From sculpture to architecture: Jean de Rouen at the Monastery of Santa Cruz of Coimbra (ca 1528-1535)

Abstract

À sua chegada a Coimbra, por volta de 1528, João de Ruão começou imediatamente a trabalhar para o Mosteiro de Santa Cruz, dos Cónegos Regrantes de Santo Agostinho. A casa passava então por uma reforma espiritual e física ordenada por D. João III, a cargo do jerónimo Frei Brás de Braga. João de Ruão, escultor ou “imaginário”, foi contratado para realizar algumas peças arquitetónicas ornamentais, como arcos e portas, onde aplicou a nova linguagem do Renascimento – como, por exemplo, no arco do coro alto da igreja, enquadrado por uma composição clássica de pilastras e entablamento e por um par de tondi. Simultaneamente, também se tornou responsável por algumas estruturas arquitetónicas contentoras de espaço, casos da pequena capela na ala norte do claustro do Silêncio ou da fonte-tempietto do claustro da Manga. Neste artigo pretendemos analisar a obra de João de Ruão no Mosteiro de Santa Cruz, durante a primeira fase da sua carreira portuguesa, e o âmbito crescente da sua atividade artística, desde a escala da escultura à da arquitetura.

Full text

FROM SCULPTURE TO ARCHITECTURE: JEAN DE ROUEN
AT THE MONASTERY OF SANTA CRUZ OF COIMBRA (Ca 1528-1535)
Rui Lobo
1 2
University of Coimbra | Centre for Social Studies - Department of Architecture
3
Abstract
Upon his arrival in Coimbra, in about 1528, Jean de Rouen immediately started working for the Monastery of Santa
Cruz, of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine. The house was undergoing a spiritual and physical reformation
ordered by John III, with the Hieronymite Friar Brás de Braga in charge. Jean de Rouen, sculptor, or “imagineer”, was
commissioned with some ornamental architectural pieces, such as arches and doorways, where he applied the new
language of the Renaissance – as, for example, the arch of the high choir of the church, framed by a classic
composition of pilasters, entablature and a pair of tondi. Simultaneously, he also became responsible for those
space-containing architectural structures such as a small chapel amongst the Silence cloister, or the Manga cloister
fountain tempietto. In this paper we aim to analyse Jean de Rouen’s work at Santa Cruz, during the first phase of his
Portuguese career, and the growing scope of his artistic activity from the scale of sculpture to that of architecture.
Key-words: Jean de Rouen, Monastery of Santa Cruz, Silence cloister, coffered vaults, Manga fountain
Resumo
À sua chegada a Coimbra, por volta de 1528, João de Ruão começou imediatamente a trabalhar para o Mosteiro de
Santa Cruz, dos Cónegos Regrantes de Santo Agostinho. A casa passava então por uma reforma espiritual e física
ordenada por D. João III, a cargo do jerónimo Frei Brás de Braga. João de Ruão, escultor ou “imaginário”, foi
contratado para realizar algumas peças arquitetónicas ornamentais, como arcos e portas, onde aplicou a nova
linguagem do Renascimento – como, por exemplo, no arco do coro alto da igreja, enquadrado por uma composição
clássica de pilastras e entablamento e por um par de tondi. Simultaneamente, também se tornou responsável por
algumas estruturas arquitetónicas contentoras de espaço, casos da pequena capela na ala norte do claustro do
Silêncio ou da fonte-tempietto do claustro da Manga. Neste artigo pretendemos analisar a obra de João de Ruão no
Mosteiro de Santa Cruz, durante a primeira fase da sua carreira portuguesa, e o âmbito crescente da sua atividade
artística, desde a escala da escultura à da arquitetura.
Palavras-chave: João de Ruão, Mosteiro de Santa Cruz, Claustro do Silêncio, abóbadas de caixotões, Fonte da
Manga
rlobo@uc.pt.
1
We would like to thank the collaboration of Prof. Mauro Costa Couceiro and of Archs. Antonio Monteiro and Miguel Alberto Pedrosa. The revision of
2
English was done by Richard Birkby.
This work was financed by FEDER%-%Fundo%Europeu%de%Desenvolvimento%Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Operacional Programme for
3
Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), and by Portuguese funds through FCT% -% Fundação% para% a% Ciência% e% a% Tecnologia within the
framework of the SANTACRUZ project with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030704 - PTDC/ART-DAQ/30704/2017.
https://doi.org/10.14195/2182-844X_7_6

Rui Lobo
I. The Monastery of Santa Cruz, Coimbra
The Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, of the
Canons Regular of St. Augustine, was the see of
the order in Portugal and one of the main
religious houses in the country. It was founded in
1131 by the archdeacon Telo, the school master
João Peculiar and the future Saint Theotonius
(Gonçalves, 1938: 21, 26) and came under the
direct support of the first King of Portugal,
Afonso Henriques (1109-1143-1185), who made
Coimbra Portugal’s first capital city. Afonso and
his son Sancho I are both entombed in the
church. The monastery was set outside the city
walls, to the North, over an old water course that
flowed from the Santa Cruz valley to the nearby
Mondego. It had its own circuit of walls and it has
been suggested that the former Romanesque
church, finished around 1150, had a pillared
narthex before the nave (Gonçalves, 1942; Real,
1974: II, 212; Rossa, 2001: 349; Alarcão, 2008:
154-167; and 2013: 27-31).
Santa Cruz was extensively reformed in its
architecture during the first years of the 16th
century. In 1502, King Manuel (1469-1495-1521)
passed through Coimbra on a journey to
Santiago de Compostela and was able to observe
the poor state of the monastic building, by then
already three hundred years old. However, the
decision to intervene in the monastery only
occurred when Pope Julius II attempted to
nominate his nephew Gallioto Franciotto Della
Rovere as the new prior, to succeed the deceased
João de Noronha (1505), in order for him to
receive the monastery’s extensive incomes. King
Manuel warned the Pope not to expect any
money since it was needed for the total
reconstruction of the religious house. With this
show of resistance, the kings of Portugal
eventually obtained the right to appoint the new
priors, as the Pope gave up on the idea of
diverting the wealthy revenues to one of his own
family (Dias, 1982: 105-106).
Hence, during the priorship of Pedro Gavião
(1507-1516), a new church was erected over the
original one, in the late-Gothic Manueline style,
under the direction of master Jacques Boytac, a
chief architect of French origin who was also
conducting the works at the Jerónimos monastery
in Lisbon. Boytac was responsible for
dismounting the Romanesque church, for
restructuring the façade (in order to top the two
lateral towers with octagonal pyramids, Fig.1a)
and for erecting and vaulting the new nave (Fig.
1b) and chancel.
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Fig. 1 [a; b; c] - The Manueline works at the Monastery of Santa Cruz: church
(Jacques Boytac: 1507-14) and cloister (Marcos Pires, 1517-21). Photos by the
author.

Rui Lobo
A second phase, under local master Marcos Pires
(between 1517 and 1522), saw the building of the
late-Gothic Silence cloister (Fig.1c), which also
replaced a former Romanesque structure
(Correia and Gonçalves, 1947: 41; Dias, 1982:
136-138).
Inside the nave of the church, elaborate new
ornamental structures were executed for the
royal tombs, between 1518 and 1522 (Gonçalves,
1975; Craveiro, 2002: 63). These new structures
were not originally placed inside the chancel
(where they can be seen today) but rather against
each lateral wall of the nave, just before the main
chapel. They were probably designed by João de
Castilho, master and architect of Spanish origin
(who was in charge of the Jerónimos monastery in
Lisbon, having succeeded Boytac) and executed
by his half-brother Diogo de Castilho (Fig.2a),
who had settled in Coimbra (Dias, 1982: 141-144).
The resemblance of these structures to the south
portal of the Jerónimos church is suggestive.
Finally, master builder Diogo de Castilho was
responsible for the church’s main portal,
executed between 1523 and 1525, in the soft white
limestone of Ançã (Dias, 1982: 148-149).
It was also in this timeline that another
important character came onto the scene, the
French sculptor Nicholas Chanterene, who
played a pivotal role in introducing Coimbra to
the Renaissance. He executed the church’s pulpit
(before 1521, Fig.2b), the recumbent royal figures
for the tombs and also four Renaissance reliefs
for the new cloister, representing stages of the
“Passion of Christ” (Fig.2c), directly inspired by
engravings by Albrecht Dürer and Martin
Schongauer (Moreira, 1991: 314; Gonçalves,
2007: 182; Craveiro, 2011a: 131). During his stay
in Coimbra, Chanterene, who had also worked at
the Jerónimos monastery in Lisbon, completed
the magnificent altarpiece for the Hieronymite
monastic church of São Marcos, in the city
outskirts, in 1523. Here, directly above the central
scene of Christ’s descent from the cross, we can
observe what Rafael Moreira called the “The first
coffered barrel vault of Portuguese Art” (Moreira,
1991: 276).
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Fig. 2 - Architectural and sculptural elements at Santa Cruz: [2a] tomb of King Sancho I (church chancel, attributed to João and Diogo de Castilho, 1518-22), [2b] pulpit
(church nave, Nicholas Chanterene) and [2c] relief of “Christ carrying the cross” (cloister, Nicholas Chanterene, cª.1522). Photos by the author.

Rui Lobo
At Santa Cruz, the new church altarpiece
(commissioned in 1522) included a set of
paintings by Cristóvão de Figueiredo, also
embedded in the new aesthetic of the
Renaissance. The altarpiece no longer exists but
some of the paintings still survive today
(Craveiro, 2011a: 30-32).
In 1527, the new King John III (D. João III,
1502-1521-1557) stayed for six months in Coimbra
in order to avoid Lisbon, which had been affected
by the plague. Regarding Santa Cruz, the King
decided to apply the generous monastic revenues
to yet another architectural transformation of the
house. This would go along with a decisive
spiritual reformation of the Canons Regular,
imposing order and discipline (until then
somewhat relaxed) on the brothers. The decision
went hand in hand with the reformation of other
main religious houses in Portugal, part of a
general policy of moralization of the regular
clergy, an initial widespread reaction against
Protestantism (Silva Dias, 1960: 93).
To put his plan into action, the monarch
designated the Hieronymite Friar Brás de Braga
(also known as Friar Brás de Barros, ca1500-1561),
who had studied Philosophy in Paris and
Theology in Leuven, as the new Prior in charge.
Friar Brás entered the house on 13th October 1527
(Silva Dias, 1960: 107). An enlarged monastic
environment would compensate for the new and
more rigorous way of life, where enclosure would
become strict, as a set of new Constitutions was
put forward (Silva Dias, 1960: 111).
In this sense, a new cloister – the Porter’s cloister
– was planned as a western extension, alongside
the church of Santa Cruz, in place of the former
female monastery of São João das Donas, which
was closed down . A third cloister was planned in
4
the other direction, towards the east, as we will
see. An extensive new dormitory of individual
cells, a new refectory and a new library were also
planned, as well as a new parish church of St.
John, to the south of the monastic church.
II. Jean de Rouen’s first years in Portugal
Even today, we still do not know the exact
succession of events which brought Jean de
Rouen from his native France to central Portugal.
His training background remains also
undocumented, although almost all studies on
his life and work agree that he came from Rouen,
Normandy, and from the local Renaissance
milieu shaped in the early 16th century by
Cardinal Georges d’Amboise (Gonçalves, 1981).
His route through Spain, in his way to Portugal,
also remains unclear.
The first document where his name appears puts
him in Coimbra on 4th April 1530 (Garcia, 1913:
1-4) . However, he almost certainly arrived a
5
couple of years earlier, for by this date he was
already married to Isabel Pires and was
designated as “a friend and server” of the
Monastery of Santa Cruz. He was given a plot of
land within the city walls to build a couple of
It was dissolved in mid-1529 (Dias, 1982: 160).
4
Contract for the assignment of a plot belonging to the Monastery of Santa Cruz near Porta%Nova, to Jean de Rouen and his wife in order for them to
5
build a pair of houses.
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Rui Lobo
houses, as a reward for his “many and good
works” for the brothers. It was António Nogueira
Gonçalves in 1974 (following a hint by Vergílio
Correia) who tracked down Jean de Rouen’s
“hand” in a group of works commissioned by
Jorge de Menezes (1490-1536), 5th Count of
Cantanhede (Gonçalves, 1974). The first of them
may be seen in his domain of Tancos, in central
Portugal, near the Tagus river. There, Rouen
most likely designed the main portal of the
church of the village of Atalaia, ca 1528 (Fig.3),
leaving his personal mark and proving, from the
very first, his mastery of the Classical manner.
The portal consists of a typical composition of a
Roman arch, flanked by a pair of tondi showing
the heads of human figures, and framed by a
couple of pilasters supporting a Classical
entablature.
Another work attributed to Rouen is the
simple mortuary chapel of Varziela, which
he most probably designed for the Count in
his main domains of Cantanhede, only 30
km northwest of Coimbra. Here the main
feature is the magnificent altarpiece of Our
Lady of the Mantle that shows the skill of the
artist in the first phase of his Portuguese
career. It is probable that by this time,
around 1528 or 1529, he had already started
working at the Monastery of Santa Cruz, as
we have seen.
While starting work at Santa Cruz, Jean de
Rouen continued to receive orders to work
outside the monastery and outside Coimbra.
Circa 1529 he was commissioned by Luís da
Silveira, Lord of Góis and Sortelha, former
ambassador of King Manuel to the Emperor
Charles V, to execute an entombment lateral
arch on the chancel of the church of Góis, a little
town 50 km to the east of Coimbra. The chancel’s
late-gothic vault was being built by another man
from Santa Cruz, Diogo de Castilho (Correia,
1921: 11). Work was finished in 1531. Both
Castilho and Rouen would repeat their
partnership in executing the Lemos pantheon,
for Diogo de Lemos, cousin of Luís da Silveira, in
the Church of Trofa do Vouga (50 km to the
north of Coimbra) completed in 1534. Castilho
executed the late-Gothic rib vault and Jean de
Rouen designed the Renaissance pairs of
entombment arches, at each side of the main
chapel. In both tombs, Góis and Trofa do Vouga,
the kneeling effigies of the nobles have been
attributed to Jean de Rouen (Borges, 2004:
43-44) or even to another character connected
with Santa Cruz, the French figure sculptor
Hodart (Gonçalves, 1974: 14-17).
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Fig. 3 - The portal of the church of Atalaia (attributed to Jean de Rouen, 1528). Photo by
the author.

Rui Lobo
III. The first works of Jean de Rouen at Santa
Cruz: 1528-1535
At Santa Cruz the shape of the new monastic
building was being prepared. After his first years
as the monarch, John III decided to do away with
the Manueline late Gothic style of his fathers’
reign, taking interest in the new formulae of the
Renaissance. However, by 1527, the main
Renaissance artist that had been working at
Santa Cruz was leaving – Nicholas Chanterene
was commissioned to go to Sintra, near Lisbon,
to work for the Hieronymite Convent of Pena,
where he designed yet another remarkable
altarpiece which can still be seen today. In the
meantime, he had travelled to Zaragoza (in
1527-1528) to personally overview the acquisition
of alabaster for this new masterpiece (Grilo,
2000: 727-801). The absence of Chanterene
means, we must assume as a strong possibility,
that Jean de Rouen was summoned to Coimbra
to serve as a competent substitute for his French
forerunner. As we have said, no documents
survive to this day relating to Jean de Rouen’s
coming to Coimbra, or to his former career and
training in France, presumably in Normandy.
111.1. Archways at the church of Santa Cruz
One of Jean de Rouen’s first attributed tasks at
the Monastery of Santa Cruz (Dias, 1982: 170)
was to collaborate in the refurbishment of the
monastic church, which was undergoing yet
another major transformation, just a few years
after it had been totally reconstructed by Boytac,
as we have seen. This new modification
comprised the erection of a new high choir over
the entrance, the vault of which was executed by
Diogo de Castilho, again using the Gothic
structural system. The chancel stalls, made by
Olivier de Gand during King Manuel’s
reformation (Antunes, et al., 2014), were
transferred to this new high choir by François
Loiret (or Francisco Lorete) another French artist
working in Coimbra, who also added a new set of
stalls to the older ones.
Jean de Rouen has been credited with executing
the slender Roman arch that separates the high
choir from the nave (Dias, 1982: 170), with no
less than 33 coffers, the age of Christ’s sacrifice
(Fig.4a). On each side of the arch, Classical tondi
with human figures appear, while Corinthian
pilasters support the architrave and cornice, over
which the high choir’s balustrade stands. The
high choir and arch were ready by 1531 (Dias,
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Fig. 4 [a; b; c] - The high choir of the church of Santa Cruz, 1531 (vault by Diogo de
Castilho, arch and supports by Jean de Rouen). Photos by the author.

Rui Lobo
1982: 165). Jean de Rouen should also be credited
with the decoration of the vault’s structural
supports (Dias, 1982: 170), including the
amalgamation of Renaissance pillars and
columns (which support both the high choir
vault and arch) in the hinge between the church’s
sub-choir and the nave (Fig.4b) and the high
choir’s angular vault supports, on the inside of
the church’s façade (Fig.4c). It is interesting to
note the resemblance of some of the motifs,
namely the banister-columns, with those of the
Medidas del Romano, the popular architectural
treatise of Diego de Sagredo (Toledo, May 1526,
the first treatise of ancient architecture published
in vernacular language outside Italy) which may
suggest that Jean de Rouen had brought a copy
with him when he passed through Spain in 1526
or 1527 .
6
The new high choir gave way to the transfer of
the royal tombs and of their imposing decorative
structures, from the end of the nave lateral walls
to the now stall-free chancel. Hence, in the walls
of the nave, Jean de Rouen would have designed
the Roman arches that open to the church’s
lateral chapels, two arches at either side (Dias,
1982: 169). However, the current ones (Fig.5)
seem to be the result of an 18th century
intervention. Apparently (and like in the high
choir) the original arches may have been inserted
into Classical framings with entablatures,
pilasters and human-figured tondi (Teixeira de
Carvalho, 1932: 70).
111.2. The architectural setting for Hodart’s “Last
Supper” in the monastic refectory and the Silence
cloister chapels.
On 5th March 1528 Bartolomeu de Paiva, one of
the King’s councillors, celebrated a contract with
master Diogo de Castilho for the erection of the
new monastic dependencies (Garcia, 1923:
176-189; Dias, 1982: 156-159). New structures
were planned, such as a new refectory, a new
kitchen, a new library, a new infirmary and a new
Porter’s cloister to the west. Unifying these new
facilities, on an added upper level, was to be the
new dormitory, consisting of two perpendicular
wings of individual cells along central corridors.
One of these wings was to be prolonged to the
east, suggesting that a third cloister in that
direction was already under consideration (Lobo,
2006: 42-45).
The book came to be published in French in Paris cª 1537 and in 1539, and had two editions in Lisbon (in Spanish) in 1541 and 1542. See Bustamante
6
and Marías: 1986; COAM, Las% Medidas% del% Romano%de% Diego% de% Sagredo.% Online in:%https://www.coam.org/media/Default%20Files/fundacion/
biblioteca/muestras-fondos/docs/muestra-las-edidas-del-romano.pdf!
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Fig.5 - Lateral chapel arch, church of Santa Cruz. The original nave-flanking
arches (attributed to Jean de Rouen, cª 1531) were apparently substituted by the
current ones in the 18th century. Photo by the author.

Rui Lobo
Works, however, had to start at ground level. The
north wing of the already existent Silence cloister
was rebuilt to accommodate the new refectory. It
substituted the former refectory which had been
placed along the east wing of the same
quadrangle. Diogo de Castilho finished the new
structure in a little more than two years,
executing the majestic late-Gothic vault that
covers its elongated space (Fig.6). For the
refectory, a special feature was commissioned –
a human-size sculptural ensemble of the “Last
Supper” of Christ and the Apostles, in
terracotta, to be placed over the refectory’s top
east wall. It was ordered in 7th October 1530
(Garcia, 1913: 4-5) from yet another French
artist, the enigmatic Hodart Vyrio. He would
finish all the statues by the end of 1533 (Garcia,
1913: 6) .
7
During the late nineteenth century, following
the 1834 suppression of the Religious Orders in
Portugal, part of the monastic north wing was
torn to the ground (in 1888) just east of the
refectory. The “Last Supper” figures were taken
out, carried from place to place, and
significantly damaged in the process. It was
only quite recently that they were partially
recovered and put together, although arms and
legs are still missing, one of the apostles is
headless, and only the head remains of yet
another disciple. They are now on display in a
room dedicated to them at the Machado de
Castro National Museum, in Coimbra (Fig.7).
He received the final payment on 8th January 1534 (Garcia, 1913: 6). In the same period, and as we have mentioned before, Hodart may have worked
7
on the kneeling statues of Luis da Silveira and Diogo de Lemos (for Góis and Trofa) which have been attributed to him. Nevertheless, Nelson Correia
Borges attributes the kneeling figures to Jean de Rouen himself (Borges, 2014: 43-44).
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Fig. 6 - Santa Cruz refectory (1528-1530). Vault by Diogo de Castilho. East end
classical structures attributed to Jean de Rouen. Photo by the author.
Fig. 7 - Six figures of Hodart’s “Last Supper” (1530-33). Machado de Castro National Museum. Photo by António Monteiro.

Rui Lobo
The Last Supper’s original space no longer exists.
The Classical opening to this elevated open room
at the refectory’s east end (which we can almost
certainly attribute to Jean de Rouen) has been
walled, while the opening itself has been partially
destroyed. We think that Jean de Rouen also
designed the two missing pulpits on either side
of the “Last Supper”, and the corresponding
canopies, which, since the destruction of the
pulpits, have been left hanging on the upper part
of the wall. He also likely designed the arched
doorways that gave access to the pulpits under
each of them. The refectory, today a Municipal
exhibition hall, had six tables on each side along
the lateral walls. According to the description by
Francisco de Mendanha, from 1540 , a thirteenth
8
table was placed in front of the elevated “Last
Supper” so that the Prior could sit down with the
sculptural ensemble visible over and behind him
and his fellow table companions (Révah, 1957).
For our Research Project “Santa Cruz” we are
trying to recreate the original disposition of the
figures in the Last Supper. We have also
attempted to reconstitute the complete design of
the scene opening and of the missing pulpits.
For the first of these pieces, we can make a
comparison with the design of other doorways
and archways which we think Jean de Rouen
designed during the same years along the Silence
cloister:
-The refectory’s main door (Fig.8);
-The suspended double archway which opens
to a chapel on the north wing of the cloister,
a chapel covered with a Classical vault (Fig.
9).
The “description and drawing” of the Monastery of Santa Cruz (Descripçam e debuxo do mosteyro de Santa Cruz de Coimbra) was originally written
8
in Italian (Sampayo Ribeiro, 1958: 28-36) by the Prior of the Monastery of St. Vincent of Lisbon for the Cardinal Antonio Pucci in Rome, Protector of
the Canons Regular. It was translated into Portuguese by Friar Veríssimo for a very rare edition, printed at Santa Cruz in 1541. A copy from the
Newberry Library of Chicago was facsimiled by Israel Salvator Révah (Révah, 1957).
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Fig. 8 - Refectory door (attributed to Jean de Rouen, cª.1530). Photo by the
author.
Fig. 9 - Silence cloister north wing chapel, with coffered vault (Jean de Rouen,
cª.1530). Photo by the author.

Rui Lobo
In our opinion, the designer of this last chapel
must be the same one responsible for the “Last
Supper’s” opening (and the totality of the
refectory’s east end, including pulpits, canopies
and archways). The pilaster bases of this chapel’s
frontispiece are exactly the same, with the same
detailing (Fig.10). In 1530, when the opening was
almost certainly made, Jean de Rouen was the
only artist at Santa Cruz which would have been
able to elaborate such a design .
9
Concerning the design of the upper part of
the opening, which is missing, we opted for
a scheme with Corinthian pilasters (instead
of the solution with ancones, that can be
seen both in the refectory’s main door and in
the cloister chapel’s frontispiece) on the
outside of the opening’s central frame,
supporting an entablature similar to that of
the pulpit canopies, with a central
suspended bracket (Fig.11). This option also
gives credit to Jean de Rouen’s extraordinary
inventiveness, since he never repeated the
same integral solution from one design to
the other.
Another important aspect, of course, is the
configuration of the space in which the “Last
Supper” stood, just behind the opening.
Remnants of the end parts of the stone
bench blocks, where the apostles sat, still
exist associated with the pilaster bases. They
are at an angle of 30 degrees relative to the
refectory wall.
This is not the occasion to elaborate on the
disposition of the figures, which we are still
working upon. Nonetheless, we know, through
Francisco de Mendanha´s description, that Judas
(a terracotta figure that has been identified
carrying a small money bag at his waist) would
have been sitting on the far left. Additionally,
Christ (also identified) would be at the centre,
with Saint Peter to his right (left, to the observer)
and St. John (the only beardless figure) to his left
(Révah, 1957).
Perhaps with the sole exception of another French artist, François Loiret (or Francisco Lorete), who did design classical portals in stone later in his
9
career (like in the church of Arronches of 1539-42, although with a different, more canonical style). Nevertheless, at Santa Cruz cª 1530, Loiret was
asked to work in wood and was occupied with refitting and completing the stalls of the new high choir. See, on this subject, Serrão, 2015: 18-24.
Nicholas Chanterene, the other obvious hypothetical author, had already left Coimbra by this time.
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Fig. 11 - The opening for the “Last Supper”, at the refectory’s east end. Current situation
(photo by the author) and conjectural reconstitution of the original design (attributed to
Jean de Rouen, 1530) by the author and António Monteiro.
Fig. 10 - Comparison between pilaster bases: Silence cloister chapel frontispiece and
opening for the “Last Supper”. Photos by the author.

Rui Lobo
Independently of the layout of the long stone
bench where the apostles sat, we think that the
table would have had a rectangular shape. The
compartment where the “Last Supper” was set
would have been about 4.8 metres in depth by
about 4.2 metres wide. This width can be
inferred, since the compartment and respective
walls needed to allow space for the corridors that
gave access to the pulpits’ stairways, to one side
and the other. Inside the “Last Supper”
compartment, there would have been a minimal
space for a person to manoeuvre around the
terracotta figures for the purposes of
maintenance. We know that the figures were
repainted at least once, in 1568 (Cristo, ca 1622:
569).
An important question related to the “Last
Supper” is how the space was covered. Our
hypothesis is that it was covered by a coffered
wooden barrel vault, beneath a stone or brick
barrel vault (at a somewhat higher level) that
would have defined the dormitory floor. We think
this type of solution would have made more
sense than a Gothic rib vault, as the whole east
end of the refectory was designed in the Classical
manner (and also because a Gothic rib vault
would probably have lasted to the present day).
Relating to the coffer design, we considered a
simple grid of square coffers (Fig.12) as in the
vault of the chapel of the Silence cloister, given
the similarities between the pilasters of both
frontispieces (of the “Last Supper” scene and of
the cloister chapel) and the resemblance to the
coffered vault sections of both pulpit canopies
that still exist today. Indeed, our hypothesis is
that it was Jean de Rouen who designed this
conjectural coffered wooden barrel vault over the
“Last Supper”.
Regarding the virtual reconstitution of the
pulpits, and considering no pulpit by Jean de
Rouen still remains today (and also considering
Nicholas Chanterene’s church pulpit at Santa
Cruz to be too elaborate), we put forward a
schematic version (Fig.13) based on the three-
sided pulpits executed by João de Castilho at the
refectory of the Convent of Christ in Tomar,
around 1535. Finally, we can observe how the
frontispiece of another chapel of the Silence
cloister (in the south wing) includes a design of
diamonds and circles along the frontispiece
pilasters and arch, which bears an obvious
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Fig. 12 - Conjectural reconstitution of the wooden coffered vault over the “Last
Supper” (attributed to Jean de Rouen, 1530) by the author and António
Monteiro.
Fig. 13 - Conjectural reconstitution of the refectory’s east end classical
structures (attributed to Jean de Rouen, 1530) by the author and António
Monteiro.

Rui Lobo
resemblance to the
refectory’s arched doorways
that give access to the
pulpits (Fig.14). This allows
us to attribute this chapel to
Jean de Rouen and to a time
around 1530 or even before.
It may be that the Silence
cloister chapels referred to
above, and the refectory’s
main entrance doorway,
were some of the “many and
good works” that Jean de
Rouen had made for the
monastery, according to the
document (mentioned
earlier) of April 1530. In our
opinion, these are, most probably, Jean de
Rouen’s first works at Santa Cruz, since the
church archways were only executed around 1531.
111.3. The new monastic dormitory
The monastic main dormitory would eventually
be built along a sole east-west wing over the new
refectory and kitchen, as a contract of 26th
September 1530 clearly demonstrates (Garcia,
1913: 253-260; Dias, 1982: 161-164). According to
this document, signed between Bartolomeu de
Paiva and carpenter Pero Anes, cells were to be
built along both sides of a central corridor, 128
meters long, which encompassed the renovated
monastery’s three cloisters, including the two
new ones, to the east and west (Lobo, 2006:
50-54; Couto, 2014: 90-112, 135-137). Large
windows were to be placed at each end of the
central corridor. Pairs of these large windows
were also to be placed on each side of three
transverse intervals that crossed the corridor, in
order to give further illumination.
Almost the totality of this dormitory wing (110
metres) was constructed during this campaign
(the west end would only be finished in the mid-
seventeenth century; Santa Maria, 1668: II, 95).
Today, only a short sector survives. The original
corridor was covered by a coffered wooden barrel
vault, which no longer exists but can still be seen
in old photographs (Fig.15). We have reasons to
believe this was the original corridor’s
superstructure, of around 1531 (although the
contract stipulated a different type of wooden
casing, composed of three articulated panels in
each section).
Similar coffered wooden barrel vaults can still be
seen today in the Convent of Christ in Tomar,
another of the main Portuguese religious houses
that underwent spiritual and physical reform,
under John III, during the 1530’s (Moreira, 1991:
476-533). In our view, it is highly improbable that
the wooden vaulting in both Coimbra and Tomar
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Fig. 14 - Comparison between frontispiece of Silence cloister south wing chapel (attributed to Jean de Rouen, cª.1530)
and one of the refectory pulpit’s doorway. Photos by the author.

Rui Lobo
was refurbished in similar fashion in another,
more recent, era. Curiously, the carpenter who
signed the 1530 contract, Pero Anes, was none
other than Jean de Rouen’s father-in-law. Hence,
it is entirely possible that Pero Anes executed the
coffered barrel vault to Jean de Rouen’s design,
an idea we should keep in mind.
111.4. The Manga fountain tempietto
An architectonic piece that art historians have
attributed to Jean de Rouen is the Manga
Fountain tempietto, constructed between 1533 and
1535. The story goes, based on Mendanha,
that this architectural element was designed
upon the king’s sleeve (“manga” in
Portuguese) when he was discussing the
monastery’s transformation with his
collaborators, in situ, in late 1527. Some
trustworthy authors have accepted this
possibility (Sampayo Ribeiro, 1958: 1-19)
although we have argued more recently that
it would have been more likely that what the
king (or someone else) designed on the royal
garment was the general layout of a new
monastic cloister to the east – or, to be
precise, the Manga cloister (Lobo, 2006:
53-54) which would give name to the
tempietto that stood in its centre, a few years
later (Fig. 16).
On 7th September 1533 Friar Brás de Braga
signed a contract with three master masons
to build the water tanks and the four round
turrets of the tempietto (Garcia, 1913: 87-89;
Dias, 1982: 172). We also know that in 1535 a
payment was made to Jean de Rouen (and also
to Jerónimo Afonso) on the execution of the
stone work and the alter pieces for the four turret
cells (Correia, 1930: 110-111; Dias, 1982: 172). No
reference has been found to the execution of the
eight columns, stairs, fountain and cupola of the
tempietto proper, but it has been assumed that
Jean de Rouen was the architect of the piece as a
whole (Kubler, 1972: 9 ; Dias, 1982: 173 ).
10 11
Independently of the architectural design, the
moral author of the composition is to be found in
the reformer Friar Brás de Braga. Susana Matos
“Jean de Rouen may have been the designer”.
10
%“All that remained to say was to whom the project belonged. We believe that it was to Jean de Rouen, although the orientation of Frei Brás de Braga
11
should not be discounted. However, it would not go so far as to outline the plan, elevations, etc…” (our free translation into English).
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Fig. 15 - Dormitory corridor, with coffered wooden barrel vault (possibly by Jean de Rouen
and Pero Anes, cª 1531). Photograph of the beginning of the 20th century - SIPA/DGEMN.

Rui Lobo
Abreu (Abreu, 2009) has demonstrated the
symbolic resemblance of the fountain’s structure
to the precepts of the book by the Flemish
Franciscan mystic Hendrick Herp (c. 1470-1478)
Ein Spieghel der Volcomenheit, or “A Mirror of
Perfection”, written in the 1460’s and which had
a first Latin translation in Cologne, in 1509 .
12
Curiously, as Susana Abreu has pointed out, the
Portuguese translation of Herp’s work was done
by Friar Brás de Braga himself. It was also one of
the first three books to be published at the newly
established Santa Cruz printing house (Herp,
1533), the others being the Memorial de
Confessores, of 1531, and the
new Constitutions of the
Portuguese Order of the
Canons Regular, of 1532
(Abreu, 2009: 36).
The architectural piece was
set in a square precinct – the
cloister itself – and is
composed of one central circle
(the dome over the “fountain
of life”, or Fons Vitae) and
13
four peripheral circles, the
turrets. The square and the
circle, as in neo-Platonic
convention, point to the
earthly and heavenly worlds. The cloister
assumes the role of a terrestrial Eden, in the
tradition of the cloistral Hortus Conclusus (Abreu,
2009: 40). The four water tanks represent the
four rivers of the Genesis, as Francisco de
Mendanha relates in his description (Révah,
1957).
In his book, Herp suggests a method of inner
recollection to reach communion with God (in
the wake of the Devotio Moderna, of the
Bretheren of Common Life), a connection which,
as Susana Matos Abreu points out, relies on a
progression in height. A similar progression is
needed to reach the fountain – which also has a
symbolical link with the blood of Christ (Abreu,
2009: 43) – under the central dome. Hence the
14
monastic ground level is the level of earthly
concerns (of “perfect active life”, according to the
second chapter of Herp’s book), while a
“contemplative and spiritual” level (third chapter)
would be attained through the stairways at the
end of each corridor, beginning at the four
cardinal points. These sets of steps are guarded
by stone dogs and parrots, representing
recurrence of sin and the luxury of “too much
talking”, obstacles which must be avoided to
prepare for higher thoughts and aspirations
(Abreu, 2009: 42). According to Friar Brás de
!"#$%&'()*!#+*),!-()!.-%)!Directorium aureum contemplativorum.
12
Although the fountain, which has a circular base, stands upon an octagonal platform.
13
“In effect, this central tempietto houses and dignifies these pure waters that cleanse of all sin, the source from which the blood of Christ springs,
14
shed in remission from the sins of the world, under the pagan architectural sacredness of the tholos”.
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Fig. 16 - Manga cloister and tempietto (cª.1880) before the demolitions. Photo by José Sartoris (Alexandre Ramires
collection)

Rui Lobo
Braga’s translation of Herp’s book, each step of
the stairway (today six but originally seven)
represents the gifts of the Holy Ghost , which
15
have to be attained in order to access the spiritual
level represented by the fountain, under the
dome of sanctity (Abreu, 2009: 41).
Finally, the four circular turrets, set to the
diagonals, functioned as
hermit’s cells, designed
as pieces of military
architecture – like the
French donjons of the
time, implanted over
water (Abreu, 2009: 45) –
as true fortresses of the
spirit. Access was
originally through
wooden drawbridges (not
extant) that the brothers
could pull up towards
themselves, shutting the
door to the cells and
keeping themselves in
isolation. The turrets have
no windows, only elevated slots for light to enter.
Inside them Jean de Rouen executed a series of
retables (one for each turret) evoking saints who
were examples of solitary life . Hence, as the
16
brothers were in mystical contemplation (to
reach the “over-essential and contemplative life”,
the fourth and final chapter of Herp’s book), the
only bond that was established outside was with
God himself, symbolized by the flying buttresses
that connect the small domes of the turrets with
the central celestial dome of the fountain.
Therefore, the Manga fountain and tempietto
stands as a permanent reminder of moral
obligation and ideal attitude, passed down by
Friar Brás to the canons through the re-
foundation of the house (Abreu, 2009: 40). Jean
de Rouen was the artist behind the reformer’s
vision, the man capable of executing the classical
dome supported by eight Corinthian columns
and of coordinating the whole design (Fig.17).
Besides the substitution of the original wooden
drawbridges by the current wedged stone slabs
(Fig.18a), another visible alteration was the
opening of passages through the stone bases (in
the shape of quarter circles) that unified each
pair of Corinthian columns (Fig.18b). These
passages originally did not exist – the stone bases
have clearly been cut through. Therefore,
physical access to the drawbridges was not
straight forward (it may have been assisted by a
stone square platform where the wooden
drawbridges would land, Fig.18c). This
reinforces, in our view, the required metaphysical
Fear, pity, science, fortitude, advice, understanding and knowledge.
15
Saint Hieronymus, Saint Anthony the Great, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Paul the Anchorite.!
16
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Fig. 17 - Manga tempietto (Jean de Rouen, 1533). Photo by the author.

Rui Lobo
process of passing from the “spiritual life”,
represented by the octagonal platform of the
fountain, to the “over-essential and contemplative
life” – of which no physical remnants subsisted,
when the brother was enclosed in his turret-cell
for “over-essential contemplation” (Fig.18d).
It is not known when these alterations were
produced. We can observe, by enlarging the
famous photograph of the Manga cloister of ca
1880 (again, Fig.16), that the stone benches had
already been cut through and that the wooden
drawbridges had already been replaced by the
stone slabs. Perhaps this was done after the
dissolution of the religious orders of 1834, or
perhaps the brothers themselves altered the
design sometime during the 17th or 18th
centuries, forgetful of its original symbolism.
111.5. The new monastic façade
The monastic façade of Santa Cruz no longer
exists, as well as the Porter’s cloister that was
built in the place of the old female monastery of
São João das Donas . The whole western section
17
of the monastery, to the north of the Santa Cruz
church façade, was demolished to give way to the
new town hall building, erected between 1876
and 1879, under a design by the municipal
engineer Alexandre da Conceição.
The Porter’s cloister, also built
during the early years of Friar Brás
de Braga’s reformation, was most
probably executed in the Classical
manner, since it had four stone
arches supported by columns along
each side, as both Francisco de
Mendanha (in 1540, Révah, 1957)
and José de Cristo describe (Cristo,
ca 1622: 537v°) . In addition, a
18
Classical chapel was erected on the
cloister’s east side, the Chapel of
the Holy Ghost (also referred to as
St. Vincent’s), covered by a wooden
coffered vault (Révah, 1957) and
where one would enter through a double Roman
arch with a central column (Cristo, ca 1622:537v°).
In this chapel, which gave access to the monastic
council hall, hung the magnificent painting of
the “Pentecost” executed by the Portuguese
Renaissance artist Vasco Fernandes (still at Santa
Cruz today). Of course, Jean de Rouen’s hand can
easily be imagined in the making of some of
these architectural structures.
Some old photographs show what the monastic
façade looked like, although the best testimony
we have (before important changes took place) is
the drawing by José Carlos Magne realized in
1796 (Fig.19). Here, the most striking element
appears: a half tempietto, just like the central
piece of the Manga fountain, which stood over
See above, footnote 3.
17
Various monastic dependencies were organized along the cloister’s top floor.
18
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Fig. 18 [a; b; c; d] - Details of the Manga tempietto and conjectural reconstitution of the drawbridges, by
Miguel Alberto Pedrosa.

Rui Lobo
the monastery’s main entrance door. However, it
is possible that this element does not correspond
to the original entrance structure. Indeed, if we
read Francisco de Mendanha (Révah, 1957) we
can conclude that the structure that is described
is somewhat different. It had four pillars (and not
columns) organized along a square plan,
supporting an architrave from which a dome was
set covering the space in front of the monastic
door . This way we can assume an alteration was
19
made some time between 1540 and 1796. The
half tempietto we can see in Magne’s drawing,
executed as a probable replica of the dome of the
Manga tempietto, was probably not the original
entrance piece. Nevertheless, this original
architectural element, akin to a series of similar
structures that exist in central crossroads of
various localities around Coimbra, should also be
credited, in our opinion, to Jean de Rouen .
20
We can also note in Magne’s illustration an
architrave sustained by three Tuscan columns
and two half-columns. This structure defined the
main entrance space to one of the new colleges
of Santa Cruz (that of St. Augustine) established
by Friar Brás to prepare for the transfer of the
University, which took place in 1537. This
architrave is similar to the one over the balcony
of Porta Especiosa, the famous Renaissance lateral
door of Coimbra’s Cathedral (Fig.20). No
documents subsist relating to the construction of
this magnificent architectural structure
(Gonçalves, 1974: 26; Craveiro, 2011b: 78), which
was made under the bishopric of Jorge de
Almeida (1482-1543). Art Historians have
credited it to Jean de Rouen (Gonçalves, 1974:
29; Dias, 1982: 206) an attribution with which
we agree. We also agree with its timing being
around 1535, when his main works at Santa Cruz
were already finished. This resemblance also
leads us to admit that the Frenchman is the
probable sculptor of the architrave portico
alongside the monastic church of Santa Cruz.
Finally, on the far right of Magne’s picture, we
can still see the parish church of St. John, which
replaced the feminine monastic church of São
João das Donas, and which is today a famous café.
Inside, the majestic rib vault by Diogo de
Castilho, of around 1531, still remains.
“Sta ante esta porta hu deambulatório pequeno quadrado com um semicírculo de graos de pedraria que tem o ponto em o meio do portal. Sobre estes
19
graos se armam umas collunas estriadas e quadradas com suas bases e capitees romanos, sobre as quaes vay hua alqtrava com sua frisa e cornela de
pedraria lavrada de romano & com sua cimalha rica & muyto ao proposito. Desta sae abobeda a maneyra de cibório com hua lanterna que tem o
remate. Debayxo desta abobeda sta o porta de pedraria com algua obra custosa.”
This type of classical structure over the monastic entrance was soon to be copied and systematized by a new religious congregation that would
20
make its appearance in the following few years. In fact, the Jesuits would replicate this type of element in the entrance of almost all of their houses
and colleges in Portugal.
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Fig. 19 - Monastery of Santa Cruz façade, 1796. Drawing by José Carlos Magne (detail), Machado de Castro National Museum.

Rui Lobo
111.6. The infirmary chapel
To conclude the story of the group of works
executed by Jean de Rouen at Santa Cruz, during
the first phase of his Portuguese career, we
should make reference to a small space-
containing original structure that no longer
exists. The infirmary chapel was set at the
southern end of an elongated room, which ran
along the upper floor of the Manga cloister’s east
wing. The cloister, and surrounding
dependencies, would have been finished around
1533 (the year when the tempietto was
commissioned). Francisco de Mendanha’s
description, written seven years later, is quite
clear: “At the end [of the infirmary] stands a small
chapel with its musical arch and wooden vault, in
Roman style” (Révah, 1957) . This wooden vault
21
would have been a similar coffered structure to
the one we have placed over the reconstitution of
the “Last Supper”. Naturally, the design of this
architectonic element must be credited, again, to
Jean de Rouen.
IV. Transmission / repercussion
The transformation of the Monastery of Santa
Cruz in the late 1520’s and early 1530’s
constituted a major source for the spread of the
Renaissance in Portugal. Practically at the same
time John III also ordered the reformation of the
Convent of Christ, in Tomar, 80 km to the south
of Coimbra, along the road to Lisbon.
As at Santa Cruz a Hieronymite friar, Friar
António de Lisboa, was put in charge. The
existing convent was also much enlarged to
enforce the enclosure of the friars. A large
square-planned edifice was added to the west,
comprising four ample cloisters and the smaller
cloister of Saint Barbara, which articulated the
old and new convent. The architect in charge was
João de Castilho (c.1470-1552), who had been
responsible for the magnificent rib vaulting of
the Jerónimos monastery church in Lisbon. As we
have seen, the design of the royal tombs at the
church of Santa Cruz has also been attributed to
him. At Tomar, Castilho would display his
enormous capacity for adaptation (see Moreira,
1991: 406-475). While responsible for the design
of the Saint Barbara and main cloisters, which
were already in a proto-Renaissance style (the
latter replaced by the existing main cloister of the
1560’s), he would execute two outstanding
“Em fim da qual sta huã capella pequena com seu arquo musico & abobada de madeyra ao romano”.
21
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Fig. 20 - Porta Especiosa (attributed to Jean de Rouen, cª.1535), Coimbra
cathedral. Photo by the author.

Rui Lobo
coffered Classical vaults over the refectory
22
and over the crossing chapel of the upper
floor dormitory (see Pereira, 2017) both
built around 1533 (Fig.21). After the chapel
of the Santa Cruz main cloister, these are
the earliest space-covering coffered
classical vaults, made of stone, in
Portuguese architecture. In addition, the
long “T” shape dormitory corridor would
be covered with coffered classical wooden
vaults (like the one in Santa Cruz),
assuming, that is, that the ones which still
exist today are the original ones.
For his part, Jean de Rouen has been
connected with the design of the unique
Serra do Pilar monastery, also of the
Canons Regular, on the south bank of the
Douro, facing the city of Oporto. The first
stone was laid down on 6th December 1537,
in the presence of the local Bishop and of
both Jean de Rouen and Diogo de Castilho
(Abreu, 1999: 21). The scheme, under the
supervision of Friar Brás de Braga,
comprised a round church and a round
cloister. Friar Brás referred to Serra do Pilar
as the “king of monasteries” (Brandão,
1937: 178) . An original round church,
23
probably designed by Jean de Rouen, was
finished in 1544 (Abreu, 1999: 24,
164-166). It no longer survives, since it was
replaced by a new rotunda started in 1579
(but only finished in 1672, Abreu, 1999:
28-31). The cloister was built mainly
between 1575 and 1583, under master
mason Jerónimo Luís (Abreu, 1999: 27)
almost four decades after the original
It is interesting to compare it with the Santa Cruz refectory in Coimbra, covered by the late-Gothic rib vault by Diogo de Castilho, João’s younger
22
half-brother.
%“Rey dos Moesteyros”.%Letter of Friar Bras de Braga to John III, 25th November 1541.
23
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Fig. 21 - Convent of Christ, Tomar. Refectory and dormitory crossing chapel (João de Castilho,
1533). Photos by the author.
Fig. 22 - Monastery of Serra do Pilar, Vila Nova de Gaia (Jerónimo Luís, 1575-83). Photo
Manuelvbotelho, Wikimedia Commons.

Rui Lobo
foundations were laid. The gallery is covered by a
continuous coffered barrel vault (Fig.22), but it is
doubtful that Jean de Rouen would have
designed anything more than the structure’s
original general layout .
24
Nevertheless, there was a reaction to Jean de
Rouen’s use of Classical style, and to the coffered
vaulting he established in his first years at Santa
Cruz, in Coimbra itself. Jean de Rouen continued
using this type of covering in new stone
structures, like the beautiful Sacramento chapel
at Cantanhede (of 1547, Fig.23) or the Treasurer’s
chapel of São Domingos church (1558-1565) . But
25
it would be in the new university colleges that
this type of vaulting would stand out (even
though through the hands of other masters and
architects), applied both to the galleries of the
cloisters and to the colleges’ public churches. The
church of the college of Graça, of 1548-55 (Fig.
24), built by Diogo de Castilho, on Rua de Santa
Sofia (the newly opened street of the University
colleges), was one of the first churches in
Portugal covered by a coffered stone vault, indeed
probably the very first. This configuration literally
set in stone the extraordinary success of this type
of classical vaulting in the subsequent college
churches of Coimbra: São Jerónimo (started 1565,
disappeared), São Bento (started 1576, also
disappeared), Carmo (ca 1576-1600) and the
church of the Jesuit Jesus college, of 1598-1698.
The cloister was moved several metres to the east, in 1690-92, to make way for the new rotunda’s chancel. It was probably reduced in the process
24
(Abreu, 1999: 41-42, 81-89).
Here, the design of the chapel vault can be alternatively (or jointly) attributed to the church’s architect, Isidoro de Almeida.
25
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Fig. 24 - Church of the college of Graça (Diogo de Castilho, 1548-55). Photo by
the author.
Fig. 23 - Chapel of Sacramento (Jean de Rouen, 1547), parish church of
Cantanhede. Photo by the author.

Rui Lobo
V. Conclusions
Although in his time Jean de Rouen was
normally referred to as an “imagineer” he was
26
also considered, more rarely, to be an “architect”
– at least a couple of times, the first in a contract
of 1566 (Garcia, 1913: 32; Gonçalves, 2005: 290).
Modern scholars have also acknowledged this
latter activity (Dias, 1982: 163, 462; Abreu, 1999:
163-166; Lobo, 2006: 180; Gonçalves, 2011: 119;
Craveiro, 2013: 15) although others have
highlighted Jean de Rouen mainly as
an artist and sculptor (Borges, 1980;
1981) who was capable of elaborating
such refined pieces as altarpieces,
sculptural compositions, tumular
arches, and portals and doorways,
more than buildings themselves.
Some of his earliest works in
Portugal belong to these varied
categories, such as the Atalaia
church portal, the Varziela
altarpiece, the tumular structures at
Góis and Trofa do Vouga, the
sculptures he carved for the church
portal of Santa Cruz, or the beautiful
“Entombment of Christ” (of ca 1540,
Fig.25) also made for the Monastery
of Santa Cruz.
Nevertheless, as we have tried to point out, the
first phase of Jean de Rouen’s work at the
Monastery of Santa Cruz was of the utmost
importance for the implementation of
Renaissance forms over a wide span of artistic
endeavours, including architecture. In this sense,
three major conclusions can be reached:
1) Jean de Rouen’s first period at the Santa
Cruz monastery (1528-1535), in the wake of
Nicholas Chanterene’s activity, was decisive
in the employment of Renaissance forms
in Coimbra, through the design of
sculptural figures and compositions but
also of architectonic elements such as
arches and doorways. The assignment of
works such as the cathedral’s Porta
Especiosa of ca 1535 is a testimony of how
his work was architecturally perceived.
2) His influence also extended to the
conformation of architectural space,
mainly through the design of space-
containing coffered classical vaults. This
specific influence would have a strong and
lasting impact in Coimbra and elsewhere,
as we have seen. Jean de Rouen also
introduced spherical domes as in the
Manga tempietto.
3) The first seven years of Jean de Rouen’s
activity at Santa Cruz were decisive to the
development of Renaissance architecture
“Imaginario” /,!“Imaginador”0
26
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Fig. 25 - Entombment of Christ” (Jean de Rouen, cª1540), Machado de Castro National Museum. Photo
Manuelvbotelho, Wikimedia Commons.

Rui Lobo
in Coimbra and in central and northern
Portugal. Hence, Jean de Rouen has to be
considered a key figure in the development
of Portuguese Renaissance architecture
(and not only of Portuguese Renaissance
sculpture, as has normally been the case).
Following these first few years, Jean de Rouen’s
activity in the architectural field must be
highlighted in such works as the
abovementioned Monastery of Serra do Pilar or
the Sacramento chapel in Cantanhede, or further
still in his design of the church of São Salvador de
Bouças (begun ca 1559 and later demolished and
rebuilt) in Matosinhos, near Oporto. The contract
to finish the altarpiece, choir and nave, signed in
June 1572 (Garcia, 1913: 108), clearly states: “Y° de
Ruã architeto” – a totally deserved account, as we
have just seen.
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