Las esculturas barrocas italianas de los jardines de la embajada de España en Lisboa

Abstract

In the gardens of the seventeenth century palace, property of the kingdom of Spain, in which is the Spanish embassy in Lisbon, we can observe a group —although not an homogeneous one, for the different dates and geographical origins (Genoa and eventually Rome)— of Italian baroque sculpture. D. Luís Lobo da Silveira (1640-1706) and D. Rodrigo da Silveira Silva e Teles (1663-1735), second and third counts of Sarzedas, owners of the palace in the 17th century and first decades of 18th century, were almost certainly the commissioners of this works, that today still remain in the property: three fountains (in the upper garden), a statue of Hercules (that belonged to another ancient fountain) and four (allegorical or mythological) statues in the yard. These last four statues in particular, assume a special importance because they enrich the panorama of Italian sculpture imported to Portugal in the baroque period and they prove the existence of works by the Genoese sculptor Bernardo Schiaffino (1678-1725) in Portugal, fact that remained unknown until now.