DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0527
Bk. VIII. Ch. iy.
PORTUGAL.
507
CHAPTER IV.
PORTUGAL.
CONTENTS.
Churcli of Batalha—Alcobaça—Belem.
So little attention bas been paid to the subject of Gothic architecture
in Portugal, tliat it is by »no means clear whether it contains any
churches of interest belonging to that style. There are certainly
some splendid remains at Belem near Lisbon, and fragments at least
elsewhere ; but those who have described them are so little qualified
for the task by previous study, that it is impossible to place reliance
on the correctness of their assertions regarding them. One church,
however,—that at Batalha,—has met with a different fate, and
having arrested the attention of Mr. Murphy, “ the illustrator of the
Alhambra,” was drawn by him, and published in a splendid folio
work at the end of the last century. As might be supposed from the
date of the work, tlie illustrations do not quite meet the exigences of
modern science, but it is at all events one of the best illustrated
churches in the Peninsula, and seems in some respects to be wordhy
of the distinction, being certainly the finest church in Portugal.
It was erected by Iving John of Portugal, in fulfilment of a vow
made during a battle with his namesake of Spain in the year 1385,
and was completed in all essentials in a very short period of time.
From the plan (Woodcut No. 968) it will be seen that the form of the
original church is that of an Italian basilica—a three-aisled nave
ending in a transept with five chapels ; the whole length internally
being 264 ft., and the width of the nave 72 ft. 4 in. It is therefore
a small building compared with most of the Gothic churches hitherto
described. To the right of the entrance, under an octagonal canopy
which once supported a German open-work spire, are the tombs of
the founder and of his wife Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt ;
beyond this the octagon expands into a squai’e, in a very Eastern
fashion, to accommodate the tombs of other members of the royal
family who are buried around. The whole design of this part is one
of the most suitable for a family sepulchre to be found anywhere.
The wonder, however, of the Batalha, or rather what would have
PORTUGAL.
507
CHAPTER IV.
PORTUGAL.
CONTENTS.
Churcli of Batalha—Alcobaça—Belem.
So little attention bas been paid to the subject of Gothic architecture
in Portugal, tliat it is by »no means clear whether it contains any
churches of interest belonging to that style. There are certainly
some splendid remains at Belem near Lisbon, and fragments at least
elsewhere ; but those who have described them are so little qualified
for the task by previous study, that it is impossible to place reliance
on the correctness of their assertions regarding them. One church,
however,—that at Batalha,—has met with a different fate, and
having arrested the attention of Mr. Murphy, “ the illustrator of the
Alhambra,” was drawn by him, and published in a splendid folio
work at the end of the last century. As might be supposed from the
date of the work, tlie illustrations do not quite meet the exigences of
modern science, but it is at all events one of the best illustrated
churches in the Peninsula, and seems in some respects to be wordhy
of the distinction, being certainly the finest church in Portugal.
It was erected by Iving John of Portugal, in fulfilment of a vow
made during a battle with his namesake of Spain in the year 1385,
and was completed in all essentials in a very short period of time.
From the plan (Woodcut No. 968) it will be seen that the form of the
original church is that of an Italian basilica—a three-aisled nave
ending in a transept with five chapels ; the whole length internally
being 264 ft., and the width of the nave 72 ft. 4 in. It is therefore
a small building compared with most of the Gothic churches hitherto
described. To the right of the entrance, under an octagonal canopy
which once supported a German open-work spire, are the tombs of
the founder and of his wife Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt ;
beyond this the octagon expands into a squai’e, in a very Eastern
fashion, to accommodate the tombs of other members of the royal
family who are buried around. The whole design of this part is one
of the most suitable for a family sepulchre to be found anywhere.
The wonder, however, of the Batalha, or rather what would have