Altar frontal
PLACE/DATE
Portugal, 17th century
MATERIALS
White silk and silver thread; velvet cut from crimson silk. Appliqué embroidery, embossed gold embroidery, and silk thread in hue, Bologna, split and satin stitch; red beads and wooden beads. Base of the appliqué embroidery in natural coloured linen. Fillings with linen fibre and cords. Lining in linen, fringe and gallon of gilt metallic thread.
DIMENSIONS
102,5 x 306,5 cm
INV
MT.194
With a vegetalistic theme, the frontlet on this frontal stands out, dominated by a central cartouche in Mannerist style containing the rosary and the open Book of Doctrine, embroidered with the inscription, difficult to decipher "ET... VERITAS".
This motif is flanked by acanthus leaves arranged in symmetry and is repeated not only at the ends of the frontal as on the four panels that make up the field of the piece, even when the book is closed. As the presence of these embroidered attributes clearly shows, this frontal comes from the altar of the chapel of Our Lady of Doctrine (capela de Nossa Senhora da Doutrina) in the Church of São Roque, which construction began in 1634 at the expense of the Brotherhood of the same name, composed of mechanical officers from various branches of artistic activity.
