The Palace of Mafra (Portuguese: Palácio de Mafra), also known as the Palace-Convent of Mafra and the Royal Building of Mafra (Real Edificio de Mafra), is a monumental Baroque and Neoclassical palace-monastery located in Mafra, Portugal, some 28 kilometres from Lisbon. Construction began in 1717 under King John V of Portugal and was completely concluded in 1755.
Built in the 18th century by King João V in fulfillment of a vow to obtain succession from his marriage to D. Maria Ana of Austria or the cure of a disease he suffered, the National Palace of Mafra is the most important monument of the baroque in Portugal.
Constructed in lioz stone of the region, the building occupies an area of nearly four hectares (37,790 m2), comprising 1200 divisions, more than 4700 doors and windows, 156 staircases and 29 courtyards and lobbies. Such magnificence was only possible because of the gold of Brazil, which allowed the Monarch to put into practice a policy of patronage and reinforcement of royal authority.
The palace was classified as a National Monument in 1910 and was also a finalist in the Seven Wonders of Portugal. On 7 July 2019, the Royal Building of Mafra – Palace, Basilica, Convent, Cerco Garden and Hunting Park (Tapada) was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
History
The palace, which also served as a Franciscan friary, was built during the reign of King John V (1707–1750), as consequence of a vow the king made in 1711, to build a convent if his wife, Queen Mariana, gave him offspring. The birth of his first daughter the Infanta Barbara of Portugal, prompted construction of the palace to begin. The palace was conveniently located near royal hunting preserves, and was usually a secondary residence for the royal family.
This vast complex, largely built of Lioz stone, is among the most sumptuous Baroque buildings in Portugal and at 40,000 m², one of the largest royal palaces. Designed by the German architect João Frederico Ludovice, the palace was built symmetrically from a central axis, occupied by the basilica, and continues lengthwise through the main façade until two major towers. The structures of the convent are located behind the main façade. The building also includes a major library, with about 30,000 rare books. The basilica is decorated with several Italian statues and includes six historical pipe organs and two carillons, composed of 98 bells.
Construction
The exact site was chosen in 1713 and purchased in 1716. Construction began by the laying of the first stone on November 17, 1717 with a grand ceremony in the presence of the king, his entire court and the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon.
Initially it was a relatively small project for a friary of 13 Capuchin friars, who were to observe strict poverty. However, when the flow of gold from the Portuguese colony of Brazil started to arrive in Lisbon in abundance, the king changed his plans and announced the construction of a sumptuous palace along with a much enlarged friary. This immense wealth allowed to king to be a generous patron of arts.
He appointed a architect João Frederico Ludovice as director of the royal works at Mafra. Ludwig had studied architecture in Rome and knew contemporary Italian art. The extent of Ludwig’s responsibility is unclear, as several other architects were involved in this project: the Milanese builder Carlos Baptista Garbo, Custódio Vieira, Manuel da Maia and even his own son António. However the application of the same architectural style over the whole building suggests the work of Ludwig as the head-architect in charge of the Royal Office of Works (Real Obra).
Construction lasted 13 years and mobilized a vast army of workers from the entire country (a daily average of 15,000 but at the end climbing to 30,000 and a maximum of 45,000), under the command of António Ludovice, the son of the architect. In addition 7,000 soldiers were assigned to preserve order at the construction site. They used 400 kg of gunpowder to blast through the bedrock for the laying of foundations. There was even a hospital for the sick or wounded workers. A total of 1,383 workers died during the construction.
The facade is 220 meters long. The whole complex covers 37,790 m² with about 1,200 rooms, more than 4,700 doors and windows, and 156 stairways.
When complete the building consisted of a friary capable of sheltering 330 friars, along with a royal palace and a huge library of 30,000 books, embellished with marble, exotic woods and countless artworks taken from France, Flanders and Italy, which included six monumental pipe organs and the two carillons.
The basilica and the convent were inaugurated on the day of the King’s 41st birthday on October 22, 1730. The festivities lasted for 8 days and were of a scale never seen before in Portugal. The basilica was dedicated to Our Lady and to St. Anthony.
However the building was not finished. The lantern on the cupola was completed in 1735. Work continued till 1755, when the work force was needed in Lisbon by the devastations of the Lisbon earthquake.
Later history
The palace was not occupied permanently by the royalty, who considered the rooms too gloomy. Nonetheless, it was a popular destination for the members of the royal family who enjoyed hunting in the nearby game preserve, the Tapada Nacional de Mafra. During the reign of King John VI the palace was inhabited for a whole year in 1807. The king was responsible for a partial renovation of the building by some well-known artists. However, with the French invasion of Portugal, in 1807, the royal family fled to Brazil, taking with them some of the best pieces of art and furniture in the building. Marshal Junot took up residence in the palace, to be driven out in turn by Wellington.
In 1834, after the Liberal Wars, Queen Maria II ordered the dissolution of the religious orders and the convent was abandoned by the Franciscans. During the last reigns of the House of Braganza, the palace was mainly used as a base for hunting. In 1849 the monastery part of the building was assigned to the military, a situation still in use today.
The last king of Portugal, Manuel II, following the proclamation of the republic, left on 5 October 1910 from the palace to the nearby coastal village of Ericeira on his way to exile. The palace was declared a national monument in 1907. At present, the building is conserved by the Portuguese Institute of the Architectonic Patrimony, which carried out several recovery programs, including the conservation of the main façade. A major restoration of the historical pipe organs began in 1998 with the collaboration of foreign experts and was finished in 2010. The restoration won the Europa Nostra 2012 award.
Description
The building by the main architect of the kingdom, João Frederico Ludovice, occupies an area of approximately four hectares (37 790 m² ). Built in abundant lioz stone in the Mafra region it consists of 1,200 rooms, more than 4,700 doors and windows, 156 staircases and 29 courtyards and halls.
Façade
The imposing façade, built of local limestone, is 220 m long and faces the town of Mafra. At each end of the façade stands a square tower with a bulbous dome, such as found in Central Europe. The church, built in white marble, is located in the centre of the main façade, symmetrically flanked on both sides by the royal palace. The king, wishing to rival the splendour of Rome, had sought architectural advice from his ambassador to the Vatican, who sent him small-scale models of important Roman religious buildings. The benedictial balcony at its centre is clearly mirrored on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. But this balcony is rather intended for the king, as a symbol of his power, than for the benedictions by a prelate.
The two church towers (68 m high) are inspired by the towers of Sant’Agnese in Agone (by the Roman Baroque architect Francesco Borromini). Their two carillons contain a total of 92 church bells, founded in Antwerp. The story goes that the Flemish bell-founders were so astonished by the size of their commission, that they asked to be paid in advance. The king retorted by doubling the offered amount. These carillons constitute the largest historical collection in the world.
The two towers are connected by two rows of Corinthian columns. The top row contains the statues of St. Dominic and St. Francis, sculpted from Carrara marble, standing in a niche on each side of the balcony. The lower row contains the statues of St. Clara and St. Elisabeth of Hungary.
Royal Palace
The spacious royal apartments are situated on the second floor. The apartments of the king are situated at the end of the palace while the apartment of the queen is 200 m away at the other end. Such was this distance that, when the king left his apartment towards the apartment of the queen, this was announced to the queen by the sound of a trumpet.
As king John VI had taken with him some of the best pieces of art and furniture in the building when the royal family fled in 1808 for the advancing French troops to Brazil, most rooms had to be redecorated in the original style. The Hunting trophy room (Sala dos Troféus) is decorated with numerous skulls of deer, the furniture is constructed of antlers and covered with deerskin and even the candleholders are made of deer antlers.
The Benediction Gallery (Sala da Benção) borders at the upper level of the basilica. The royal family could here attend Mass, seated at a window opening unto the basilica. The bust of John V in this hall is a work of the Italian Alessandro Giusti. The Throne Room, the Guard Room and the Room of Goddess Diana are decorated with murals by artist such as Ciryllo Wolkmar Machado, Bernardo Oliveira Góis and Vieira Lusitano.
Basilica
The church is built in the form of a Latin cross with a length of 63 m. It is rather narrow (16.5 m), an impression accentuated by the height of its nave (21.5 m). The vestibule (Galilee porch) contains a group of large sculptures in Carrara marble, representing the patron saints of several monastic orders.
The interior makes abundantly use of local rose-coloured marble, intermingled with white marble in different patterns. The multi-coloured designs of the floor are repeated on the ceiling. The barrel vault rests on fluted Corinthian semicolumns standing between the side chapels. The chapels in the transept contain altarpieces in jasper made by sculptors from the School of Mafra. The side aisles display 58 marble statues commissioned from the best Roman sculptors of their time. The All Saint’s chapel in the transept is screened from the crossing by iron railings with bronze ornaments, made in Antwerp.
The choir has a magnificent giant candleholder with seven lamps sprouting from the mouth of seven rolled-up snakes. Above the main altar, inserting into the ceiling, is a gigantic jasper crucifix of 4.2 m, flanked by two kneeling angels, made by the School of Mafra. The cupola over the crossing was also inspired by the cupola of Sant’Agnese in Agone (by the Roman Baroque architect Francesco Borromini). This 70 m-high cupola with a small lantern atop, is carried by four finely sculpted arcs in rose and white marble.
There are six organs, four of which are located in the transept, constituting a rather uncommon ensemble. There were built by Joaquim Peres Fontanes and António Xavier Machado Cerveira between 1792 and 1807 (when the French troops occupied Mafra). They were made out of partially gilded Brazilian wood. The largest pipe is 6 m high and has a diameter of 0.28 m. King John V had commissioned liturgical vestments from master embroiderers from Genoa and Milan, such as Giuliano Saturni and Benedetto Salandri, and from France. They attest of superb quality and workmanship by their embroidering in gold technique and the use of silk thread in the same colour.
The religious paintings in the basilica and the convent constitute one of the most significant 18th century collections in Portugal. They include works by the Italians Agostino Masucci, Corrado Giaquinto, Francesco Trevisani, Pompeo Batoni and some Portuguese students in Rome such as Vieira Lusitano and Inácio de Oliveira Bernardes. The sculpture collection contains works by almost every major Roman sculptor from the first half of the 18th century. At that time, it represented the biggest single order done by a foreign power in Rome and still is amongst one of the biggest collections in existence.
The parish of Mafra and the Royal and Venerable Confraternity of the Most Blessed Sacrament of Mafra have their headquarters in the Basilica.
Library
The Rococo library, situated at the back of the second floor, is truly the highlight of this palace, rivalling the grandeur of the library of the Melk Abbey in Austria. Built by Manuel Caetano de Sousa, this library is 88 m long, 9.5 m wide and 13 m high. The magnificent floor is covered with tiles of rose, grey and white marble. The wooden bookshelves in Rococo style are situated on the sidewalls in two rows, separated by a balcony with a wooden railing. They contain over 36,000 leather-bound volumes, attesting of the extent of western knowledge from the 14th to the 19th century. Among them, are many valuable bibliographical jewels, such as incunabula. These beautiful finished volumes were bound in the local workshop (Livraria) in the rocaille style (also by Manuel Caetano de Sousa).
The library is known for homing bats which protect the books from insect damage.
The Library was used in Gulliver’s Travels (1996) as the Great Chamber of War for the Emperor of Lilliput.
Convent
The rectangle behind the church and the palace houses the friary of the Franciscan friars of Arrábida Order (Ordem de São Francisco da Província da Arrábida) with cells for about 300 friars in long corridors on several floors. Between 1771 and 1791 this monastery was occupied by the Hermit Friars of St. Augustine.
Mafra School of Sculpture
The Mafra School of Sculpture was founded during the reign of king Joseph I of Portugal, successor of king John V. As the Mafra National Palace had a great need for sculptors, local and from abroad, it became the location of a sculpture academy headed by the Italian Alessandro Giusti (1715–1799).
Among the teachers were several important sculptors, such as José de Almeida (1709–1769), Claude de Laprade (1682–1738) and Giovanni Antonio da Padova (who created most of the statues for the cathedral of Évora).
The academy was awarded many commissions by the Augustinians from the monastery, resulting in the many marble statues and retables in marble and jasper in the basilica. This academy produced several generations of Portuguese sculptors, such as Joaquim Machado de Castro (1731–1822).
Chimes
The palace has two chimes, manufactured in Antwerp and Liège by D. João V, with a total of 92 bells. They are the largest chimes of the eighteenth century in the world. Each covers a range of four octaves (hence considered concert chimes).
They were made by two bells founders from the Netherlands: Willelm Witlockx, one of the most respected bells founders in Antwerp and Nicolaus Levache, a Liège founder responsible for several chimes who effectively left in Portugal a tradition of casting that lasted for many years. more than a century after the completion of the work at all
This unique set also includes the largest known set of automatic melody drum and clock systems; both Mafra towers feature automatic touch mechanisms (four-pin rotating cylinders with levers). This is a world landmark for the study of both automatic music and watchmaking. These complex devices are capable of playing interchangeably from about sixteen different and complex pieces of music at any given time. The melodic drums of Mafra were made by the famous De Beefe, watchmaker from the Netherlands of the first half of the 18th century.
Collections
The estate of the Mafra National Palace includes pieces from the Convent of Our Lady and St. Anthony, predominantly from the 18th century, which includes painting, sculpture, metals, vestments, among others, commissioned by D. João V to the main European and European art centers. pieces originally from Paço Real that are essentially from the 19th century and reflect the functionality of the palace as a leisure residence linked to hunting by the royal family.
Ceramic
The ceramic collection is divided into the convent core, with white earthenware pieces for everyday use (plates, bowls, cruets, sugar, etc.), made in local pottery, with the inscription MAFRA. They were commissioned and paid by D. João V for the 300 friars who lived in the Royal Convent of Mafra. From the old convent pharmacy, there are some straws and sleeves for medicinal preparations. The other nucleus, related to the palace, comprises utilitarian and decorative ceramics from the Royal House, with emphasis on decorative porcelain of French and Oriental origin from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Sculpture
The sculpture collection comprises the entire statuary of the basilica, commissioned by Johannine from great Italian masters, including Lironi, Monaldi, Bracci, Maini, Corsini, Rusconi and Ludovisi, making it the most significant collection of Italian Baroque sculpture outside Italy, consisting of 58 Carrara marble statues, which also includes his studies in terracotta, as well as the production of the Mafra School of Sculpture, created here during the reign of D. José under the direction of the Italian master Alessandro Giusti, and where important sculptors like Machado de Castro passed.
Jewelery
The collection includes very diverse civil and religious jewelery, of Portuguese, Italian and British origin, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. 18th century chalices and reliquaries of Italian masters are part of the collection. Within the palace, the estate comprises basins, candlesticks, milk jugs, desks.
Metals
The metal collection includes religious utensils for use in the basilica such as reliquaries, candlesticks, crosses, thurles and navetas, host boxes, lamps made in Italy, torches and iron and bronze grating of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament by René Michel Slodtz. (sculptor) or the altar stools commissioned by D. João VI and executed under the direction of the sculptor João José de Aguiar at the Lisbon Arsenal. There are also objects of daily use in the convent, such as candlesticks and paddles, bowls, jugs and pots, braziers, among others. The collection is complete with palatial objects such as lamps, candlesticks, platters, plates and kitchenware.
Furniture
Of the furniture of the time Joanina has little left, since most of the furniture, tapestries and artwork were transported when the Court went to Brazil at the time of the French invasions, never having returned from the colony, having been auctioned in 1890 and with uncertain destination., after the establishment of the republic in Brazil in 1889. Thus, the current environments of the palace are fundamentally of the nineteenth century, quite diverse, predominating Empire style and romantic furniture.
In the royal palace, there is an empire-style mahogany bed with bronzes, the respective bedside tables of the mid-century. XIX, acquired by Queen D. Maria II, three chairs profusely carved in holywood and still a carved and gilded credence signed by José Aniceto Raposo (1756-1824), noted carver and inventor. As for convent furniture, it consists essentially of beds, benches, tables and shelves belonging to the friar cells, which were later used by the Court after the extinction of the Religious Orders. Three stands stand by the carving master of the Casa das Obras e Paços Real António Ângelo, commissioned by D. João VI for the choir of the basilica convent and a dial of the old apothecary, one of the few 18th century specimens in Portugal.
Painting
For the altars of the Royal Basilica, for the various chapels and convent areas, such as the concierge and the refectory, Dom D. João V commissioned a collection of religious painting that is among the most significant of the eighteenth century. In this remarkable set loom works by Italian painters Masucci, with a “Sagrada Familia”, a favorite canvas of King D. João V, Giaquinto, Trevisani or Battoni and Portuguese scholars in Rome such as Vieira Lusitano and Inácio de Oliveira Bernardes, scholars of the King John Vat the Academy of Portugal in Rome.
The painting collection includes Masters of the Italian School of the first half of the eighteenth century, with canvases that belonged to the altars of the basilica and the main rooms of the Convent. Also Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764) with the canvas “Immaculate Conception”, theme of particular devotion of the fransciscana order. Mafra became the largest center for the spread of Roman taste at the time, both for the number of works and for the diversity of artists who worked here.
The collection also includes 19th century Portuguese painters, such as António Manuel da Fonseca (1796 – 1890), Silva Porto, Carlos Reis or João Vaz, who belong to the personal collection of D. Fernando II, D. Luísand D. Carlos. Also noteworthy are the navies executed by King D. Carlos and a portrait of D. Manuel II, painted by José Malhoa in 1908 when he ascended the throne.
Textiles / vestments
To decorate the Royal Basilica of Mafra, D. João V ordered ornaments and vestments.France and Italy (Genoa and Milan). The collection consists of vestments in the five liturgical colors (crimson, white, black, purple, green). According to the king’s specification, the vestments should be of “… silk, not damask nor plowed, but strong, and of very hard embroidery the gold-colored silk as much as it can be with the same gold. “The importance of this collection is also due to the large number of pieces that compose it. As an example, the vestment used in the procession of the Body of God, has 25 chasubles, 8 dalmatics, 12 embroidered covers, 70 rainstorms, besides cloths. shelves, missal cloaks, pulpit cloth, umbrellas, etc. For most of the ensembles there were still canopies, banners, tabernacle pavilions, etc. All the “white vestry” of the sacristy, such as alba, ratchets, was also ordered, quotas, towels.
Cultural influence
A major reference to the construction of the palace is made in the book Baltasar and Blimunda (Memorial do Convento), written by the Portuguese Nobel laureate José Saramago. The main character, Baltasar, born in Mafra, works in the construction of the palace(He does not work in the construction of the palace. He was born in Mafra and during the events of the novel he returns to it and witnesses some of the early stages of the construction before leaving again to Lisbon). Saramago makes a detailed description of the building process, including the transport of a giant stone from the quarry to the building site, depicting it as a torture for those who helped build the palace.
Mafra is a village. It is a village known for its Monument, a large stone monument. Mafra is Marble. Mafra is, in the words of an 18th century Swiss traveler (Merveilleux), the “metamorphosis of gold into stone”.
Mafra is Art. Cosmopolitan art. Art with magnificence. Mafra is Art with meaning – the setting, the spectacle and the representation of power.
This is the Portuguese monument that best reflects what we can call the Total Artwork: architecture, sculpture, painting, music, books, textiles… in short, a typologically diverse heritage, coherently thought out and carefully commissioned for this Palace / Convent / Basilica / Tapada and that here configures a unique reality.
In fact, in an area of about 40,000 m2, we have implemented a remarkable architectural project that was executed without gaps or remedies. In fact, everything here is marked by a quality stamp that only Johannine generosity could and knew to demand: excellence of materials, bold solutions and refinement of execution.
Architecture models features linked by kilometers of corridors and over 150 staircases. Engineering runs through the entire monument, from the juniper to the underground. For Mafra, the best and the best were chosen: Ludovice and Custódio Vieira in architecture, Francesco Trevisani and André Gonçalves in painting, Volkmar Machado and Domingos Sequeira in mural, Carlo Monaldi and Machado de Castro in sculpture, Witlockx and Levache in the chimes, Peres Fontanes and Machado Cerveira in the organs are some of those who contributed to configure this heritage.
When we visit this monument we feel it is a different experience. Different because the singularities that can be experienced here are unparalleled anywhere else: an 18th-century Hospital complex, two 18th-century monumental chimes, a (unique) set of Six Pipe Organs, and one that, by many, is considered to be. As the most beautiful historical library in the world, this heritage is considered a Franciscan Convent, a Palace of the King, a Palace of the Queen, a Library, a Basilica and a Tapada.