Nuno Gonçalves

Background

Nuno Gonçalves was born around 1420 in Portugal.

Career

Apparently, Gonçalves was appointed court painter to the Portuguese king Afonso V in 1450. Records also indicate that he received payment for painting an altarpiece for the Palácio Real in Sintra in 1470 and that he was appointed the official painter for the city of Lisbon (Pintor das Obras da Cidade) in 1471. Other than this information, very little is known about his life and the extent of his work.

His polyptych for São Vicente consisted of six panels, two large and four narrow ones, dominated by the figure of St. Vincent. In the large "Panel of the Infante" the saint was shown being venerated by a group of notables, among them Afonso V. In the other large panel, the "Panel of the Archbishop", he was surrounded by clergy and knights. This remarkable portrait gallery of figures grouped in a medieval composition is a meditation on the pilgrimage of the souls of Christians on a voyage of discovery around their patron saint.

Scholars have suggested that a panel in Évora, Portugal, depicting two scenes, "Adoration of the Magi" and "Two Franciscan Saints", could be the work of Gonçalves, but there is no proof of this beyond stylistic similarities. Gonçalves’s work was that of a master who showed some debts to Italian and Flemish art but who also revealed his own remarkable gifts — an economy of line, brilliant handling, superb characterization, and a mastery of composition, all united and all subordinated to the religious vision of the work.

Francisco de Hallanda, in his "Dialogues on Ancient Painting", done in 1548, referred to him as one of the “Eagles” — one of the 15th-century masters — but his name and work were lost to history. His altarpiece for the cathedral of Lisbon was destroyed in the earthquake of 1755, and his other altarpiece on the subject of São Vicente, the patron saint of Lisbon and of the royal house of Portugal, disappeared until 1882 when it was discovered in the convent of São Vicente. It was not until 1931 when this masterpiece was displayed in Paris, that Gonçalves began to receive the international recognition. The artist died around 1490 in Portugal.

Achievements

• Nuno Gonçalves was credited for the painting of the "Panels of Saint Vincent de Fora", "Panel of the Archbishop", "Adoration of the Magi" and "Two Franciscan Saints", which proved his artistic talent.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Panel of the Fishermans

  • St. Theotonius

  • St Vicent Tied to Column

  • Panel of the Infant

  • St. Paul

  • S. Vicente panels

  • Panel of the Relic

  • Panel of the Bishop

  • St Francis

  • Panel of the Monks

Interests

• Artists

  Dierik Bouts

Connections

patron:

Afonso V of Portugal

Friend:

Fernão Lopes

References

• Nuno Goncalves: The Great Portuguese Painter of the Fifteenth Century and His Altar-Piece For The Convent of St. Vincent.
  1955
• O Pintor Nuno Gonçalves (Classic Reprint) (Portuguese Edition)
  2018
• Nuno Gonçalves: Novos documentos : estudo da pintura portuguesa do séc. XV (Portuguese Edition)
  1994
• Nuno Goncalves: Pintor Portugues do Seculo Quinze [etc.]
  1955
• Nuno Goncalves. Foreword by Anthony Blunt.
  1955
• O Essencial Sobre Nuno Gonçalves (Portuguese Edition)
  1987