M. Lourdes Cidraes - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Books by M. Lourdes Cidraes

The chapel of Saint Queen Isabel in Estremoz Castle is one of the best examples of Joanine Baroqu... more The chapel of Saint Queen Isabel in Estremoz Castle is one of the best examples of Joanine Baroque of the Alentejo region, Portugal, and a unique iconographic document of the legendary tradition of "Rainha Santa". Built initially by D. Luisa de Gusmão (wife of King John IV), it has undergone renovations in the reigns of King Pedro II and King João V. The "Magnificent king" promoted the very rich decorative program that makes this small temple a remarkable example of "the full work". The ceiling painting crowns an important cycle of narrative glaze tiles panels, attributable to Teotonio dos Santos, and a gorgeous series of large screens, which, based on style analysis, we assign to the royal painter André Gonçalves.

Papers by M. Lourdes Cidraes

Résumé Tous les peuples, mais aussi les petites communautés locales, ont tendance à conserver le... more Résumé
Tous les peuples, mais aussi les petites communautés locales, ont tendance à conserver leurs légendes historiques comme témoignage de leur passé et éléments identitaires. D’origine anonyme, formées à partir des évènements qu’elles évoquent et présentent comme vrais, ou affabulation érudite de nature idéologique, les légendes historiques peuvent dépasser la simple fonction explicative et parvenir, par l’intensification du caractère exemplaire du récit et de la densité symbolique du discours, à atteindre la dimension du mythe. En tant qu’interprétation subjective de l’histoire ou mémoire d’autres mémoires, elles témoignent, non de l’authenticité des évènements qu’elles racontent et cherchent à expliquer, mais des contextes historiques et culturels où elles ont été formées et réélaborées au long des siècles.

Mots clés : légende, mythe, imaginaire national, mémoire historique

Abstract :
All the peoples, as well as local peoples, tend to keep their historical legends as a testimony of their past and their identity. Historical legends may surpass their mere explicative function and attain the dimension of myth, by means of a semantic amplification, an enforcement of their exemplary character and symbolic density – no matter whether they stem from an anonymous origin, are formed out of events which are evoked and presented as true, or are an erudite fable of ideological nature. As a subjective interpretation of history (or memory of other memories) they testify, not the authenticity of the events that they tell and try to explain, but the historical and cultural contexts where they were formed and reshaped along the centuries.
Key words: legend, myth, national imaginary, historical memory

Resumo
Todos os povos, mas também as comunidades locais, tendem a conservar, como testemunho do seu passado ou como elemento identitário, as suas lendas históricas. De origem anónima, surgindo a partir de acontecimentos que relatam e apresentam como verídicos, ou efabulação erudita de natureza ideológica, as lendas históricas podem ultrapassar a simples função explicativa e alcançar, pela ampliação semântica e pelo reforço do carácter exemplar e da densidade simbólica, a dimensão do mito. Enquanto interpretação subjectiva da história ou memória de outras memórias, testemunham, não a veracidade dos factos que narram e procuram explicar, mas os contextos culturais em que surgiram ou em que foram sendo transmitidas e reinventadas ao longo dos tempos.

The theme of this paper is the compared study of landscape representations as a space of "saudade... more The theme of this paper is the compared study of landscape representations as a space of "saudade" and of the death of Inês de Castro: from the "secret garden" of the medieval tradition, still present in the Carta by Anrique da Mota, and from the classic "locus amenus", used again by António Ferreira and by Luis de Camões, to the romantic construction of the "sentimental landscape". which in the literature about Inês de Castro is not only confidant nature and mirror of moods, but also sacred place which keeps, until the end of time, the memories and the indelible marks of an imaginary body which, by the poetic word, reinvents itself and becomes eternal.

Along with the new myths of the modern era, from such diverse areas as sport, entertainment, poli... more Along with the new myths of the modern era, from such diverse areas as sport, entertainment, politics, religion, behaviour, science and new technologies, historical myths remain alive, brought into the spotlight by a multiple discourse that is spoken in several types of language−from the official to the academic, from the popular and celebratory to the touristic and commercial−and leaves us a surprising legacy. The results of research pursued in several areas of human sciences, conventional and innovative images and representations spread by political, literary and artistic discourse, and also a wide spectrum of small common objects transformed into mementos can fit into this legacy.
A country's historical myths emerge anchored in time, and are erudite or ideological in nature, born in power centres or cultural hubs. Through them, exemplary models are proposed by those who use them to justify regimes and ideologies or to establish abetment and silence. But they are also used by those who acknowledge their countries' wounds and seek to heal them with soothing images of glory and grandeur. And they are further used by others who employ poetic words and aesthetic and symbolic transfigurations to endow them with a new, universal dimension.
Over time, an enormous gallery of mirrors has been built to reflect our heroes’ mythical shadows. The mirrors, in their inherent ambiguity, above all offer us images and reflections of the love that binds each man to his country. These images have solidified in Portuguese culture, determining and establishing a national mythology that is persistently repeated in multiple historical, political, literary and artistic discourses and, rather rarely, in oral tradition.
This short article aims to question the function of literature, and particularly poetry, in building Portuguese historical myths and their evolution over the centuries.

From absent image to multiple representations: the Adamastor in Camões iconography of the 17th an... more From absent image to multiple representations:
the Adamastor in Camões iconography of the 17th and 18th centuries (Abstract)

Since its publication in 1572, while the author was still alive, Luís de Camões’ The Lusiads had an uncommon critical reception, testified by the impressive number of editions and translations that appeared in several European countries. These publications introduced Camões as the "prince of poets", and he was represented by emblems that referred to his status as poet and lyricist of Portuguese heroic deeds: laurel wreath, book and quill, splendid armour .
In 1639, Faria e Sousa published his commented edition of The Lusiads in Madrid. It is remarkable for the erudition of his comments, and it was also the first publication of The Lusiads illustrated with narrative engravings, which allude to the poem’s different cantos .
The iconography did not include any of the stories of Portugal's history told by Vasco da Gama to the Zamorin, including some of the epic poem’s most renowned episodes: Inês de Castro’s death, the battle of Aljubarrota and the apparition of the Adamastor. Faria e Sousa’s selection cannot be justified only by the historical context: the dual monarchy. He would also have based his decision on literary reasons that led him to limit the subject of the picture elements to the narrative external to the plot, considered the central theme of the epic poem.
Almost a hundred years later, the 1735 French translation by Duperron de Castera was published in Paris. More than the Portuguese edition, it defined the iconographic theme of later editions of Camões' epic poem. It contained the first iconographic representation of the titan Camões’ genius had created.
The various illustrated editions of The Lusiads printed in the 18th century bequeathed us different faces of the Adamastor: the titan taunting the Portuguese ships, the "most harsh son of the Earth" punished by the gods and the pitiful lover scorned by the nymph he dared to love. Three images linked to three moments of the story which, when overlapped, translate the density of meaning in a core episode in the organization of the sense of the poem. This three-way reading lacks the nationalist interpretation that states that the Portuguese’s audacity in defying the titan’s threats reflects an allegory of a people’s heroic destiny. This absence is surprising when we place it in its historical and political context, where a period of national splendour and pride had succeeded the 17th-century crisis. It should not be forgotten, however, that the pictures are almost entirely the work of foreign artists and may be based on other pictures.
But another representation of the Adamastor reaches us from the 18th century. It does not belong to The Lusiads' illustration repertoire and, undoubtedly, represents the most unexpected and least known image of the titan. It is a most peculiar bas-relief that adorns the tower of the ancient "Horta dos Cães" (dogs’ vegetable garden) in Faro, in the Algarve. The titan fictionalized by the poet as the guard of the threshold of the unknown ocean at the southern tip of Africa is relocated to the (at the time, still unknown) lands of America. Represented as an Indian, subduing a crocodile at his feet, Faro's Adamastor is certainly the most surprising example of the wide range of representations of the titan in the 18th century.
The great allegory that adorns the ceiling of the "Sala das Descobertas" (Room of the Discoveries) in Mafra palace dates back to the 19th century. In this complex work, the giant figure of the Adamastor tries in vain to stop Vasco da Gama, represented as one of the conquerors of the Orient. In 1817, the most remarkable edition by Morgado de Mateus was published in Paris. It contains the renowned picture illustrating the episode of the Adamastor’s apparition, with a drawing by the painter Fragonard. It shows Vasco da Gama at the bow of his ship taunting the portentous titan in a heroic stance. Fragonard's work has been copied and reproduced many times, and represents a turning point in the iconography of the Adamastor. The multitude of representations that characterized images of the titan in the 18th century made way, from the 1820s onward, for a single model. It was apparently diversified in the proliferation of images and the diversity of media used (from illustration and painting to sculpture and tile) but standardized by a reading that, apart from its several different ideological foundations, had, as common ground, an overlapping of nationalist glorification and the aesthetic value of the poem.

In 1325, Elizabeth of Aragon , widow of King Denis and the sixth queen of Portugal left on a pilg... more In 1325, Elizabeth of Aragon , widow of King Denis and the sixth queen of Portugal left on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela “less than a year since the King's passing” and without mentioning her destination beforehand. Of the visit to the Apostle’s grave, which is recorded in the exquisite illuminated manuscript of the Lineage of the Kings of Portugal, remained the memory of the impressive gifts presented. From the sanctuary, Queen Elizabeth brought a pilgrim’s staff, a gift from the archbishop, with which she wished to be buried. It shall remain a precious relic, and has been preserved to the present day, but it is also an iconographic symbol and is the grounds for a rich legendary tradition mainly related to places where the queen lived or that she may have passed through. Some legends began to mark places where, according to tradition, she rested during her pilgrimage. Though they cannot be considered historical sources, they are nonetheless interesting documents for the history of worship and popular traditions about Elizabeth and they provide clues for a future outline of the path followed by the queen in Portugal. In Galicia, Santiago de Compostela still preserves the memory of the Pilgrim Queen, who is remembered in the toponymy and in a rare 17th-century image, exhibited at Museo de las Peregrinaciones y de Santiago (Museum of the Pilgrimages and St. James), in which she is portrayed with the hat and scallops of St. James pilgrims.

Revista Lusitana Nova Série

The Saint Queen Isabel, Princess of Aragon and 6th Queen of Portugal, is one of the great female ... more The Saint Queen Isabel, Princess of Aragon and 6th Queen of Portugal, is one of the great female figures of the Portuguese Middle Ages. Canonized by Rome only in 1625, the popular devotion and religious worship began soon after her death. From that time a rich legendary tradition developed, of which many only know the "Miracle of the Roses".
This article aims to carry out a survey of these traditions, still remembered in the places that preserve the memory of her presence and in numerous artistic representations (sculpture, painting and glazed tile). This paper presents the map of the geographic distribution of existing records in the mainland Portugal territory.
In future work this survey will be extended to the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores and the regions of Spain where worship and the memory of Saint Queen Isabel are most alive.

Mots clés : légende, mythe, imaginaire national, mémoire historique

Revista Lusitana Nova Série