The birth of a painter: Estêvão Tomás and the great works of Manueline/Johannine period in Évora

Abstract

The documentary surveys conducted by the Prim'Art Project (PTDC/CPC-EAT/4769/2012) leads to the discovery of a new document regarding a painter whose artistic activity was hitherto unknown: Estêvão Tomás. These same sources reveal the work he made for an Évora’s female Cistercian monastery, the monastery of S. Bento de Cástris – an unfinished altarpiece. The Manager (Regedora) of that Cistercian House in 1534 was D. Violante da Silveira, who came in possession of two paintings, the Annunciation and the Birth of Jesus, which were meant to be placed on an altarpiece that was being painted by Estêvão Tomás at this time in the cenoby, most likely to decorate the primitive chance’s back wall. This artist, whose identity was completely unknown, can now be reliably identified and associated with a solid artistic knowledge, which may allow finding new connections to the various nebulous works, in the kingdom of D. João III, by the so-called «Ferreirim Masters» whose authors remain unknown. The Annunciation mentioned above, and preserved at the Évora Museum (inv. no. 1543) – a work that has been evaluated by the famous illuminator Antonio de Holanda - can be ascribed to Estêvão Tomás and opens possibilities of comparisons with other paintings from the same period with a similar style, which may be the subjects of new research works.