Azulejos as Decorative Art

Altarpiece of our Lady of Life. c1580

This altarpiece was partially destroyed during the 1755 earthquake. It is composed of 1,498 tiles in a multitude of hues. The top section with missing pieces is the Annunciation. The Adoration panel in the center is flanked by the images of St. Luke on the left and St. John on the right. The arrangement of this altarpiece resembles that of a retablo. It is attributed to Marçal de Matos, one of the masters of Portuguese azulejo painting.

Franciscan scenes, Manueline Hall

Tiles were introduced to Portugal from Southern Spain by King Manuel I after his visit to Seville in 1503. The Portuguese imported tiles until the 17th century when they started to produce their own. Churches, palaces, houses were decorated with blue tiles. A fine example of these adorn the walls of the Manueline Hall in the Madre de Deus, the church within the Museu Nacional do Azulejo. This tile composition depicting St. Francis with the crucified Christ and angels came from the Convent of St. Anne and is attributed to Manuel dos Santos who is considered one of the masters of the Cycle of the Masters (1690-1725), the Portuguese golden age in azulejo painting.

Monumental Silhar for a Staircase. c1640

Yellow glaze was mixed with blue glaze to create the Monumental Silhar. The tile motifs on the Silhar above deviate from the traditional Arabic floral and geometric patterns to include human and animal figures.

Dutch tiles. c1700

The smaller tiles in the center of the panel are Dutch in origin and are bordered by Portuguese tiles in brown glaze.

Apartments in Lisbon

It is common to find buildings in Portugal that are ornamented with tiles. Here are some examples of apartments in the Bairro Alto whose façades are coated with tiles.

A Panel from the Panoramic View of Lisbon before the 1755 Earthquake

This panel showing the Castelo de São Jorge in the background is only a small section of this 23 meter long (77ft.) panoramic view of Lisbon. Completed in the 18th century, it is the work of Spanish tile painter, Gabriel del Barco and was created for the former palace of the Counts of Tentúgal.

Small Altar by Hein Semke

Hein Semke was a German sculptor and painter who lived in Portugal where he created ceramic art compositions such as the Small Altar above. Teresa Balté recently gifted the museum with two hundred of Semke's works which are now on permanent display at the museum. The Small Altar is made in red clay with polychrome glaze.

Azulejos continue to evolve securing its place in ornamental design.

The Museu Nacional do Azulejo is on 4 Rua da Madre de Dios. Please check their website for opening hours and admission fee: http://www.museudoazulejo.pt/en-GB/default.aspx. The museum is a long uphill walk from the Santa Apolonia metro station. Best to take a taxi if you're not up to it or take the bus.

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Images by TravelswithCharie

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called Kasaysayan ng Maynila (History of Manila). The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

Lizares Mansion The province of Iloilo on the island of Panay has a rich trove of heritage houses, left over from the sugar industry boom in the 19th century. Iloilo also had the largest port in the Philippines at that time which facilitated the export of sugar to foreign shores and deposited money in the hands of the sugar barons. The barons dropped their earnings into the acquisition of properties in Negros and the construction of beautiful homes in Iloilo, many of which are located in the vicinity of the Jaro Cathedral. The Lizares Mansion was built in 1937 by Don Emiliano Lizares for his wife, Concepcion Gamboa and five children. The family fled to safety when World War II broke out and the house was occupied by the Japanese military. The family returned to the house after the war but left once again after the demise of Don Emiliano. It was sold to the Dominican order in the 1960s and was converted in 1978 to a private school, Angelicum School. The mansion now houses the

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