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Azulejos are traditional ceramic tiles that are synonymous with Portugal. These beautiful and distinctive blue and white tiles can be seen in various venues throughout that country, not least of which Portugese churches such as the church of São Lourenço de Almancil. While such decorative tiles originally are Moorish in origin, by the late fifteenth century they were adapted by the Portugese and Spanish and eventually came to depict complex scenes such as those seen here.
The church of São Lourenço was constructed in the 1600's with the interior tile decoration dating to 1730, thus falling within the baroque period -- as can certainly also be seen by the highly ornamental, carved, gold gilt retablo that is attributed to the Algarve master woodcarver, Manuel Martins. The retable includes Solomonic columns, a carved figure of St. Lawrence, Christ crucified and it is topped by an angel holding the grill upon which St. Lawrence was martyred.
Turning back to the tiles however, we know that they were painted by Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes (1695–1778) and they include various scenes taken from the life of St. Lawrence, the patronal namesake of the church. Here are just a few of them for your enjoyment.
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