ChromAz – O Percurso Cromático do Azulejo Português
Organic Unit: NOVA FCT
Research Center: VICARTE
Organic Unit: NOVA FCT
Research Center: VICARTE
The Portuguese azulejo (glazed tile) heritage is internationally recognised as unique, much due to its original and uninterrupted use in the most diverse architectural spaces since the 16th century. This heritage has been given increasing attention in the last decades; however, much of its production techniques are yet to be studied.
Which colours and hues characterised the azulejo’s palette until the mid-18th century? Which pigments were used and how were they made? Do they differ from the ones used in coeval European tile productions? How did they change over time? Is it possible to address provenance and chronological issues based on pigment composition?
The ChromAz project will tell an unprecedented story of the Portuguese azulejo heritage by studying its chromatic evolution. Aiming to investigate, contextualise, and disclose the pigments and respective recipes used in historic Portuguese tiles, ChromAz will contribute to the valorisation and conservation of this important heritage.
The interdisciplinary nature of this project places it within the emerging field of Technical Art History, which creates new art historical knowledge at the intersection of natural sciences, arts, and humanities. The methodology will combine archival historical research with the analytical characterisation of selected samples to identify the pigments that make up the Portuguese tile palette. Portuguese tiles dated between the 16th and the 18th centuries, as well as imported ones from the production centres that most influenced the Portuguese productions, will be analysed to compare the pigments and study the technology transfer process. A multi-analytical methodology, which will cover elemental, molecular, and structural analysis, will be developed to enable the identification of all glaze components.
The results obtained from the chemical analysis will be the basis for the reproduction of the colours, along with the study of historical treatises and recipe books, such as, e.g., the Persian treatise by Abu l´Qasim (1301), the Italian treatise on maiolica by Cipriano Piccolpasso (“The Three Books of the Potter’s Art”, ca. 1557), or the 18th-century Dutch delftware treatise by Gerrit Paape (1794).
The impact of the ChromAz project will go beyond the institutions involved in it by enriching the cultural offer of every monument and museum that contains azulejos from the period under study, and by disclosing important information for authentication and conservation issues in a time when much of our tile heritage is being looted. By advancing and disseminating the knowledge on the pigment and glaze recipes, we aim to inspire contemporary ceramic artists to carry on the historic techniques into the future by exploring their potential in 21st-century artworks.
