Architecture of Portugal - Manueline Style (c.1490 - C.1520)

C.1520)

Main article : Manueline

Portuguese Late Gothic architecture is characterised by the development of a sumptuous style called Manueline in honour of King Manuel I, under whose reign (1495–1521) most buildings of the style were built or begun. Manueline mixes aspects of Late Gothic with Renaissance architecture and decoration, revealing influences from Spanish (Plateresque, Isabelline), Italian and Flemish contemporary art, as well as elements borrowed from Islamic (Mudéjar) tradition. Manueline buildings are also often decorated with naturalistic motifs typical of the Age of Discovery, like spiralling motifs that remind of ropes used in ships, as well as a rich array of animal and vegetal motifs.

The first known building in Manueline style is the Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal. The church of the monastery was built from 1490 to 1510 by Diogo Boitac, an architect considered one of the main creators of the style. The nave of the church has three aisles of equal height, revealing an attempt to unify inner space which reaches its climax in the nave of the church of the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, finished in the 1520s by architect João de Castilho. The nave of the Setúbal Monastery is supported by spiralling columns, a typical Manueline feature that is also found in the nave of Guarda Cathedral and the parish churches of Olivenza, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Montemor-o-Velho and others. Manueline buildings also usually carry elaborate portals with spiralling columns, niches and loaded with Renaissance and Gothic decorative motifs, like in Jerónimos Monastery, Santa Cruz Monastery of Coimbra and many others.