D. Filipa and D. João I as comissioners of the alarpiece

In the fifteen works he includes in his reconstitution, Almada inserts two paintings, basing their presence in the completed altarpiece exclusively for geometric reasons as, for many years, he was unable to precise what they represented.

Only in the 60s decade does he identify these two paintings as representations of D. João I and D. Filipa de Lencastre, as donors of this altarpiece project.

The basis for this theory is the existence of a painting depicting this monarch in the National Museum of Ancient Art, as well as Almada having seen, in 1962, a representation of D. Filipa that, according to the artist, would complement her husband’s portrait. Associating these two sovereigns to the altarpiece reinforces his idea that this work would have been projected for the Founder’s Chapel, as this is where D. João I and D. Filipa de Lencastre are buried.

As regards the portrait of D. João I, of unknown authorship, little is known. It is estimated to be contemporary to most of the other paintings and was incorporated into the Museum’s collection in 1952, having been seen by Joaquim de Vasconcelos at the Picture Gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria in 1877. In Almada’s view, it was a fragment of a larger painting in which D. João would be portrayed on his knees, in devotion.

As to the image of D. Filipa which serves as a reference for what would be the complementary painting to that of D. João I, Almada found it in an engraving seen in the illuminated genealogy of António de Holanda e Simão Bening, in 1962.

These two pieces, which include photographic reproductions and drawings, represent Almada’s proposal regarding what might have been the original paintings.

D. Filipa de Lencastre on the left (ANSA-A-1040)

c. 1962

Graphite and photograph on cardboard (52 x 18 cm)

D. João I on the right (ANSA-A-1040)

c. 1962

Graphite, water-based colours and photograph on cardboard (50 x 16 cm)

Private collection | Photography ©António Coelho

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Almada in the Monastery of Batalha