Mafra Palace and Basilica of Our Lady and Saint Anthony, PORTUGAL

- Interior of the Royal Palace - 04:09
- Basilica of Our Lady and Saint Anthony of Mafra - 34:45
The Palace of Mafra is a monumental Baroque and Neoclassical palace-monastery located in Mafra, some 28 kilometres from Lisbon. The palace, which also served as a Franciscan friary, was built during the reign of King John V (1717-1750), as consequence of a vow the king made in 1711, to build a convent if his wife, Maria Anna of Austria, gave him offspring. The birth of his first daughter the Infanta Barbara of Portugal, prompted construction of the palace to begin. The construction was funded in large part from the proceeds of Colonial Brazil, where gold and then diamonds were mined in vast quantities. This vast complex, largely built of Lioz stone, is among the most sumptuous Baroque buildings in Portugal and at 40,000 m2, one of the largest royal palaces. The imposing façade, built of local limestone, is 220 m long and faces the town of Mafra. The church, built in white marble, is located in the centre of the main façade, symmetrically flanked on both sides by the royal palace. John V, wishing to rival the splendour of Rome, had sought architectural advice from his ambassador to the Vatican, who sent him small-scale models of important Roman religious buildings. The benedictal balcony at its centre is clearly mirrored on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. But this balcony is rather intended for the King, as a symbol of his power, than for the benedictions by a prelate. The two church towers (68 m high) are inspired by the towers of Sant'Agnese in Agone (by the Roman Baroque architect Francesco Borromini). The spacious royal apartments are situated on the second floor. The apartments of the king are situated at the end of the palace while the apartment of the queen is 200m away at the other end. The Rococo library, situated at the back of the second floor, is truly the highlight of the palace. In the church, the chapels in the transept contain altarpieces in jasper made by sculptors from the School of Mafra. The side aisles display 58 marble statues commissioned from the best Roman sculptors of their time. The choir has a magnificent giant candleholder with seven lamps sprouting from the mouth of seven rolled-up snakes. Above the main altar, inserting into the ceiling, is a gigantic jasper crucifix of 4.2 m, flanked by two kneeling angels, made by the School of Mafra. The cupola over the crossing was also inspired by the cupola of Sant'Agnese in Agone. The religious paintings in the basilica and the convent constitute one of the most significant 18th century collections in Portugal. They include works by the Italians Agostino Masucci, Corrado Giaquinto, Francesco Trevisani, Pompeo Batoni and some Portuguese students in Rome such as Vieira Lusitano and Inácio de Oliveira Bernardes. The sculpture collection contains works by almost every major Roman sculptor from the first half of the 18th century. At that time, it represented the biggest single order done by a foreign power in Rome and still is one of the biggest collections in existence. The rectangle behind the church and the palace houses the friary of the Franciscan friars of Arrábida Order (Ordem de São Francisco da Província da Arrábida) with cells for about 300 friars in long corridors on several floors.
- Mafra School of Sculpture. It was founded during the reign of King Joseph I of Portugal, successor of King John V. As the Mafra National Palace had a great need for sculptors, local and from abroad, it became the location of a sculpture academy headed by the Italian Alessandro Giusti. The academy was awarded many commissions by the Augustinians from the monastery, resulting in the many marble statues and retables in marble and jasper in the basilica. This academy produced several generations of Portuguese sculptors, such as Joaquim Machado de Castro.
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Filmed with SONY RX10M3 and INSTA360 X3 in March 2023.
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[@carloscuadrado6154]

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