The art of war: Tradition and Innovation in the Iconographic Representation of Alentejo Fortresses (17th-18th Centuries)

Abstract

The novelties in the representation of strongholds in Alentejo - southern Portugal, frontier with Spain, considered as a “theater of war” during the 17th and 18th centuries - followed European influences, that the theorists responsible for training the engineers in active in the country at this time, Luís Serrão Pimentel and Manuel de Azevedo Fortes, intend to apply. Several drawings bring testimony to this, by showing different ways of representing natural or built elements, allowing for comparisons with other regions of the country or even Europe. The comparison with earlier projects, and given the information contained mainly in the works of Luís Serrão Pimentel and Manuel de Azevedo Fortes, lead us not only to the conclusion of the acceptance of the proposed rules, in order to enrich the profile of military engineers in Portugal, but also to notice the changes that this acceptance signified, emphasizing especially the technical and artistic sensibility of the authors of these projects of military architecture.