AS ABÓBADAS DE CAIXOTÕES NA ARQUITETURA PORTUGUESA DO SÉCULO XVI E O CONTRIBUTO DE JOÃO DE RUÃO

Abstract

During the Renaissance, the use of coffered arches and vaults was a powerful resource given its suggestive association with Roman art and architecture. In Coimbra, Jehan de Rouen will be a fundamental character in the dissemination of these new formal elements in specific architectural pieces of his production. In his wake, Diogo de Castilho will apply coffered vaults in the churches of the new university colleges (Graça, S. Jerónimo) stating the city as an important focus of 16th century Portuguese architecture. An important issue would be the definition of a "canonical" formulation for these vaults, which will progress (at the end of the 16th century) towards the circumscription of an odd number of rows, with a central chain of coffers being affirmed – an evolution that

replicated what had happened in other, more “central”, European artistic contexts such as Italy itself.