Teatro Nacional D. Maria II
Encyclopedia
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal. The historical theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
is one of the most prestigious Portuguese venues and is located in the Rossio
Rossio
The Rossio is the popular name of the Pedro IV Square in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. It is located in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon and has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages...
square, in the centre of the city.
The theatre was built on the north side of Rossio square on the site of the old Estaus Palace
Estaús Palace
The Estaus Palace in Rossio Square, in Lisbon, was the headquarters of the Portuguese Inquisition. The original palace was built on the north side of the square around 1450 as lodging for foreign dignitaries and noblemen visiting Lisbon....
, built around 1450 as a lodging for foreign dignitaries and noblemen visiting Lisbon. In the 16th century, when the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
was installed in Portugal, the Estaus Palace became the seat of the Inquisition. The palace survived the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake
1755 Lisbon earthquake
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that took place on Saturday 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by fires and a tsunami, which almost totally destroyed Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and...
, but was destroyed by fire in 1836.
Thanks to the intensive efforts of Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
poet and dramatist Almeida Garrett
Almeida Garrett
João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, Viscount of Almeida Garrett was a Portuguese poet, playwright, novelist and politician. He is considered to be the introducer of the Romanticism in Portugal, with the epic poem Camões, based on the life of Luís de Camões...
, it was decided to replace the old palace by a modern theatre, dedicated to Queen Mary II of Portugal. The building was constructed between 1842 and 1846 to a Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
design by Italian architect Fortunato Lodi.
The building is the best representative of Neoclassical architecture of Palladian influence in Lisbon. The main feature of the façade is a portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
(hexastyle) with six Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
columns reused from the Saint Francis Convent of Lisbon and a triangular pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
. The tympanum of the pediment is decorated with a sculpted relief showing Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
and the Muses.
The pediment is topped by a statue of Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
playwright Gil Vicente
Gil Vicente
Gil Vicente , called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus,"[3] often referred to as the "Father of Portuguese drama" and as one of Western literature's...
(c. 1464-c. 1536), considered the founder of Portuguese theatre. Ironically, some of Gil Vicente's plays had been censured by the Portuguese Inquisition
Portuguese Inquisition
The Portuguese Inquisition was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of the King of Portugal, João III. Manuel I had asked for the installation of the Inquisition in 1515 to fulfill the commitment of marriage with Maria of Aragon, but it was only after his death that the Pope...
in the late 16th century.
The interior of the theatre was decorated by many important 19th-century Portuguese artists, but much of this decoration was lost in a fire in 1964. The theatre had to be completely renovated and was reinaugurated only in 1978.
See also
- RossioRossioThe Rossio is the popular name of the Pedro IV Square in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. It is located in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon and has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages...
- Estaus PalaceEstaús PalaceThe Estaus Palace in Rossio Square, in Lisbon, was the headquarters of the Portuguese Inquisition. The original palace was built on the north side of the square around 1450 as lodging for foreign dignitaries and noblemen visiting Lisbon....