Main chapel of Jeronimos Monastery

LISBON (Portugal): Main chapel of Jeronimos Monastery.
 
The primitive main chapel of king D. Manuel's time was aimed to serve as a royal pantheon. But later Queen Catarina, regent of the kingdom between 1557 and 1562, ordered some changes. The main chapel, redesigned by Jerónimo de Ruão, shows a new architectonic language, following the classicist style of the time. On the lateral walls, between two orders of columns down the Jonic order, up the Corinthian order are the tombs of thefounder King D. Manuel, his son, King D. João III and their respective wives, Queens D. Maria and D. Catarina.
The retable ofthe high altar, integrated In the architectural composition, consists of mannerist paintings made by Lourenço de Salzedo (1535-78), between 1570 and 1572. They depict scenes of Christ's Passion and the Three Kings' Adoration. In the middle, we can admire a baroque Tabernacle covered with carved silver and placed later. It was made by João de Sousa between 1674 and 1678. For the placement of this Tabernacle, the central board of the mannerist retable - representing the Epiphany of Jesus adored by one of the Three Kings on his knees had to be removed. This scene was reproduced on the Tabernacle's door.

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