tiles in Lisbon’s cityscape
After visiting the museum, I think my favourite part of the whole journey was to be able to spot the different styles being very much alive outside the museum too. I was also surprised to discover how the Moorish aesthetic, geometric shapes and knot-work, has had such a lasting influence. Maybe the geometric Moorish work has a timelessness to it. Regardless, I think it is no wonder that today, after centuries of development in styles and production techniques of azuleijos, tiles are one of the most recognisable and loved features of Lisbon.
Colourful tiles close to the Jardim Botto Machado in Lisbon.
A little Moorish Yak and Yeti – Indian/Nepalese restaurant with tiled facade on Calçada de Santo André.
Beautiful house in the neighbourhood of the Castelo de S. Jorge.
Another impressive facade close to the Santa Clara neighbourhood.
Quem nunca viu Lisboa, não viu coisa boa
A very fitting proverb to end this whole article. Loosely translated into something like “he who has not seen Lisbon has seen nothing…”. I could not agree more.
A special thanks to my sweetheart buddy Joana Krause-Palfner for her recommendations for making the Lisbon visit so special. Travelling to Lisbon and want some recommendations too? She’s shared her insights on joanakp.com/lisbon, check it out!
All sources, dates and references are taken from my personal tour of Azuleijo Museum and quick online research from the Met Museum and Museu Machado Castro.
Snaps from around the city.