September 27• Church of the Landim Monastery, Vila Nova de Famalicão

21h30 • Concert Portuguese Polyphony

 

Documents dating from the 10th century already mention a church located in Nandini, consecrated to St James. According to Friar Nicolau de Santa Maria, a chronicler of the Agustinian Canons Regular Order, the monastery was founded, under the appellation of St Mary of the Angels, in 1096. Thus, a temple had already existed there; though originally a Romanesque building, it would undergo profound changes, starting with the Modern Age, and now all that is left of it is the overall structure of the nave and a part of the main chapel, where blind arcades and some medieval capitals are still visible. Its roof is a stone barrel vault, and the chapel's extension dates from the late 16th or early 17th century, when the church underwent major reformation works. However, it must be remembered that Dom Miguel da Silva, Bishop of Viseu, during his tenure as commendatory abbot of the Landim Monastery, might have already ordered works to be done there, which may have focused on that particular space.

The present Mannerist front, with a two-tiered façade sustained by three arches on Tuscan columns that contain the galilee, a quite rare approach, dates from the same time in which the main chapel's renovation took place: the late 1500s or early 1600s. It was probably the work of Manuel Luís, who was then master builder to Braga archbishop Friar Agostinho de Jesus, or of Jerónimo Luís, at the time master builder of the Pombeiro Monastery. Indeed, certain resemblances do exist between the façades and towers of Pombeiro and Landim, while such elements as the Tuscan architraved portico inside the galilee are evocative of other buildings throughout the Entre-Douro-e-Minho region to which either or both of these names may be associated, like the São Gonçalo de Amarante Convent or the São Martinho parish church, in Penafiel.

Inside, around the same time the façade was built, the current lateral space on the Gospel side was created; arches on top of thick pillars separate it from the rest of the church and a panelled roof covers it. We must, however, take into consideration that the Crosiers' Romanesque architecture often contemplated the existence of spaces lateral to the nave, and that this could consequently be the result of the refurbishment of a preexisting one.  

The panelled ceiling that covers the nave, which was probably raised at some point, allowing for the creation of the long, narrow, south-facing openings, must have been originally painted; consequently, a pivotal element in transforming the church into a Baroque space is now lost. Remains of that intervention, which was carried out over decades, as was usual at the time, include, in the nave, the upper choir, with a Rococo Christ on the Cross and a rocaille pipe organ, both of them in polychrome and marbled wood, as well as the panel of patterned blue-and-white 1600s azulejo tiles that runs across the wall on the Gospel side and the front pillars. As a culmination to the visual itinerary in which the faithful were led by the wood panels on the ceiling, and marking the sacred space of the main chapel at its terminus, the crossing arch, as well as the space between it, the walls and the wood ceiling, except for the central oculus, have been completely covered in thick layers of gilded woodwork, including two altars where Rococo shellwork is already visible. Once past the crossing arch, our gaze is drawn to the archivolts of the grand Portuguese Baroque retable/Heaven's door, in which the Rococo has also insinuated itself. It is quite similar to the retable in the São Bento da Vitória Convent, which is attributed by Robert C. Smith to Damião da Costa Figueiredo, whom the American art historian also credits with bringing the Portuguese Baroque to Northern Portugal. (JFA)