A OFICINA DE JOÃO DE RUÃO: OS ESCULTORES, A RELAÇÃO OFICINAL E A GESTÃO DO TRABALHO

Abstract

This article aims to structure the knowledge about João de Ruão's workshop, discussing the problem of workshop relationship, work management and who were the sculptors that the artistic historiography has associated with the Norman Master. Starting from Coimbra’s social and labour organization, and inquiring about the formative environment of this artist in Normandy, which must also have shaped his work habits, we will revisit the names of the artists who, in Coimbra, have been associated to the Master’s circle, in order to understand the human and social dimension of what has been considered the largest and most productive sculpture workshop of the Portuguese 16th century.

The attempt to explore these questions, will imply the approach to the patterns of labour association within a framework of relationships that go from the apprenticeship to the artist’s integration in the market. At the same time, we will try to clarify the designations of those involved in these artistic circuits, such as the one of the criado (servant), defined somewhere between the protégé, the common servant, and the apprentice.