FROM PLEASURE TO DISGUST.
THE GROTESQUE IN THE OEUVRE OF JOÃO DE RUÃO.
Joana Antunes1
Universidade de Coimbra, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra |
Centro de Estudos em Arqueologia, Artes e Ciências do Património
Resumo
Operando no quadro teórico da investigação sobre o grotesco, o monstruoso, a marginalidade e a transgressão, nas margens
físicas e epistemológicas da arte, este artigo pretende abordar a relação entre a produção escultórica de João de Ruão e o
grotesco. A partir dos diversos desafios e estímulos lançados pelo longo século XVI ao aparato conceptual e visual de um artista
tão industrioso e qualificado como João de Ruão, torna-se necessário questionar em que circunstâncias e com que recursos se
terá apropriado do grotesco enquanto categoria expressiva e plástica. Para isso, é essencial iniciar o questionamento da
natureza, contexto e função da expressão de qualidades como a bizarria, o hibridismo, a fealdade e a monstruosidade, a partir de
figuras parergónicas como gárgulas e mascarões, mas também “infiéis”, carrascos e até o próprio demónio, adversários últimos
da Cristandade. A partir de quatro estudos de caso, que tentaremos contextualizar e compreender num quadro comparativo,
ensaiar-se-á um primeiro olhar a estas imagens menos visíveis, na expectativa de contribuir para adensar o nosso conhecimento
sobre o papel de João de Ruão enquanto artista do Renascimento Europeu.
Palavras-chave: grotesco, grutesco, iconologia, Coimbra, Renascimento
Abstract
Within the theoretical frame of recent research on grotesqueness and monstrosity, marginality and transgression, both on the
physical and epistemological margins of art, this paper intends to approach the relationship between João de Ruão’s oeuvre and
the grotesque. In a long 16th century, with so many different challenges to the conceptual apparatus, and so many stimuli to the
visual framework of an artist as industrious and as qualified as João de Ruão, it seems timely to question in what circumstances,
and with what resources did he call upon the grotesque and the bizarre in his work. Qualities such as grotesqueness, ugliness,
monstrosity and hybridism will be variably searched and inquired in their nature, context, and function. And parergonal figures,
such as gargoyles and decorative masks, along with the traditional adversaries of Christianity, such as heathens and the devil
himself, will be approached in four case studies tentatively put in a comparative context, regarding similar expressions in
sculpture, painting and other media. By taking a closer look at these less visible images, we hope to contribute to deepen our
insight into João de Ruão’s role as an artist of European Renaissance.
Key-words: grotesque, grottesche, iconology, Coimbra, Renaissance
1
joana.filipa.antunes@gmail.com
https://doi.org/10.14195/2182-844X_7_9
Joana Antunes
As an artistic concept and as a word, the birth of
approach to ugliness, wickedness, moral
the grotesque is contemporary with the life and
perversion and physical deformity, invariably
work of João de Ruão. But beyond the lavish
starts in and with the human body. And, from
inventiveness displayed in the grottesche, though
such a long career – which left its mark for many
still mediated by the principle of decorum, there
decades after his death –, it is also obvious that
was yet another form of inventio particularly
this focus on humanity would inevitably cross
associated with proteiform hybridism,
deformation, exaggeration, transgression, and
the path of normalized, didactic Counter
Reformation principles. Thus, in João de Ruão’s
borderline ugliness. It layed in the grotesqueness
work, explicit and unequivocal ugliness is usually
of demons, monsters, and mascheroni, as well as
linked to moral deformity and iniquity, and
in the devilish ugliness of saint’s executioners
always counterbalanced by a powerful example of
and enemies of the faith. The bizarre, the
moral faultlessness and physical beauty. In this
deformed or the ugly were then the main
sense, hangmen become the perfect
ingredients of a formula which, as
embodiments of human grotesque in João de
complementary to that of the grottesche, aimed at
Ruão’s oeuvre, while the devil himself epitomizes
something more than the display of artistic
the most expressive form of non-human
virtuousness and creative ability, or “the
relaxation of the senses”, as pointed out by
grotesque.
Francisco de Holanda (Holanda, ed. Alves, 1984:
58). Its aim was, then, manifold but nevertheless
This “ugly grotesque” is then complemented by a
specific: to teach, to amuse, to scare, to enrage, to
“bizarre grotesque” in which the figures are not
move. A plethora of seemingly well calculated
necessarily ugly or evil, but rather bizarre,
reactions, from pleasure to disgust.
monstrous, hybrid, caricatured [Fig. 1]. At the
margin, framing, decorating, and enhancing the
central images and scenes, human and non-
Despite the preliminary nature of this approach,
human becomes a blurred distinction, operating
it is tempting to affirm from the start that in the
within the essential hybridism of the grottesche,
global oeuvre of João de
Ruão and his workshop,
whether clearly identified
or only attributed, the
grotesque – here mostly
considered as a quality
and not only as a type of
ornament – makes
carefully dosed, yet quite
impressive appearances.
As it would be expected
from an artist formed
and affirmed in the acme
of a humanist culture, his
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Fig. 1 - Experiments with grotesqueness. Grotesque head of an executioner and grotesque decorative mask. Grotesque
head of one of the tormentors at the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, ca. 1560-1580, unknown provenance, Museu
Nacional de Machado de Castro. Grotesque decorative mask from a corbel of the Maggi Chapel’s dome, ca. 1574,
Monastery of São Marcos, Coimbra © Gabriel Pereira
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the over-expressive and almost caricature nature
(Hendrix, 2005: 14-15). But even before this
of the mascheroni, and the monstrosity of
intense moment of theoretical assessment of the
gargoyles. At this marginal and truly parergonal
sublime, with ugliness, displeasure, disgust and
level, bordering both fictive and real architectural
horror entering the realms of poetry and visual
volumes, the hybrid coexists with perfectly
arts as dynamic counterforces to their positive
defined categories of human and animal, which
equivalents, Italian artists were exploring it
occasionally poke out or peek from parapets,
cornices, pediments, and moulding.
through “concepts like decorum, affetto and
especially imitation” (Hendrix, 2005: 15). By
rendering images plausible, there may be beauty
in ugliness, as clearly stated by Saint Thomas
Each one of these creations is, nonetheless,
Aquinas a long time before any renaissance artist
meticulously placed, disposed, framed,
began using the rhetorical device of decorum: “An
controlled. And, perhaps, most of all, each one of
image is called beautiful if it perfectly represents
them is the clear result of an inventiveness which
something, even something ugly” (Summa
not only relies in a fully mastered plasticity, as in
Theologiae, I: 39, 8c).
a particular attention to detail. This skillful
manipulation of the grotesque, whether it
envisaged reactions of horror and disgust or
surprise and wonder – and the many shades
Among the cultors of this coexistence, João de
Ruão deserves a particular attention, not only for
between these extremes –, is perfectly attuned
his impeccable manipulation of the grotesque
with the (long) time of João de Ruão's life and
within the realms of the ideal, the beautiful and
work. In fact, and from the very beginning, the
even the sacred through the mediation of
16th century handled the affirmation of ugliness,
decorum, but also for having tried, throughout his
monstrosity and horror as useful, or even
career, virtually all the possibilities of
necessary ingredients to a full artistic experience.
grotesqueness, confirming it as an immanent
If the short path from disgust to pleasure is
quality in art.
theoretically grounded “on the opposition
between the beautiful and the ugly” (Hendrix,
2005: 15), it is nevertheless a highly demanding
challenge, which can only be achieved by the
most excellent artists, since their virtuosity and
Modern Gargoyles
skill rely on their power of imitatio.
Manga Cloister (Claustro da Manga), Monastery
of Santa Cruz, Coimbra 1533
Such ideas may be found, for instance, at the
At the Monastery of Santa Cruz de Coimbra, an
Poetics of Aristotle that, rediscovered in 1530s,
institution whose connection with João de Ruão’s
would soon be accompanied by Longino’s On the
career is well known (Craveiro, 2002: 125-133;
Sublime (1554/1555), both fueling the debate on
Gonçalves, 2006; Gonçalves, 2011: 117-140), the
beauty and its absence as artistic resources – a
debate that would naturally keep up with the
fountain of the so-called Manga Cloister displays
normative effects of Counter Reformation
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a total of sixteen gargoyles perched on the outer
border of the central dome (eight) and the four
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circular turrets (two per turret, in a total of eight)
ceasing to be medieval. Just like at the margins of
[Fig. 2]. Here, the baffling sophistication of the
an illuminated folio – from the Leitura Nova
architectural setting – whose project may be
frontispieces to those of the Attavanti’s, just to
attributed to João de Ruão even if its sources or
draw on two main references in the Portuguese
immediate parallels are not yet clear (Dias, 2003:
visual landscape – we find the usual nameless
128; Craveiro, 2011: 38) –, seems to commit to
beasts made of many parts of animals (aerial,
the survival of a figurative and plastic tradition
which may be unmistakably identified with the
aquatic, terrestrial), but also other categorizable
creatures, such as satyrs, griffins and dragons,
“lavoro tedesco” so harshly criticized by the most
and naturalistic depictions of putti, monkeys and
distinguished heralds “dalla Bella maniera
men.
de’romani” (Visconti, 1840: 24), and
by no means alien to the Portuguese
renaissance elites (Francisco de
Holanda, for instance, calls it a
“superfluidade bárbara”, or barbarian
superfluity (Holanda, ed. Alves, 1984:
58).
Even if Vitruvius mentions the use of
gargoyles, he specifically
recommends the lion head motive
(De Architectura, Lib. III), leaving
little space for the inventiveness of
architects, whether ancient or
Fig. 2 - Gargoyle (putto), Manga Cloister (Claustro da Manga), 1533, Monastery of Santa Cruz,
Coimbra © Gabriel Pereira
modern. Indeed, the variety of
figurative types carved at the Manga fountain is
Interestingly enough, the most unexpected and
much closer to that of a gothic cathedral than to
seemingly anachronistic figures are those of the
any classic building, combining naturalistic
(although parodic) figures of humans and
three men: wearing simple hooded doublets and
animals with monstrous hybrids born from the
are commoners whose plain simplicity is
artist’s prodigious imagination. Meticulously
incredibly hard to find in Renaissance art, even
placed over the tanks into which they would
spout the rainwater, preventing it from running
when portraying common people. Realist enough
and almost portrait-like, these figures are only
down the walls – and thus contributing positively
grotesque by their role (spouting water) and their
to its good maintenance –, João de Ruão’s
facial features, which are thick, bulky and
gargoyles present us with a cast of impressive
grimacing [Fig. 3]. With one hand over the chest,
characters which range from droll and amusing
almost at the level of the throat – a common
to bizarre and perhaps even terrifying. Although
they are not in a perfect state of conservation, it is
bodily response to screaming or vomiting – one
still possible to recognize some very frequent
in a foolish grimace, emphasized by their round
inhabitants of the porous margins of an artistic
cheeks, huge bulbous nose and big protruding
culture that is indelibly modern, without ever
ears.
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partially rolled down working boots, these men
opens a wide mouth while the other two stretch it
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buffoons were frequently chosen by their
physical peculiarities and/or intellectual
disabilities, the men portrayed by João de Ruão at
the fountain, could be a humanized but still
grotesque interpretation of the archetypal fool,
incapable of fully controlling his body, thoughts
and speech.
The gesture and performance of these gargoyles
play, indeed, an important role in the inquiry of
their iconography. On the one hand, the
playfulness of human and animal figures
pouring water is a well-known resource in
fountains from virtually any time and culture,
and thus the physical act of spouting (or spitting
or vomiting) water may be a subject on its own.
Fig. 3 - Gargoyle (man), Manga Cloister (Claustro da Manga), 1533, Monastery
of Santa Cruz, Coimbra © Gabriel Pereira
And, in fact, this seems to be the case with
another of these gargoyles, depicting a putto with
Whether these figures were intended to depict
his cheeks swollen like balloons, as he opens his
some specific social type or human behavior
mouth wide with the help of his hand to let the
suitable for such a marginal task, or to “simply”
waters run down.
convey in very plain (but still expressive) plastic
means the human act of vomiting or spouting
water, we still don’t know, and perhaps never will.
It is nevertheless tempting to indulge in the idea
of a similitude between these figures and the alltime popular fool whose common caricatured
features, inescapable from Pieter Brueghel’s
popular crowds (such as The Beggars, 1586,
Louvre or many characters from The Fight
Between Carnival and Lent, 1559,
Kunsthistorisches Museum), may be found in
the rather humane portraits of famous characters
like Pietro Gonella, the Ferrara Court jester (Jean
Fouquet, ca. 1445, Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna) or Will Sommers, the fool of Henry VIII
(Psalter of Henry VIII, ca. 1530-1547, BL Royal
MS 2 A XVI, f. 63v, The British Library; Henry
But, on the other hand, this same gesture may
still be metonymically associated with screaming
and speaking, which in the case of both the “fool”
and the putto could imply saying nonsense, or
babbling. The same may apply to another curious
figure, common in both medieval and early
modern marginalia, and twice depicted between
the fountain’s gargoyles: the ape [Fig. 4]. Unable
to refrain themselves from mimicking (aping)
human behaviors and gestures, apes and
monkeys could never profit from the precious
and distinctively human gift of speech (Janson,
1952), just like (perhaps) nothing but thin air or
running water would come out of the Manga’s
apes mouths, even if they are dressed like men.
the Eight and His Family, 1545, Royal Collection
In Renaissance Europe, apes and monkeys were
still a luxury item displayed in rich households in
Trust). Just like these court fools, jesters or
an ever-growing variety, due to an increasingly
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intense commerce in which Portugal played a
Bruegel the Elder had already explored, with his
leading role (Gschwend, 2010: 7; Masseti, 2018:
customary wit, the full pictorial and semantic
52). Frequently fettered, to prevent the escape of
potential of these animals. “Two Chained
such an expensive and prized possession, they
Monkeys” (1562, Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche
appear in domestic settings as well as in the
Museen, Berlin) is one of the smallest and most
hands of their owners and, quite significantly,
quiet, introspective, and melancholic of Bruegel’s
carried by court jesters or fools. Used as
entertainment props, for their amusing nature,
works – one that, despite of its original
destination and display being unknown, seems to
they were also an extension of the fool’s real or
offer an intimate glimpse of the painter’s
fictional idiocy. Thus, we naturally find a fully
thoughts on painting itself, as an illusionistic
dressed, fettered ape perched at the shoulders of
approach to the world. And, a few decades later,
Will Sommers, gleaning its master’s hair, just
El Greco would also approach the subject with
like it happens in the depiction of a Man with a
his Fabula (1580, Museo del Prado), where vice
Monkey, attributed to Annibale Carracci
and mimicry, foolishness and pictorial skill are
(1590-1591, Gallerie degli Uffizi). Reestablishing
drawn together in a seemingly effortless
thus a hypothetical symbolical connection
painting.
between the men and the apes carved in João de
Ruão’s gargoyles, it is perhaps worth to point at
the specific relationship between artistic skill,
vice and folly often carried by simian
depictions in Renaissance art.
In this period, and despite a progressive
approximation to the representation of the
animal’s actual features, apes in art frequently
kept a symbolical and allegorical aura, with
their closeness to human nature acting as a
particularly efficient pictorial tool. Just like
apes mimic men, so art apes nature, and
though art history is written over the
battleground of mimesis versus inventio, the
truth may be that all figurative art has to deal
with being a simile of a reality that, despite
being reinvented and eventually surpassed, is
still there, acting as a matrix. In fact, just
before David Teniers and many other painters
of singeries from the 17th and 18th centuries
used monkeys as a means of satire on the art
market, and long before the 19th century
turned them into sharp art critics, Pieter
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Fig. 4 - Gargoyle (ape), Manga Cloister (Claustro da Manga), 1533, Monastery of Santa
Cruz, Coimbra © Joana Antunes
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“Ars simia naturae”, or art as the ape of nature, is
perceived by others. Indeed, the apes depicted in
then an expression that gains place in the
these gargoyles seem to be Barbary macaques
conceptual framework of the renaissance artist,
(Macaca sylvanus), one of the African species
and not without its tensions and conflicts
most common in Europe since Antiquity and one
(Cohen, 2017: 219-220; Janson, 1952: 290-293).
of the most frequently portrayed in art. If this is
Apropos of this concept, Simona Cohen recalls
the case, the sinuous line that appears under the
that the Renaissance culture was permeable to
both negative and positive uses of the ape
animal’s legs, resting under its crossed feet,
should be a rope or a chain, and not a tail. And
imagery, suggestive enough to keep exposing and
this his, perhaps, why the ape’s left-hand rests on
ridiculing human flaws through beastliness, but
its ankle, as if directing our gaze to that detail.
also human enough to act “the metaphoric alter-
Beyond all speculation seems to be the fact that
ego of the artist himself” (Cohen, 2017: 219). In
the sculptor wished to stress the ape’s feet
more than one circumstance, thus, we will find
mobility, as they gently grasp the rope just like
apes and monkeys carefully and (more or less)
another pair of hands.
discretely placed at the borders of both intimate
pictures or great narrative cycles of paintings,
while gazing outside the pictorial space or
looking directly into the observer’s eyes – as it
Precariously hanging from the outer border of
happens, for instance, in Albrecht Dürer’s Virgin
the four chapels, all the creatures carved in these
gargoyles have a rather convincing physical
and Child with the Monkey (c. 1498), where the
connection with the frieze from which they
animal’s tail even leads to (and almost touches)
spout. More than simple extensions of the
the artist’s monogram.
architectural frame or, on the contrary, individual
stone blocks projecting from the wall, they are
illusionistically placed on its horizontal
Beyond the challenges of the paragone debate
mouldings, where they sit and lean, and which
which theoretically antagonized painters and
they touch and grab, always keeping a natural
sculptors, at a practical level, the creative role of
and effortless connection with the support. This
the artist was commonly placed between the
apparently unlimited resources of inventio and
is not only important for the sake of the artistic
statement itself, but also for the layered
the imitatio of Nature, ultimately perceived as the
symbolical reading of these images, which may
work of God (for further readings on the
also depict the vices and sins which plague the
implications and consequences of the paragone,
worldly path of the men trying to achieve
see for instance the early works of Hecht, 1984:
spiritual perfection through meditation, prayer,
125-136; Dundas, 1990: 87-92; and more recently
solitude and penance. This is, in fact, a logical
Hendler, 2013). Placed at the edge of the
assumption from the spiritual profile of such an
fountain’s chapels, the two apes carved by João de
exceptional architecture, indelibly connected with
Ruão (or his co-workers) may as well be a
the reformation of the Monastery of Santa Cruz
virtuous reminder of the sculptors’ ability to
mimic nature in its real, tridimensional form,
of Coimbra by Frei Brás de Barros, and probably
impossible to frame within the scope of a single
without ever being more than a trick performed
influence, model or inspiration source (Abreu,
by the artist, always fettered to a fiction to be
2009: 33-52; Abreu and Barreira, 2010: 1-25).
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In this sense, it is perhaps useful to step back
If these mildly hybrid and grotesque gargoyles
and note that the images carved in the
have names and are easily identified (even if not
architectural body itself are but a few, and they
easily interpreted), the figures carved around the
clearly obey to a dialectic of opposites: inside/
tempietto are much more deceptive and complex.
outside; central/liminal. Inside the circular
Flanking the flying buttresses which connect the
turret-like chapels, four altarpieces display
central dome with the bodies of the chapels, as
models of eremitic devotion: Saint John the
Baptist; Saint Anthony the Great; Saint Paul the
well as the staircases and pathways between the
four tanks, a total of eight gargoyles release the
Hermit; and Saint Jerome, are all examples to
rain waters in the central tank. Born from a
meditate upon while experiencing a very
prodigious imagination and a skillful hand, these
alternative way of solitude (or soledade) within the
are utterly grotesque creatures, highly
very walls of the monastery. Outside the same
hybridized, composite and proteiform [Fig. 5] –
chapels, exposed and harder to grasp, the
with the sole exception of the aforementioned
gargoyles take the shape of three men with
putto. From the vigorous dragon that reinvents
grinning, grotesque facial expressions, two
the late medieval models by providing them with
fettered apes, and three hybrids: a faun, a griffin,
an almost lifelike appearance, to the nameless
and humanoid creature with reptilian feet whose
state of conservation doesn’t allow a precise
and striking creature with quadruped legs and
brush like paws, human torso with female soggy
identification. These are all categorizable
breasts, two little tortuous arms almost
creatures, whose grotesqueness plays upon a
resembling wings, and a fearsome, leonine face,
humanity which is never too far, and never too
they are the offspring of the grotesque animals
diluted. Even in the case of the griffin – which
prescribed of Leonardo da Vinci. The formula, at
holds a plain heraldic shield –, the resonance of
least, is the same:
the flight of Alexander the Great, is almost
“Come devi far parere naturale un animale finto.
immediate (Frugoni, 1973). All, except the griffin,
Tu sai non potersi fare alcun animale, il quale non
abbia le sue membra, e Che ciascuno per se non
are human or humanoid. All, except the griffin,
are telluric and somewhat beastly creatures –
from behavior even if not from nature, as it
happens with the three men. And all of them,
including the griffin, may serve the purpose of
sia similitudine con qualcuno degli altri
animali.” (Da Vinci, ed. Amoretti, 1804: 172-173.
See also Taglialagamba and Versiero, 2016:
442-444).
pointing to the earthly bounds of violence, lust,
If we read the human as animal (as Leonardo
stupidity, ignorance, and foolishness – conveyed
himself did, for instance, in his Two heads of
by bodily expression, since none of them masters
grotesque animals, c. 1490-1495, Windsor, RL
proper verbal language – which the reformed
12367), then we have the recipe for João de
crúzios should overcome. By connecting sky and
Ruão’s gargoyles. Impossible to define with
earth, the griffin may be a reminder of the vanity
precision and to interpret from the more or less
crystalized symbolism of each one of the animals
of those who, like Alexander, search to know the
unfathomable nature of Heaven without
from which they are made up, these gargoyles
realizing that the path begins on the firm
are made from the same matter as the grottesche
grounds of worldly hardships.
that frame, ornament, and improve most
artworks at this time. In fact, they are not too
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distant from the squatted hybrids framed at the
top frieze of the church portal of Atalaia (c. 1528),
the tomb of D. Luís da Silveira in Góis (1531) or
the one of D. Duarte de Lemos in Trofa do Vouga
(1534) (Pereira, 2020: 158-170), just to quote
some examples of approximate dates.
And perhaps it is precisely this parallel with the
inventiveness of the grottesche that will bring us
back to the self-reflective qualities of these
gargoyles – not (only) as mirrors of the observer’s
fears, but (mostly) as embodiments of the artist’s
creative powers. Far from being side notes to a
main text, these sculptures are masterfully
crafted in each detail, from expression to gesture,
without one single repetition. They display the
repertoire of a sculptor capable of creating
convincing similes of real creatures, as well as
vivid expressions of imaginary beings, crafted in
such manner that their biological existence
seems almost unquestionable. Drawing on
traditional types, such as the (hypothetical) fool
or the ape, João de Ruão recognizes a legacy;
evoking classical references, such as the putto or
the faun, he positions himself as a connoisseur
of Antiquity; transforming the medieval
prototypes of the monstrous gargoyle into
wondrous visions of lifelike restlessness, he
presents himself as an inventor. And this is not, I
believe, something we can ascribe to the militant
erudition of the commissioner or to the texts
pointed by him as sources to the new cloister.
Frei Brás de Barros could even have chosen a set
of monstrous gargoyles to haunt and astonish the
Saint Augustine canons during their retreats –
but he certainly did not draw or imagine those
striking hybrids, which could only sprout from a
highly visual mind impregnated by a whole
visual culture of grotesqueness.
Fig. 5 - Hybrid gargoyles, Manga Cloister (Claustro da Manga), 1533, Monastery
of Santa Cruz, Coimbra © Joana Antunes
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Face to face: Mascheroni
reinvention, as means of presenting a new reality
Maggi Chapel (Capela dos Reis Magos),
that only the artist can shape (Profumo, 1985:
Monastery of São Marcos, Coimbra ca. 1574
15-32, 141-180; Zamperini, 2007; Craveiro, 2002:
377-420; Craveiro, 2009).
“Nell’inventioni delle grottesche più che in
ogn’altra vi corte un certo furore, & una natural
bizarria, dellaquale essendone privi quei tali con
tutta larte loro non fecero nulla” (Lomazzo,
1585: 424)
Even if this is not the time or the place (and
space) to attempt such a demanding task as to
take a closer and lengthy look at the grottesche in
João de Ruão – a most necessary task which is
nevertheless endeavored in other chapters of this
volume –, it is still impossible to ignore their
Fascinating and delightful, uncategorized and
indescribable, bizarre and capricious, the
grottesche are a form of inventio which stands by
itself. In one of the longest theoretical texts
dedicated to this kind of ornament, Giovanni
Paolo Lomazzo states that he will not examine the
grottesche in detail, for not even the artists themselves
could help us understand of which parts were they
made (“Non starò ad investigar piu sotilmente ciò
che siano grottesche, perche non lo sa manco
l’istessa verità non che lo sappiano i pittori, ne di
che cosa si cõpongono”, Lomazzo, 1585: 423). In
fact, only in this art is it possible to use anything
one can recall or imagine (“in soma tutto quello
che si può trovare & imaginare”, Lomazzo, 1585:
importance as one of the many approaches to
grotesqueness. Indeed, it is at the frames,
mouldings, friezes and margins, in candelabra
and candelieri, or else symmetrically placed and
encased in the geometry of the ever-present
architectural settings, that we will find the other
nature of João de Ruão’s work. Spirited and lively,
nervous, restless, and bold, the figures and
ornamental motifs that populate church portals
(Atalaia, Varziela, Sé Velha), funerary
monuments (Góis, Trofa do Vouga, S. Marcos),
and altarpieces (Varziela, Capela dos Vales, Nossa
Senhora dos Anjos, S. Marcos) are certainly
imbued with “un certo furore, & una natural
bizarria”. [Fig. 6]
423), and altough most
written sources insist on
giving the protagonism to
painters and paintings, the
mastery of the grottesche
imagery and compositions
became a distinctive trait of
any excellent artist. Indeed,
the manipulation and
deconstruction of reality –
being it human, animal,
plant or inanimate object –
serves the fundamental
purpose of its
reconstruction and
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Fig. 6 - Grottesche, Tomb of D. Duarte de Lemos, 1534, Church of São Salvador, Trofa do Vouga © Gabriel Pereira
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To understand the adequacy of such dreamlike
deceased’s memory and lineage is accompanied
compositions and creatures to their place and
by the ever metamorphic grottesche displaying
context it is almost inevitable to recall the much
bucrania (a reminder of death and
quoted Diálogos de Roma (1548), where Francisco
transformation), along with candelieri with the
de Holanda presents himself discussing the
Arma Christi faced by trophies and musical
rationale behind the grottesche with Michelangelo
instruments (notes on the worldly triumphs and
Buonarroti, and other illustrious guests. In these
dialogues, they are significantly presented as a
pleasures redeemed by the sacrificial example of
Christ). Indeed, and despite the disputed
type of ornament which pleases the painter the most
participation of João de Ruão in this monument
and has never been seen in the world (“aquilo de
(Pereira, 2020: 161), there are many other
que maes deleita o pintor e que nunca se no
examples of this kind of adequacy in his work,
mundo viu”, Holanda, ed. Alves, 1984: 58).
for instance, at Trofa do Vouga and São Marcos.
Result of the flamboyant
imagination of the painter,
who is capable of adding new
forms and creatures to the
world by fusing together
human, animal and
vegetable , this type of
exercise is not only dignifying
for the artist himself, but it
also helps to decorate reason by
adding to paintings some
monstrosity, for variety and
relaxation of the senses of the
observer (“melhor se decora a
razão quando se mete na
pintura alguma
monstruosidade (para a
Fig. 7 - Dome of the Maggi Chapel (Capela dos Reis Magos), c. 1574, Monastery of São Marcos, Coimbra. ©
Gabriel Pereira
variação e relaxamento dos sentidos e cuidado
dos olhos mortais)”, Holanda, ed. Alves, 1984:
58). Nonetheless, the fictive work (falsa obra),
which is not natural since it doesn’t simply rely
on the faithful and direct observation of nature,
has to obey the principle of conformity or
adequacy to its own place.
And it is perhaps precisely at the Monastery of
São Marcos that we will find one of the most
extraordinary expressions of grotesqueness in the
oeuvre of João de Ruão. The tomb of João da Silva
(c. 1555-1559) announces a progressive absorption
of another kind of grotesque ornament of Dutch
influence, which blooms at the Maggi Chapel
(Capela dos Reis Magos, c. 1570-1574). Here, the
candelieri still mark the rhythm of all vertical
Such a principle may be found, for instance, at
the tomb of D. Luís da Silveira at the church of
Góis (1531), where the celebration of the
147
frames and mouldings, but they are now
accompanied by expressive and grotesque
mascheroni which take the stage over corbels and
strapwork cartouches [Fig. 7]. Through the
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widespread prints of artists such as Cornelis Bos
1530 (British Museum, London), the masks
(c. 1508-1555), Cornelis Floris de Vriendt
become bodies: they are lively and almost lifelike,
(1514-1575), Frans Huys (c. 1522-1562) and Hans
and thus highly unsettling for their jocose,
Vredeman de Vries (1527-1609), a new
spectral, and strangely hybrid faces, which seem
generation of grotesque ornaments would appear
to surface the paper just to tease and disturb the
in the repertoire of renaissance artists, and the
observer. Their divergent strabismus and their
works of João de Ruão were naturally permeable
to this new trend. In fact, if the mid-century
blank stares, their scathing grimaces and their
spasmodic expressions are settled within the
human figures trapped in strapwork structures
leonine faces and the cartilaginous, pending
which decorate the pillasters of João da Silva’s
excrescences from the ornement auriculaire so
tomb resonate the inventions of Cornelis Bos, by
typical of the grotesque ornament north of the
1570s, the elaborate cartouches, and the
Alps. And it works so efficiently because the
auricular, frowning, and screaming masks, closer
human reference is ever so present. By becoming
to the work of de Vries and Huys, seem to make
a mask, just like the ones at the Medici’s Chapel,
clear the full digestion of this new grottesche.
or being part of one of the frenzied compositions
of Cornelis Floris, these grotesques become more
artefactual, artificial, and unreal.
The novelty of such interesting approaches to
human facial expression is, however, far from
literal. In fact, the research of the grotesque, the
At the monastery of S. Marcos, the sculptural
caricature, and the composite has long since
decoration of the Maggi Chapel makes the
been one of the (pre)occupations of Renaissance
functional beauty of this grotesque very clear.
artists. Leonardo da Vinci, for instance, is known
Besides the suspended candelieri and the
for his studies of grotesque faces, which are
strapwork cartouches and frames, the masks
somewhere between the raw portraiture and the
carved at each one of the great dome’s twelve
extreme distortion, and thus, between the
corbels display a gallery of different grotesque
anthropological research of the bizarre and the
faces which range from animal to monster and
sharp, reactive experience of the grotesque
caricature. At the margin of the ideals of beauty
human(oid). Facing the observer, as one tilts the
head back to gaze at the intricately carved dome,
and proportion, these visi monstruosi may also be
modelled by the light that flows from the central
found in Michelangelo’s drawings and finished
lantern, these faces are not welcoming nor
works. If the sculpture – such as the mascheroni
friendly, just as they are not exactly fiendish or
decorating the armor of Giuliano de Medici, and
aggressive [Fig. 8]. Placed beyond the borders of
other sculptural details in the Medici Chapel –,
any dualist symbolism (good or bad, beautiful or
seem necessarily influenced by the conventional
ugly, protective or menacing) these are plastic
symmetry of Flemish grotesques, natural
experiments on humanity itself: foolish,
inhabitants of the cartouche, the ferronerie and the
exasperated, testy and ludicrous; with crooked
rollwerk, the sketches have yet another humanity,
and thus another restlessness about them. In the
teeth or even toothless; with bulky or hooked
noses and wrinkled and saggy faces; with
Studies of Grotesque Heads from 1524-1525
strangely shaped, protruding ears, leafy or
(Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt), and circa
hirsute hair, and fanciful headgear. Impossible to
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properly define or name, they are as resistant to
interpretation. Nevertheless, they are long-lasting
figural expressions which may find their ancestry
in classical grotesque acroteria or antefixes, as
well as in medieval corbels, gargoyles and
misericords. And it is perhaps just here, at the
very fertile ground of carved choirstalls, that they
will leave their closest offspring, within the
baroque grotesque masks abundantly carved in
Portuguese misericords.
Even if a systematic study of the grottesche (in all
its metamorphosis) in the work of João de Ruão
is still necessary, with a logical comparative
approach and a thorough survey of visual sources
and parallels, within and outside the Portuguese
territory, examples such as the ones briefly
mentioned above point firmly towards an
understanding of grotesqueness as an
ornamental resource, as well as a means of
artistic affirmation. Properly set within the limits
of the margin, at the frames, corbels, capitals, as
well as in carved bosses, they are also sign of a
restless search for aggiornamento, framed by a
workshop continually capable of meeting this
purpose in the long run of an artistic challenging
century.
The man in the Devil
Saint Michael fighting the Devil, Monastery of
Santa Clara-a-Velha (MNMC), 1537
Beyond the rapture eventually provoked by the
prodigious composite figures sprouting from the
artist’s imagination, there was another, perhaps
Fig. 8 - Grotesque masks, or mascheroni from the corbels of the Maggi
Chapel’s dome, c. 1574, Monastery of São Marcos, Coimbra © Gabriel Pereira
149
less pleasant genre of invention: one expressed
through strangeness, alterity, ugliness and
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wickedness. Meandering through these concepts,
while still drawing on formal strategies of
hybridity and monstrosity, was the portrait of the
devil which, during the 16th century, was
progressively built at the image of man himself
(Arasse, 2009), though never too far from the
beastly composite creature evolved during
previous centuries.
From the many instances where demonic
creatures make their appearance in medieval and
renaissance art, the fight between the archangel
Saint Michael and Satan is one of the most
interesting and intense. At a point of no return,
the devil knows that he is irremediably defeated,
but still struggles to free himself from under the
feet of the archangel, howling and grimacing, his
face contorted, and his elastic, repulsive body
completely tense, while he grabs his opponent’s
Fig. 9 - Saint Michael Altarpiece, 1537, from the Monastery of Santa Clara-aVelha (Coimbra), Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro © Joana Antunes
spear, or pulls furiously the scale where the souls
are about to be weighted. Whereas the painting
of the period tends to display this ultimate fight
in an aerial background, with both figures
floating in the sky, sculpture usually suggests an
earthy setting, following the appeal (and the
restraints) of its material mass and heaviness.
João de Ruão has addressed this theme various
times (at the altarpieces of Saint Michael, from
Santa Clara-a-Velha, 1537; Saint Mark, from the
church of S. Salvador, c. 1545; from the altarpiece
at the chapel of Vales, in the church of Santa Iria,
Tomar, ca. 1536; and again at the Maggi Chapel,
ca. 1574). In all these cases, he clearly defines the
space of this ultimate fight between good and evil
– which is also a fight between beauty and
ugliness, humanity and inhumanity. Pinned
down to the ground by the surprising weight of
the gracious figure of the archangel, these devils
are all the more horrifying because they are so
reactive and combative.
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Fig. 10 - Saint Michael slaying the Devil, from Saint Mark Altarpiece, ca. 1545,
Church of São Salvador, Coimbra © Gabriel Pereira
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Particularly expressive, the images created for
monstrous, beast-like demon of previous
Santa Clara and São Salvador are probably
centuries anymore, yet it is not the fully
separated by fifteen years. The first one, now kept
humanized version attributed by Daniel Arasse
in the National Museum of Machado de Castro
to renaissance humanism still (Arasse, 2009:
[Fig. 9] was, without any doubt, more carefully
71-94). Certainly composite, it sums up in a man-
planned and executed, as to render the contrast
like body, scaled to the dimension of its angelic
with the figure of the archangel all the more
striking and the effect on the observer all the
opponent, the many ingredients of a repulsive
creature: his body is fully covered in a wavy fur
more unsettling. The difference may lie, in part,
that, with its twists and twirls, resembling the
in the fact that this Saint Michael is a protagonist
crackling incandescence of hellish fires. His
on its own, while the one at São Salvador is a
hands and feet are reptilian, dragon-like, with
devotional and iconographical complement to an
knotty fingers ending in the sharpest black claws,
altarpiece dedicated to Saint Mark [Fig. 10].
matching his serpentine tail and wide,
Perhaps this helps to explain why the later
membranous wings. Finally, his head is a
follows the conventional formula of the devil
manifesto of artistic skill through the mastery of
grabbing the scale held by Saint Michael,
the most efficient formulas of ugliness.
menacing to claim one more soul for the fire of
hell, while the first one insidiously and
abhorrently touches the body of the archangel,
in a desperate attempt to grab his legs and thus
fight the pressure of his right feet, which is
about to force the devil’s chest onto the ground
and finally strike it with his (now lost) sword.
The pose of the archangel is naturally
triumphant and effortless, and while his
magnificent wings and floating cape endow
him with the presence of a portent, his juvenile
looks, lean body, and delicate face betray any
sort of terribilità [Fig. 11]. He is, on the contrary,
a courtly, luxurious figure: bejeweled,
Fig. 11 - Detail of Saint Michael Altarpiece, 1537, from the Monastery of Santa Clara-aVelha (Coimbra), Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro © Joana Antunes
embroidered, polished and shiny. Definitely
made to look as alive and as convincingly real
as possible, his clothes are bordered with real
crocheted rims and his spear and scale (now
gone) were originally removable, probably
made out of wood and metal, just like they
would in real life. Tempered with the
supernatural quality of an ideal beauty, this
immediacy is then again brutally imposed on
the observer by the tactile, fiery and furious
figure of the devil [Fig. 12]. This is not the
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Fig. 12 - Detail of Saint Michael Altarpiece, 1537, from the Monastery of Santa Clara-aVelha (Coimbra), Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro © Gabriel Pereira
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The deep grooves and sharp volumes of his
rugged ram-like horns, his exaggerated eyebrows
and cheekbones and his widely open mouth
create a dramatic chiaroscuro effect that should
be amplified by the original polychromy [Fig.
13a]. The same wavy fur that coats his body,
covers his face entirely, rendering it restless and
accentuating its expression, while two pairs of
sharp tusks projecting upwards and downwards
his open mouth stress his predator and savage
nature. The models of such an expression and
complexion are not far from reach, as we find, for
instance, on the same museum room, a similar
approach on another sculpture of Saint Michael,
this one attributed to Gil Eanes and
approximately dated from 1425-1450 (MNMC,
from the church of Saint Michel in the castle of
Montemor-o-velho) [Fig. 13b]. As we do find it on
other media, such as embroidered textiles, like
Fig. 13 [a] - The devil’s face: Saint Michael Altarpiece, 1537, from the Monastery
of Santa Clara-a-Velha (Coimbra), Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro ©
Gabriel Pereira
the chasuble kept at the Museu Nacional de Arte
Antiga (532 Tec, MNAA) . Indeed, this is not an
uncommon type to international painting also –
particularly Italian – as we find similar features,
for instance, at the work of the Crivelli (Carlo
Crivelli, Saint Michael, Four Panels from an
Altarpiece, Ascoli Piceno, ca. 1476, National
Gallery, London; Carlo and Vittore Crivell,
Archangel Michael slaying the Devil, Polyptych of
Monte San Martino, ca. 1477-1480) or the
miniatures of Giovan Pietro Birago (The Sforza
Hours, 3, British Library, Add Ms 34294, fl. 186v).
In any case, the effect achieved by João de Ruão
is far more refined and complex, drawing on a
list of long lasting ingredients of the demonic
portrait, but presenting them in a new way,
which is not far from the formula established by
Leonardo da Vinci for the invention of a fantastic
Fig. 13 [b] - The devil’s face: Saint Michael (attr. to Gil Eanes workshop), from
the Church of Saint Michael (Castle of Montemor-o-Velho), Museu Nacional
de Machado de Castro © Joana Antunes
152
animal (animal finto) (Da Vinci, ed. Amoretti,
1804: 172-173) or the one attributed by Francisco
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de Holanda to Michelangelo. Instead of
marks of sharp blows or smashing directly on the
distorting reality and creating a disproportionate
nose, eyes and mouth. While some of these
monster with no echo at all on the natural world,
marks may be due to a hazardous or precarious
the artist should draw on nature to imitate and
keeping of the sculptures on the long run, others
fuse together different parts of real animals into
are too directed and precise not to be associated
a new creature so plausible in its hybridity that
with iconoclasm. And although we may not be
its biological existence may seem almost
unquestionable. Convincing as it is, João de
able to date these damages, they are nevertheless
an unrelenting evidence of the disturbing power
Ruão’s devil is no less detailed and appealing
of these images, which crystallize a type of
than his archangel Michael. By carefully
grotesqueness and monstrosity which is still
scanning his face and body, one finds surprising
effective today.
additions which aim at rending him scarier,
stranger and more repulsive altogether: these are,
for instance, the beastly faces that appear in the
place of his knees (a typical ingredient of the
composite, proteiform demon of the 15th
century); the long, black moustache which, by the
1530s is not yet fashionable and will remain
associated with pagans and Ottoman Muslims
(Harper, 2011: 45) and the lizard which nests on
the top of his head, only clearly visible laterally
and at a short distance.
Wondrous and horrifying at the same time, this
devil, embodiment of all grotesqueness, was
made – and this is, perhaps, significant to note –
for female beholders. The gendered gaze, which
is always so hard to grasp, is nevertheless
unavoidable when approaching the ways in
which a work of art may have functioned in its
reception time. In this light, the stark contrast
between the devil’s and the archangel’s face
become all the more remarkable, since they
actually face each other, forcing the observer to
enter the timeless loop of a momentous second
Made for the monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha in
Coimbra, this altarpiece was originally kept at
chapel not yet identified, and later transferred to
a place of its own, the Chapel of Saint Michael
placed at the high choir, built as a last attempt to
avoid the damage of constant flooding of the
river Mondego (Gonçalves, 2006: 790). The
secluded nature of its successive settings, along
with the richness of details in this altarpiece
makes it plausible to assume that a certain
proximity of observation was predicted and
permitted. And perhaps this helps to explain the
when the gracile and graceful angel gazes into
the devil’s horrid face without showing the
slightest sign of fear. It is almost impossible not
to sense here a specific programming aimed at
the Clarist nuns, so clearly mirrored in this
exquisite interpretation of Saint Michael.
Drawing on both old and new iconic and
expressive resources, this devil is thus a powerful
device of persuasion, stimulating negative
responses on the observer and, by these means,
confirming the creative power of the sculptor
himself.
damage inflicted to the devil’s face, repeated once
and again on the monstrous faces carved on his
knees. The defacement of the devil is, indeed, a
typical feature of sculptures of Saint Michael (and
Saint Bartholomew), which frequently present
153
Regarding this specific role of the devil and
grotesque figures, Daniel Arasse has argued in
favor of a definite replacement of the medieval
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composite monster by a rather
humanized embodiment of
evil, as part of the change in
the pictorial paradigm that
characterizes the Renaissance.
As a consequence, the painted
image of the devil should lose
its active role at the
intimidation of the beholder,
acting instead as an artistic
statement of skill and
inventiveness (Arasse, 2009:
80).
Fig. 14 - Detail from the Saint Mark Altarpiece, ca. 1545, Church of São Salvador, Coimbra © Gabriel Pereira
Even though this replacement
was never absolute, it is definitely visible in
Italian (or Italianized) painting and engraving in
The devil in the man
the very first half of the 16th century, only slowly
spread to other geographies during the second
The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew (MNMC)
ca. 1560-1580
half of the century. Sculpture, on the other hand,
seems to have been transversely prone to the
monstrous versions and more resistant to this
change.
In João de Ruão’s oeuvre, the process seems to
begin by the mid-century, with the Saint Michael
of the church of São Salvador displaying a less
“Molto più mostrerebbe il pittore la forza de l’arte
in farlo afflitto, sanguinoso, pieno di sputi,
depelato, piagato, difformato, livido e brutto, di
maniera che non avesse forma d’uomo. Questo
sarebbe l’ingegno, questa la forza e la virtù de
l’arte, questo il decoro, questa la perfezzion de
l’artefice.” (Gilio, 1564: 86)
monstrous, composite, and beastly devil.
Though some elements do remain, such as the
dragon claws, the spiky membranous wings, the
horns and the tail, the general appearance of this
devil is that of a man [Fig. 14]. The thick fur
disappears, such as the beast-faced joints, the
facial hair, the monstrous face and the huge
tusks. It is much more a fallen angel than the
embodiment of chaos and inhumanity previously
tested by painters and sculptors alike.
In the Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, whose
authorship is not known but whose conception
may not have been far from the sphere of João de
Ruão’s workshop [Fig. 15], the baroque (in the
sense of Eugenio d’Ors’) theatricality evoked by
Gilio for painting is clearly being tested. Instead
of the full display of pain, horror and cruelty,
rendered credible and shocking by the complete
mastery of naturalism versus realism, the viewer
is persuaded of both the skill of the sculptor and
the heroic virtue of the saint by a well calculated
balance between tension and quietness, realism
and idealism, verisimilitude and fiction, ugliness
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and beauty, proportionate harmony and
members at one time or help each other in the
grotesqueness.
hard task of flaying one member. The precise
Of course, the model on which the sculptor
draws is not new, as the martyrdom of Saint
Bartholomew received in the medieval period the
fundamental iconographic features and
variations it would keep through the modern age.
With little space for euphemism, unlike the
“solo” iconography of the saint, the depiction of
the Apostle’s flaying at the hands of
Polymius’ (or his brother Astyages) men would
moment of the punishment could also differ
slightly, according to which the impact on the
viewer would have been more or less intense.
Although usually painters and illuminators
presented the flaying of the arms or legs of St.
Bartholomew, sometimes they went a little
further as to present the top half of his body
devoid of any skin: with exception (or not) to his
head.
either consist on presenting the saint lying on a
torture table or standing, tied to a vertical
wooden structure or chained to a wall. Despite
the number of spectators present at the scene,
the gruesome process of skinning the saint alive
would invariably be carried out by (at least) two
men, who could either work on different
Many of these images should be observed in the
context of a narrative – an altarpiece or a book –
which would not only dilute their immediacy and
impact, but also rend their graphic nature
appropriate and purposeful. Nevertheless, there
are some very exceptional (and eloquent)
examples of the individual display of the saint’s
more gruesome version.
After the artistic statement on the knowledge of
man’s true and anatomical nature – which, in
sculpture, seems to plateau with Marco
d’Agrate’s St. Bartholomew (Milano, 1562) –, the
pathetic potential of the apostle’s death becomes
increasingly dependent on a tense insinuation of
the torture (always about to happen) rather than
on the depiction of the flaying itself. Painting, in
particular, will rely on the chiaroscuro, with
dramatic diagonals and abrupt gestures to
precipitate the viewer into another type of
suffering, perhaps more psychological than
before, relying on anguish and despair rather
than physical pain. The saint loses his tranquility,
physical detachment, and heroism: now he
suffers. And he not only suffers in pain as his
skin is stripped of his muscles, as he suffers in
Fig. 15 - Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, ca. 1560-1580, unknown
provenance, Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro © Gabriel Pereira
155
the anticipation of the pain, and he struggles to
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escape. He is, thus, scaled down at a human
should not be subtler. Even if we ignore its
dimension. The process behind these slow and
provenance and its original setting, this group
progressive – and never irreversible – changes is
sculpture’s dimension is set to impress. As are
particularly interesting: instead of reacting to the
the many details that build up the tension of
crude exhibition of a suffering body, the observer
observing the defenseless (though dignified)
now identifies with the humanity of a specific
figure of the saint being tortured by two men.
character.
Drawing on a formula of contrasts, very close to
the Petrarchian struggle between opposites,
ugliness and disfigurement coexist with the
In sculpture, the normalized depiction of the
beauty of resilience, acceptance, and retrain, all
Apostle, simply holding the instrument of his
mediated by the power of art. The image of the
martyrdom and/or the chained devil, will be the
saint, whose absolute (and in that sense
most common in the long term. Nevertheless,
somewhat artificial) detachment from the scene
graphic displays of the flayed saint, just like the
is only betrayed by the subtle signs of tension on
lively polychromed wooden image of Saint
his face, with slightly raised eyebrows and lips
Bartholomew from the Chapelle Saint-Jean de
ajar, is grasped in the moment it becomes ugly,
Séglien (Morbihan), or the depiction of his
with the skin wide open and the flesh exposed.
And yet he is still (in theory) a role model for the
flaying, just like the one attributed to João de
Ruão, are rare for the 16th century, and will
devout Christian, who learns the purifying effects
progressively lead to heroicized portraits of the
of suffering and pain when humbly accepted and
Saint with two skins – his martyred skin he holds
patiently experienced (Klemettilä, 2006: 33).
on his arm, and his glorious skin, covering his
intact body – like the one presented by
Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel.
Nevertheless, it is the grotesque ugliness of the
tormentors’ physical portrait that is intended to
unsettle the observer. While exuberantly dressed,
From whatever period it may belong to, more or
they are both somewhat disheveled and slovenly.
less attuned with anatomical correction or with a
One of them is presented standing, flaying the
back of the saint: one hand holding the knife
naturalist view of the human body, the depiction
of the flaying of St. Bartholomew is always a
close to his right arm, and the other pulling apart
terrible, nerve wrecking, shuddering thing to see.
the skin to the level of the left shoulder. The
The elasticity of the skin being pulled from the
imposing figure of this tormentor, who is even
body or heavily pending from it, along with the
taller than saint Bartholomew, is a disturbing
gleaming viscosity of the bloody tissues and the
one: committed and focused on his task, he
vibrantly red muscles, are brutally imposed over
slightly sticks his tongue out, pressing it between
the observer’s body before anything else. Before
his teeth, while making the effort of pulling a
any empathy with the saint or contempt for the
man’s skin off. [Fig. 16] The choice of this
torturers. Before any rational approach to
specific trait, instead of pressing or biting the
lips, is rather revealing of a physical portrait that
narrative or composition. In a painted sculpture,
such as the one kept at the Museu Nacional de
Machado de Castro, the effect on the observer
156
goes beyond the natural expression of one’s face
while making a physical effort that requires
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Joana Antunes
concentration and purpose. Indeed, the open
contemporary images of mercenary soldiers but
mouth, pointy nose, tousled hair and beard, and
also of proper executioners, men whose
even the detail of the left ear, folding under the
profession was to carry out legal sentences of
weight of the hat, are all ingredients of a wicked
capital punishment. If the public torture and
ugliness that is in stark contrast with the much
execution of a convict was a socio-normative
more peaceful, even traits of the saint’s face.
spectacle, requiring from the executioner a
respectful look (not necessarily the black robed
and hooded creepy figure from neo-medieval
At the ground level, and strategically positioned
reenactments), it was also a physically
as to conceal the otherwise exposed genitals of
demanding task, which required some practical
the martyr, the other
tormentor’s repulsive traits are
yet intensified through his
crooked body, whose energy is
all directed towards the flaying
of the saint’s leg, and his
grotesque face, with a huge
nose, protruding eyes staring at
the void, and his wide-open
mouth showing his teeth in an
overall inebriated expression of
pleasure in torture. Contrarily
to the well-crafted João de
Ruão’s mascheroni – of which it
is not really far – this face is
not ambiguous or morally
Fig. 16 - Detail from the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, ca. 1560-1580, unknown provenance, Museu
Nacional de Machado de Castro © Gabriel Pereira
indecipherable. It is, instead,
the very human face of the mindless wickedness
of someone who simply follows given orders but
solutions to ease the movements and spare
nevertheless takes pleasure in the torture of
109-164). And that is exactly what João de Ruão
another man.
portrays in the tormentors of Saint Bartholomew,
clothes from blood and dirt (Klemettilä, 2006:
whose sleeves are rolled up to the elbow or even
tied in a knot at the level of the shoulder, leaving
also to the executioner’s outfit. The slashed
the full length of the arm exposed, with their
nether hose (or stockings) sagging from the
clothes, although fashionable throughout the 16th
garters down, leaving the knees bare and free to
century for both men and women, have a
move. But, to these seemingly practical details,
military origin (Springer, 2010: 77) which makes
which are a specific and much debated trait of
them particularly appropriate for these figures of
strength. The wicked tormentors of Saint
the executioners’ iconography (Melinkoff, 1993,
Bartholomew would probably resonate
details intended to point to their low social status,
But the play between real and symbolic extends
157
I: 204-208), one must add some derogatory
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Joana Antunes
untidiness and marginality. Such a detail may be
monastery (MNMC, 1540s), and the tormentors
found at the shabby shoe and peeping toes of the
of Saint John the Evangelist in the altarpiece of
kneeling tormentor who skins the leg of Saint
Saints John and Martin (Monastery of Santa
Bartholomew, with a very close parallel, for
Maria de Celas, 1542) compose a gallery of
instance, in one of the soldiers depicted by Pietro
marginal, and often overlooked characters whose
di Galeotto in the Flagellation of Christ of the
variety and specificities deserve further attention
Oratorio di San Francesco (Perugia, 1480).
[Fig. 17]. Some of them are vigorous, athletic and
exuberant figures, just like the famous
Landsknechte in puffed and slashed clothes,
Ugliness and grotesqueness were, indeed, part of
while others are poor, ragged and old men. Some
the iconographic code for executioners,
are overtly sadistic, while others are industrious
tormentors or hangmen throughout the Middle
fulfillers of their duty. All of them embody,
Ages, with a vast array of features
frequently used by artists to stress the
marginality and wickedness of these
men, so strikingly opposite to the
beatitude and righteousness of the
holy individuals they torment. With
big noses and mouths, sometimes
toothless and sadistically grinning,
bizarrely dressed in colorful, parted or
stripe clothes, sometimes ragged and
shabby, sometimes dark-skinned, they
had a very own visual identity, which
naturally transitioned to the modern
age within contemporary formulas of
representation (Klemettilä, 2006:
Fig. 17 [a] - Tormentors from João de Ruão’s altarpieces: The Flagellation of Christ, detail of the
predella with the Passion of Christ, ca. 1540s, from the Monastery of Santa Maria de Celas, Museu
Nacional de Machado de Castro © Gabriel Pereira
165-214). João de Ruão’s oeuvre
generally demonstrates that these
formulas tend to the humanization of
those characters, who are less and
less caricature-like and demonic, and
increasingly encompassing of the
many shades and hues of human
nature and behavior. The headsman
that beheads Saint John the Baptist in
the predella of the Baptism of Christ
from the Monastery of Santa Maria de
Celas (MNMC, E 132, ca. 1540), the
soldiers that flog Christ at the column
in another predella from the same
158
Fig. 17 [b] - Tormentors from João de Ruão’s altarpieces: The Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist,
detail of the predella of the Baptism of Christ altarpiece ca. 1540, from the Monastery of Santa Maria
de Celas, Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro © Gabriel Pereira
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Joana Antunes
Fig. 17 [c] - Tormentors from João de Ruão’s altarpieces: The Martyrdom of Saint John the Evangelist, altarpiece of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Mark, ca. 1542,
Monastery of Santa Maria de Celas © Maria de Lurdes Craveiro
though, the grotesqueness of human cruelty and
and moral) of the human face and body in its
lack of empathy in more than one detail of their
most extreme distortion, fluctuates then between
conventional portraits. Without them, the
an almost anthropological research on the ugly
approach to the work of a sculptor such as João
and the bizarre, and the anticipation of their
de Ruão rests deprived of an important insight
visual efficacy as something more than rhetorical
into humanism and human nature.
devices. In João de Ruão, as with the most
acclaimed artists of his time, the dissection of the
real serves, then, the fundamental goal of its
(re)composition, as a way of suggesting a new
reality to which only the artist, the imagier or
Final remarks
This permanent commitment with humanity is,
imaginador, may give shape, leading the observer
from pleasure to disgust and back again.
in conclusion – and certainly with everything yet
to be said – one of the most coherent marks of
João de Ruão’s oeuvre, the organic and rather
efficient matter that glues together the centre and
the margins, the devotional and the ornamental,
the ideal beauty and the inventive grotesqueness.
The search of a limes, a border or frontier
between the intelligibility and verisimilitude
(physiognomic and physiological, psychological
159
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Joana Antunes
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