Expeditions to the Americas, and the often destructive colonization and evangelization that followed, helped the Spanish monarchs to amass a great fortune based on indigenous labor and natural resources.
1400–1600
Beginner's guide
During the Renaissance, the Spanish empire extended throughout western Europe and beyond.
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Spoons from West Africa in Renaissance Lisbon
Ivory spoons from West Africa were imported into Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Gil de Siloé, façade of San Gregorio, Valladolid
The entrance to San Gregorio epitomizes some of the inventive, complex architectural forms present on the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century
The Rise and Fall of the Avis Dynasty in Portugal, an introduction
For almost two hundred years, the Avis dynasty ruled Portugal and helped drive its transition from a small agricultural kingdom on the periphery of Christendom to a pioneer in global exploration, colonization, and trade.
Belém Monstrance
The Belém Monstrance is an object of extraordinary artistry that embodies an immediate response to events taking place in Portugal and its overseas expansion.
Portuguese contacts and exchanges, c. 1400–1800
Portuguese explorations paved the way for other European nations to travel, conquer, and exploit regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific. This chapter includes artworks from the 1400s, when Portuguese voyages began to explore the coast of Africa, through the early 1800s, when Brazil gained political independence from Portugal.
The Cantino Planisphere
The Cantino planisphere, made by an unknown Portuguese chartmaker depicts what the Portuguese knew of the world in 1502.
Josefa de Óbidos, Christ Child as Salvator Mundi
Josefa de Ayala, commonly called Josefa de Óbidos, is the only woman known to have worked as a painter in Portugal in the 17th century.
Gold S. Vincente of João III
St Vincent, who is portrayed on this coin, was the patron saint of Portugal and of navigation
Royal monastery of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
The monastery is an outstanding repository of four centuries of Spanish religious architecture.
University of Alcalá de Henares
Founded by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros in the early 16th century, Alcalá de Henares was the world's first planned university city.
The Council of Trent and the call to reform art
The impact of the Council of Trent on Catholicism is indisputable, and similarly on a great deal of art made after it ended
The Tower of Belém
The Torre de Belém (Tower of Belém) remains one of the main symbols of Portugal’s global expansion during the so-called Age of Exploration
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