À conquista da sabedoria. A pintura de quadratura e o programa iconográfico da Biblioteca Joanina

Abstract

This article aims to rethink the process of the building and decoration of the Coimbra University Library known as the Biblioteca Joanina (1716-1728). It focuses on the artistic and cultural context of the first half of the reign of King John V (1707 – around 1728) and on the impact of the projects of the Italian architect Filippo Juvarra for the new city of Lisbon (1719). The building of the Biblioteca Joanina integrated the renovation plan in all the fields of knowledge promoted by King John V, Queen Maria Ana of Austria and the Portuguese court. Thus, this paper offers a new interpretation of the iconographic program, based on a military metaphor. The Library is like a fortress of the Sapience to be conquered by the student-soldier. Inside, the space of knowledge is divided into three progressive stages: the library (Imago Bibliotecae), the academic stage (Universitas), and the encyclopedic knowledge (Enciclopedia); however the true and final goal of the conquest is to achieve the wisdom of the Sapient Christian (Sabio Christão) as described by Father Rafael Bluteau in his Prosas Académicas… (1717-1728). At the end of his journey, with his weapons put down at the feet of the monarch, the student-conqueror reflects himself in the portrait of King John V, the Wise Christian King. Moreover, the paper highlights the following topics: 1) the artistic connections with the Italian and Austrian architecture; 2) the close relationship between the ceiling paintings by António Simões Ribeiro and the Bolognese painting tradition of “quadratura”; 3) the lack of books supplies after the completion of the Coimbra University Library and during the second half of the reign of King John V; 4) the (re)interpretation of the ceiling paintings by António Augusto Gonçalves in the 19th century; 5) the restoration works promoted by the Portuguese State between 1931 and 1934, and the involvement of the painter Joaquim Lopes, Professor of Arts in Porto.