Jorge Afonso
Encyclopedia
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
painter.
Jorge Afonso was nominated royal painter in 1508 by King Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
and again in 1529 by John III
John III of Portugal
John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
. He was mainly based in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, with a workshop near the Church of São Domingos. A whole generation of Portuguese painters was educated in his workshop, including Cristóvão de Figueiredo
Cristóvão de Figueiredo
Cristovão de Figueiredo was a Portuguese Renaissance painter.Like many other important painters of the time, Cristovão de Figueiredo was a pupil of Master Jorge Afonso, in Lisbon, in the early 16th century...
, Garcia Fernandes
Garcia Fernandes
Garcia Fernandes was a Portuguese Renaissance painter. Like many of painters of the time, Garcia Fernandes was a pupil in the Lisbon workshop of Jorge Afonso, who was the court painter of King Manuel I....
, Gregório Lopes
Gregório Lopes
Gregório Lopes was one of the most important Renaissance painters from Portugal.Gregório Lopes was educated in the workshop of Jorge Afonso, the court painter of King Manuel I. Later he himself became court painter for both Manuel I and for his successor, John III...
and Jorge Leal, among others.
The main painted altarpiece
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
s attributed to Jorge Afonso were commissioned by the old Queen Leonor
Leonor of Viseu
Eleanor of Viseu was a Portuguese infanta and later queen consort of Portugal.To distinguish her from other infantas of the same name, she is commonly known as Eleanor of Viseu or Eleanor of Lancaster Eleanor of Viseu (2 May 1458–17 November 1525; ) was a Portuguese infanta (princess) and...
, widow of King John II
John II of Portugal
John II , the Perfect Prince , was the thirteenth king of Portugal and the Algarves...
and sister of Manuel I. For the former Queen, Jorge Afonso painted the main altarpiece of the Convent of Madre de Deus, in Lisbon, in 1515. This magnificent altarpiece is now in the National Museum of Ancient Art
National Museum of Ancient Art
The Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga , located in Lisbon, is an art museum in Portugal.The museum is known as MNAA , and is popularly known as the Museu das Janelas Verdes due to the color of its windows...
, in Lisbon. Between 1520 and 1530, Jorge Afonso painted the 14 panels of the main altarpiece of the Monastery of Jesus
Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal
The Monastery of Jesus is a historical religious building in Setúbal, Portugal. It is one of the first buildings in the Manueline style, the Portuguese version of late Gothic...
, in Setúbal
Setúbal
Setúbal is the main city in Setúbal Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.0 km² and a total population of 118,696 inhabitants in the municipality. The city proper has 89,303 inhabitants....
, again sponsored by Queen Leonor. The panels can be seen in the museum of the Monastery.
Jorge Afonso's workshop is also linked to the painted decoration of the walls of the Round Church of the Convent of Christ, in Tomar
Tomar
Tomar Municipality has a total area of 351.0 km² and a total population of 43,007 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 16 parishes, and is located in Santarém District...
, executed in the 1530s.