Palácio da Pena, Sintra, Portugal
Architectural style: Romanesque Revival, Neo-Manueline
Location: Sintra, Portugal
Construction started: Middle Ages
Completed: 1854 (during the reign of the King Pedro V of Portugal)
Architect: Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege
Other designers: Fernando II of Portugal
Located at the top of the Sintra Mountains, the Pena Palace is surrounded by a magnificent landscape of lush trees, largely resulting from the planting campaigns of D. Fernando II.
On clearer days you can enjoy this landscape, which includes the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean. But the Palace’s exposed location leads to it being frequently buffeted by powerful winds or being completely enveloped in a mysterious fog. It is this operatic, sublime dimension that constitutes the irresistible attraction of the Pena Palace location. The interiors, on the contrary, reveal the great concern with the intimacy and comfort that marked the romantic architecture of the 19th century.
Main Entrance of the Royal Family:
This is currently the entrance of visitors to the Palace, and which corresponds to the former entrance of the Royal Family to the most private area of the palace. It is a space adapted from the original structure of the jeronimite convent of the 16th century that flows directly into the cloister.
The former convent of the 16th century was organized around a small cloister, covered with Hispanic-Moorish tiles. After the building was converted into a palace, the cloister was closed with windows and started to function as a circulation and distribution space (currently they are no longer in place). On the lower floor there is the Royal Family Dining Room and the Cup, as well as the rooms of King D. Carlos. On the upper floor were the rooms of Queen D. Amélia.
The pantry was a space to support meals that took place in the Dining Room. The walls and ceiling are entirely covered with tiles of a loose figure with the representation of green and red stars, supplied by the manufacturer Eugénio Roseira in 1867.
The cupboard made of vignette wood and with glazed doors, which is original from the time of D. Fernando II, holds part of a porcelain dinner service from Limoges (France, 1893-1910) with the crown of the Royal House.
The Vista Alegre porcelain service, white and green, ordered by D. Fernando (Portugal, 1870-1880) can be seen in another cabinet at the back of the room.
The Royal Family Dining Room occupies the same space that was used, at the time of the convent, for the monks’ refectory. As in the World Cup, the most evident alteration of the 19th century is the wall covering that started to be made with the same tiles from the Roseira factory. Currently, you can see the furniture that D. Fernando II acquired from “Gaspar. Shipowner and upholsterer. Successors Barbosa & Costa. Praça do Loreto, 60, Lisboa” in 1867, consisting of an extendable table, 34 chairs (although only 17 are on display), two corner cupboards, two carving and two curtain frames.
Part of the collection of ceramics by D. Fernando II is presented in the corner brackets, which reproduce the way we know the historical photographs of the Dining Room at the Palácio da Necessidades.
On the table, it has been possible to observe, during the last decades, a magnificent table center in the form of a vessel supported by two mermaids (Paris, 1885, goldsmith Froment-Meurice and Louis Aucoc). It is a gift offered by the ladies of Paris to Queen D. Amélia, when she was married to King D. Carlos I in 1886. This piece was temporarily removed from the tour circuit and will be subject to conservation and restoration. When you return, the centerpiece will be displayed in a showcase, in a room dedicated to the second generation that inhabited the building.
Chapter room during the time of the jeronimite convent and tea room in the time of D. Fernando, this space was adapted to the office for king D. Carlos I.
The designation of a cabinet sometimes refers to a simple living space, but it is likely that its use was quite diverse. At the time of D. Carlos, the Cabinet had support furniture, chairs, armchairs, paper holders and some writing material. In the first decades of the Republic all this furniture was dispersed, so in the 1950′s this division had almost nothing of the original filling.
At the end of the 1970′s, the set of canvases that represent Nymphs and Satyrs in Parque da Pena, and whose authorship is attributed to D. Carlos, was fully restored and displayed in this room. This period dates from the beginning of the construction of a discourse around the artistic aspect of the king that still remains.
Bedroom, W.C. and King D. Carlos Bathroom
Referred to as Servants’ Rooms in the inventory made after the death of D. Fernando II, the Bedroom, W.C. and the Bathroom of D. Carlos I underwent constant changes over time.
In 1897, there was a rosewood bed in the room, ten years later, the bed was of golden iron and, in 1910, there was practically no furniture (the king had died in 1908 and the room may have been dismantled shortly afterwards). The existing bed was acquired by the Portuguese State and brought to Pena in 1939, during a campaign of museum reorganization of the palace.
Since the whereabouts of the original furniture are unknown, it was decided to reconstruct the room with the existing neoclassical furniture, introducing other elements associated with this period of artistic production, such as the two perfumers of Wedgwood, a chocolate service from Vienna , two Second Empire vases and two chandeliers with jade bases.
Direct references to King D. Carlos appear in the remaining objects. On the one hand, in the works of art that were placed in his Room at the Palácio das Necessidades, in Lisbon: the sculpture “Sacrifice of Isaac”, the beggars in ivory, the faience plate with the Virgin and Child, as well as those already perfumers.
On the other hand, in the works painted by the king himself, in which the pastel “A Porta da Penha Verde” deserves to be highlighted.
On the upper floor, around the Cloister, are the rooms that were originally occupied by King Fernando. These rooms were later occupied by Queen D. Amélia, this being the period that is currently highlighted in the exhibition.
Rooms of City Councilor and Ladies:
In the time of King D. Fernando II, the first of these two rooms served as the Toilette of the Countess d'Edla, as she shared the Main Room with King D. Fernando II. It is likely that the second room, identified in the inventories only as “Immediate Toilet Room”, served as a dressing room. During the Queen Amélia period, these divisions were occupied by her vereador (António Vasco de Melo, 9th Count of Sabugosa) and by the ladies of the company (among the more than 30 ladies of the queen, the most notable was D. Mariana das Dores de Melo , Countess of Sabugosa, and D. Josefa de Sandoval y Pacheco).
The room has stucco walls, imitating a wooden covering and with naturalistic motifs of pine cones and leaves growing from logs. The furniture includes the Indo-Portuguese wooden bed, the possibly twisted German column cabinet and the neo-Gothic desk. In the Dama de Companhia room, the vault was plastered by Domingos Meira de Afife in classic shapes from which the garlands of flowers stand out. The furniture consists of a bed and two dressers D. Maria I.
Created from the limitations imposed by the structure of the ancient hieronimite monastery, this division only took on the function of the main bedroom after the death of Queen D. Maria II, since until that date the royal quarters were planned for the Torreão of the New Palace. The Main Room would, however, end up hosting the two figures that most marked the history of the palace: King D. Fernando II (who shared it with the Countess d’Edla) and Queen D. Amélia.
The Mudéjar decoration of the walls and ceiling is due to the interest that the artist-king had developed in the Islamic artistic tradition. Even before D. Fernando’s visit to Seville, in 1856, this room already had an extensive geometric pattern in stucco, with a starry core covered in gold leaf, reminiscent of the luxurious decoration of the Moorish palaces in the southern Iberian Peninsula.
In this division, it is worth mentioning the set of furniture with twists and bobbins. With the exception of the bed, which incorporates original elements from the 17th century, it is a revivalist set of Baroque furniture production in Portugal. These specimens attest to the important role that D. Fernando II played in the revaluation of this type of furniture.
Identified in a 1905 publication as the Study and Design Room, this division appears mentioned in the Orphanage Inventory of D. Fernando II, from 1886-1887, as the Office of the Lady Countess. In the remaining inventories and plans until the end of the monarchy and even until the 80′s of the 20th century it is mentioned as the Queen’s Office (Senhora D. Amélia).
The Queen’s Office has gone through several configurations. An old photograph by Carlos Relvas (1838-1894) shows it with a fabric covering, apparently cheetah, covering walls, vaults, ribs, the stove and even some seat furniture. The photograph from the 1905 publication shows it with walls covered with similar patterned fabric or paper, but the vaults appear to be white.
The current painting was done in 1917 by Eugénio Cotrim (1849-1937), according to the signature on the top left, on the north wall next to the entrance door. The context of the execution of this mural painting is unknown, already in the middle of the Republic and at a time when the Palace was already open to the public. Quite possibly the coating - whatever it was - would have been degraded, which would have led to the decision to redecorate the room. The hypothesis that this redecoration took place in the context of the residence of the President of the Republic Sidónio Pais in the Palácio da Pena still needs documentary confirmation.
During the Monarchy period, the most intimate visits of the Royal Family entered the New Palace by the Escada das Cabaças and, in the opposite direction to the current one, arrived at this room. The decoration of 1854 is by the Italian set designer Paulo Pizzi. It represents Islamic architecture under a vegetal dome. The perspective creates the illusion of a wider space beyond the limits of the room.
This south-facing terrace was directly accessible from Queen Amélia’s rooms. In the period when D. Carlos and D. Amélia lived, a metal structure was built to support an awning in the summer months. A special highlight is the sundial and solar quadrant (gnomon) of Portuguese origin, to which a meridian with a small cannon is attached. On the dial are inscribed the months of the year and the hours of the day.
The two passage rooms were used at the time of the convent as an abacial suite. With the adaptation to a palace, the suite was transformed into a space of communication between the structure of the old convent and the divisions of the New Palace, which was then built from this point towards the southwest.
As a collector, D. Fernando took advantage of these and other circulation spaces as exhibition places for his personal collection. Such situation was verified in the cloister galleries that served as a corridor, both in the Palácio das Necessidades, in Lisbon, as in the Palácio Velho da Pena, but also in these passage rooms. The inventory carried out after his death lists the various pieces of furniture as well as the objects on display, with few changes being noted by the next generation that inhabited the Pena Palace, that is, by King D. Carlos and Queen D. Amélia.
Currently, these two rooms feature works of art closely linked to King Fernando II. In the First Passage Room were placed the pieces of furniture that, according to the 1886 inventory, have been here since at least 1869. Of these, the extraordinary cupboard cabinet stands out, which originally served to display the king’s glass collection.
For both rooms, some works by artists supported by the monarch were also selected. Thus, the works of João Cristino da Silva, Francisco José Resende and Venceslau Cifka are shown here.
It is the first large room in the New Palace. The ceiling is Islamic inspired and reveals a taste for Mudejar art.
The neo-rococo chandelier from the mid-19th century represents, in glass, a Glória-da-Manhã vine with clusters of grapes. Indian furniture was purchased in 1940.
Gourd Ladder and Entrance Room
This staircase was the main entrance to the Palace for visitors. Access is on the ground floor through a door decorated with gourds (symbol of the pilgrim), which is located under the Arch of the Triton. The staircase ends in the Entrance Room, entirely decorated with stucco panels with a simulation of wicker interlacing.
This room was initially designed to serve as the Ambassadors Room, whose function would be to host official receptions. However, the death of Queen D. Maria II in 1853 reduced the number of D. Fernando’s government bonds. The space was later transformed into a Billiard Room, having been completely remodeled since 1865.
Furniture, lamps, decorative arts, everything was designed in direct relation to architecture. The canopy sofas adapt to the dimensions of the walls and the Turkish-torches were placed in the limits of the central and highest space of the room. D. Fernando had part of his collection of Central European stained glass placed in three of the west facing windows.
This was the biggest of the several that existed in the Palace, destined to serve the banquets in the Room of the Deer. Of the three original stoves (corresponding to the three chimneys outside) only two remain. At the corner, at the end, you can see an oven. The copper utensils from the Palace are marked with the acronym PP (Palácio da Pena) and the monogram crowned by D. Fernando II.
The chapel of the former Nossa Senhora da Pena convent still has the original configuration of the 16th century. The small nave has a vaulted warhead and 16th century tiles.
The chancel, which extends laterally to accommodate the 22-seat monks’ chair, is covered by a complex Manueline ribbed vault and 17th century polychrome tiles.
Stained glass of the nave
Stained glass in the neo-Gothic window commissioned by D. Fernando in 1840 to the workshop of the Kellner family, in Nuremberg, alluding to the foundation of the Convento da Pena in 1503: King D. Manuel I can be seen at the bottom left; on the right Vasco da Gama with a ship and the Belém Tower in the background; above, Nossa Senhora da Pena, São Jorge, the armillary sphere, the cross of Christ and the arms of Bragança and Saxe-Coburgo and Gotha.
Altarpiece of the main altar
Work in alabaster and black marble executed between 1529 and 1532 by the French sculptor Nicolau de Chanterene (ca.1470-1551).
In a Roman triumphal arch structure, there are scenes from the New Testament: Nativity, Annunciation, Presentation in the Temple, Adoration of the Magi and Escape to Egypt. Only the central niche refers to Christ’s death and resurrection.
Preparation space for the religious celebration, adjoining the old church, with washbasin and two towel racks (for before and after the service) and the cabinet to keep the vestments. Currently, sculptures belonging to D. Fernando II are displayed here, as well as some of the objects used in religious worship. The two great German volleys of Augsburg in the 17th century have religious themes.
