Ana Maria Costa | Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa (original) (raw)

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Papers by Ana Maria Costa

Figura: Studies on the Classical Tradition, 2019

More than three hundred butterflies from Rio de Janeiro appear natural die-pressed (nature printi... more More than three hundred butterflies from Rio de Janeiro appear natural die-pressed (nature printing) and drawn in watercolour in a small album sui generis in the Portuguese museological context – Lepidoptera Fluminensis. No title, author or date is displayed, however the entomology work recognises Queen Maria I of Portugal as recipient. Three references attribute the authorship of the manuscript to the naturalist Friar José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, while another identifies him as patron and dates it from 1789. The hypotheses put forward, the uniqueness of the book and the scarce knowledge about it invite us to study it. With this article, we will investigate the authorship, production, entomological representation, reception and history of this volume; allowing us to conclude that this Natural History treasure is an icon of the Brazilian colonial scientific art of the late eighteenth century.

Asclepio - Revista de Historia de la Medicina y de la Ciencia, 2016

This paper shows that in the final decades of the eighteenth century, beyond the diplomatic and m... more This paper shows that in the final decades of the eighteenth century, beyond the diplomatic and military conflicts between Portugal and Spain, there were important scientific connections, which have been little studied. Having as a starting point the almost unknown Specimen Florae Americae Meridionalis (1780), a four volumes botanical work produced in Real Museu da Ajuda (Lisbon), we will explore the interest aroused in the circles of scholars and amateur botanists the arrival in Lisbon of over two hundred drawings of plants from the Royal Botanical Expedition to the Viceroyalty of Peru (1777-1788). Considering the Portuguese, Spanish and English personalities who were involved in the presence of these drawings in Portugal we will recover some of the practices that made possible in this period the circulation of scientific knowledge and the advancement of botany. In this sense, this study aims to make a novel contribution to the History of Botany in Portugal and Spain, and point paths for future research.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Lisbon) houses one of the finest private art collections in Europ... more The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Lisbon) houses one of the finest private art collections in Europe. The collection (circa 6.500 items) was assembled by Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-‐ 1955) and reveals an eclectic and refined taste. It includes masterpieces from antiquity up to the early twentieth century, The team studied the Gulbenkian collection under an ethnobiological perspective, i.e., looking for plant and animal representations, with symbolic or allegorical. We also identified biological materials that were used to make some of these works of art. This study was done under the sponsorship of the Gulbenkian program DESCOBRIR, which aims to add new perspectives to the foundation's collections as well as support its educational and cultural activities. Our research showed that plants and animals are often present in the Gulbenkian Museum art collection. We have made a study of the Egyptian, Greek and Islamic collections and identified many plants and animals used with a symbolic purpose. Besides, we also found animal and plant products used in the objects, such as ivory, wool, cotton, madder and kermes dyes, among others. In our presentation we will explain the methodology employed by the team, together with some examples of the presence of Nature in the Gulbenkian collection. The information obtained from our study will be used for scientific and cultural education purposes and will also contribute to reinforce the understanding of the old bounds linking art and nature.

ARTis ON, 2018

Existiam lacunas de informação sobre o presumível desaparecimento de 11 quadros “animalistas” de ... more Existiam lacunas de informação sobre o presumível desaparecimento de 11 quadros “animalistas” de Bernardino da Costa Lemos no trágico incêndio ocorrido em 1978 na Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa. Excluindo o artigo de Júlio Jesus (1928) com descrições écfrasicas-histórico-artísticas de cada uma das telas, cinquenta anos antes delas desaparecerem, Lemos subsiste na generalidade da historiografia como um modesto pintor que floresceu em final de setecentos, discípulo de Joaquim Manuel da Rocha. A localização de documentos e registos imagéticos totalmente desconhecidos da obra “animalista” de Lemos impôs uma abordagem interdisciplinar de História da Arte (micro e cripto-história da arte, iconologia), Literatura (ekphrasis) e Biologia (ecologia e taxonomia). Assim, neste artigo visitamos visualmente as referidas obras mortas, revemos a biografia do “muito hábil” pintor, confirmamos o malogrado destino do conjunto e discutimos sobre a tipologia de programa artístico produz...

There were knowledge gaps about the presumed disappearance of 11 “animalist” paintings of Bernard... more There were knowledge gaps about the presumed disappearance of 11 “animalist” paintings of Bernardino da Costa Lemos in the tragic fire that occurred in 1978 at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon. Excluding Júlio Jesus (1928) article, with ekphrastic-historical-artistic descriptions of each of the paintings, fifty years before they disappeared, Lemos subsists in the majority of historiography as a modest painter who flourished in the late 18th century, and a disciple of Joaquim Manuel da Rocha. The location of totally unknown imagery records and documents of Lemos's “animalistic” work required an interdisciplinary approach to Art History (micro and crypto-history of art, iconology), Literature (ekphrasis) and Biology (ecology and taxonomy). Therefore, we study these dead works; we review the biography of a “very skilled” painter, confirm the ill-fated destiny of the group and discuss the typology of the artistic program produced for the patron friar José Mayne's Natural History cabinet.

Book chapters by Ana Maria Costa

Vale, T. L. & Ferreira, M. J. (coords.) Lisboa e os Estrangeiros I Lisboa dos Estrangeiros depois do Terramoto de 1755, 2015

Figura: Studies on the Classical Tradition, 2019

Asclepio - Revista de Historia de la Medicina y de la Ciencia, 2016

ARTis ON, 2018

Vale, T. L. & Ferreira, M. J. (coords.) Lisboa e os Estrangeiros I Lisboa dos Estrangeiros depois do Terramoto de 1755, 2015

Carvalho, R. S. (Coord.) Azulejos à Mesa / Azulejos in Restaurants, 2017

Simões, C., Araújo, A. C. & Casaleiro, P (eds.). Redes Científicas da Universidade de Coimbra no Iluminismo, 2022

This article reflects on the need to define a path to the historiographical restoration of Alexan... more This article reflects on the need to define a path to the historiographical
restoration of Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira’s life and work, the most important naturalist of the Portuguese empire in the eighteenth century, however poorly discussed internationally. Why is Ferreira practically oblivious to international scientific historiography despite the numerous works dedicated to him? What can be done to make justice to his work? Through the contextualization of Ferreira's legacy and the analysis of the threats to which the surviving collection was subjected, it is proposed an international and multidisciplinary cooperation plan to make the entire collection available to the global scientific community and society, whilst disseminate the knowledge generated in the Portuguese empire during the Enlightenment.

This article Increases knowledge about professional and amateur botanists in Lisbon and the ama... more This article Increases knowledge about professional and amateur botanists in Lisbon and the amazing story of piracy that, in 1780, conveyed to Lisbon over two hundred drawings of plants from the Royal Botanical Expedition to the Viceroyalty of Peru (1777-1788), inside the El Buen Consejo ship.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-‐1882) was one of the leading artists of the Pre-‐Raphaelite Broth... more Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-‐1882) was one of the leading artists of the Pre-‐Raphaelite Brotherhood, an art and literary movement founded in 1848 by a group of British intellectuals who aimed to respond to the social and cultural changes that were taking place in the United Kingdom, due to the consequences of the Industrial Revolution. They believed that the Victorian society was losing its moral foundations and ought to pursue values closer to Nature, as Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages societies had done. They also believed that poetry, literature and art could guide Victorians to this desideratum. Rossetti art was mainly centered in the medieval revivalism, with poetry and image closely linked with each other. He was influenced by medieval poets, such as Dante Alighieri, and frequently wrote sonnets that were complements to his paintings. Rossetti represented plants in many of his paintings due to their symbolic meaning, and in our presentation we will explore some of the finest examples of this, such as in: The Girlhood of

Art objects can be used as a resource for science communication in various domains of Natural His... more Art objects can be used as a resource for science communication in various domains of Natural History. For instance a rock or metal sculpture can be used to transmit knowledge about Geosciences and a wood sculpture to speak about botanical aspects; a paint with representations of plants and animals can be a start to communicate about Biology issues like biodiversity, extinctions or ecology; a landscape in a painting can be a way to illustrate aspects of shapes of earth's surface which can tell us about the geological processes that originate them. All these aspects can be discovered and understood if we are able to read it. The promotion of these interpretations at the museum’s art collections could be used as a method to science communication and Natural History education in a non-formal approach.