Culture, Visual Arts

Sculpture has found rich expression in Portugal over the centuries. From the 12th to the 14th century, sculptors carved ornate limestone tombs, including notable monuments such as the tombs of the kings at Alcobaca. Following the extraordinarily inventive Manueline period, during the Renaissance and baroque periods, sculptors in Portugal did their finest work for the church, producing finely carved reliefs, altarpieces, and pulpits.

Painting in Portugal dates from prehistoric times; some of southwestern Europe’s finest Paleolithic cave paintings can be seen at Escoural. The foremost painter of Portugal’s golden age was Nuno Goncalves, whose powerful realism was widely influential. In the 20th century Portuguese-born abstract painter Maria Elena Vieira da Silva achieved international renown.