HBIM (Historic Building Information Modelling) Gonzalo Corvalán Gahona

IST Architecture Course 2022-2023

Ana Tomé
Jesse Rafeiro

Capela Santa Catarina

approach to a research problem

Research problem

Problem.
The chapel built in the 16th century provides a space for the veneration of Saint
Catherine of Alexandria. It stands out for its modest architecture and rich
decorative art full of vegetation and symbols. Although it is preserved in relatively
good condition, the different symbols on its walls have not been studied in depth.
Such a study could help us to better understand the functioning and history of the
chapel in its physical and spiritual dimension.

Question.
What was the role played by the decorative art present in the chapel? What
elements of the fresco and of the embrechado have a symbolism in relation to
Arrábida, Santa Catarina or even Catarina de Bragança?
Convento Velho

Convento da Arrábida Capela de Santa Catarina

Fuente: caminhando.pt
Catarina de Bragança

Retrato de Catherine of Braganza, Dirk Stoop (1661,

Museu National Portrait Gallery, London)
Catarina de Alexandria

também conhecida como A Grande Mártir Santa Catarina

After refusing to marry the Emperor, she was sentenced to

death on a spiked wheel. When the wheel broke from her touch,
the Emperor commanded her to be beheaded – which she
herself gave the order. Instead of blood, a milky substance bled
from her neck.

Santa Catalina de Alejandría, por Caravaggio.

(1597, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza de Madrid)
Santa Catalina, por Francisco Pacheco (1608, Museo del Prado). Martirio de Santa Catalina, por Masolino da Panicale (1428, San Clemente, Roma)
Coroação de Santa Catarina de Alexandria

Martyr palm

Angel

Crown of flowers

This Saint, kneeling, with her eyes fixed on high and her
Crown hands joined in prayer, observes the angel the palm of
martyrdom and a second crown: the crown of flowers, or
wreath, representing both virginity and mystical marriage.

Broken wheel

por Josefa de Óbidos.

(1661, Igreja de Santa Maria, Óbidos)
Casamento Místico de Santa Catarina de Alexandria

Angels

The ring, the Queen's crown, the cogwheel and the palm of
Crown martyrdom, receives the ring from the Child Jesus. This
gesture is supported by Saint Anne, in the center, and
Mary, who with an air of gentleness holds her son.
Catarina receiving
the ring

Jesus in the
arms of Maria

Broken wheel

Martyr palm

por Josefa de Óbidos.

(1661, Igreja de Santa Maria, Óbidos)
S.te Catherine vierge et martyre, autor anonimo (1620-1670).
Casamento Místico de Santa Catarina de Alexandria, Pieter de Jode I (1630)
Art, ornament and iconographic

Embrechado
From the French "brèche" meaning fissure, crack, ruin or groove, the word
embrechado has no equivalents in other languages. The earliest known
examples of the clutching technique appeared in Italy, during the first half
of the 16th century.
Fresco
The fresco technique is the one in which the paint, made of pigments
mixed in water, is spread on a layer of lime mortar still wet. Its use dates
back to antiquity and has been used throughout the ages.

is a way to express the closeness to nature, the pastel and shiny tones of
the stones, especially in sunlight, enhance it.
Fresco

Pomegranate

A vegetal arabesque with

Arrabida motifs, where the
crown stands out as the central
element and the pomegranate
Crown as the main recognizable
element.

Leaves and stems

 Nipple Crown Shell
Woman Real
Femininity

Seeds
Fertility
Prosperty
Blood Abundance
Love

On the one hand, the shell is associated to the saints

who made a pilgrimage, but not being the case, it is
associated to the birth of life or to a treasure, by the
pearl that in some cases keeps the shell.
 there is little information on the symbolism of the mushrooms, but it would reinforce the idea
of nature, besides speaking of psychotropic scenes where mushrooms have been consumed for
social, religious or therapeutic purposes.
Embrechado

Flower 6 petals
/crown Flower 8 petals Flower 6 petals
Armeria pinifolia Hyacinthoides vicentina Cebolinho-de-flor-branca Convolvulus fernandesii

Paeonia broteroi Narcissus bulbocodium Açafrão-bastardo Halimium umbellatum

 Zig zag
sheels

rolled parchment
Waves
grecas

wheel
 Nossa senhora de
Arrábida, of the
church
Photograph of the old figure in the Capela. Fuente: Class 2
Fuente: Class 2
 XXXIX
Saímos fora quando a poucos passos
Entrámos noutra ermida peregrina,
Que, por mostrar do amor os fortes laços,
Catarina a outra Catarina:
Aquela que, deixando os própios paços,
Entre o zelo da fé constante e fina,
Mereceu governar, se bem me fundo,
Bem como a Inglaterra todo o mundo.
Queen Catarina de Bragança
and St Catarina de Alexandria
XL
Com razoes a capela superiores
A todas se avantaja na beleza,
Pois nela dava com vistosas flores
A arte novo ser à naturaleza:
Já na ordem das folhas e das cores
Não tem Abril por certo mais viveza,
Pos até Catarina pura e bela
Está como flor nesta capela.
Pois nela a arte dava, com vistosas Capela como uma flor mais
flores, novo ser à naturaleza entremedio da naturaleza
Poemas de Descrição da Arrábida, 54-55.
Collage image and cloud of points
Plans
Bibliografia
Da Conceição, I. (2011). Iconografia de Esposas Místicas na pintura
portuguesa. Análise de casos. Mestrado em História da Arte Portuguesa)-
Universidade do Porto. Porto