Fons vitae

: matéria, forma, conteúdo e tecnologia

Abstract

The reconstruction of the critical fortune of the work Fons Vitae helps to understand the origins of an enigmatic and mysterious work associated with the city of Oporto and the Santa Casa da Misericordia of the same city. The discovery of its value as an artistic object comes from the 19th century, however the interest of the case study continues to grow and allow the construction of new considerations, as verified throughout this dissertation. The aesthetic and formal analysis allows, in addition to the identification of figures, to establish parallels with other works and artistic elements, which helps to continue the delineation of the path of the work's history and genesis, a work that has been developed not only with more recent studies, but since the work was identified as an object of artistic, heritage and historical value. The problematic reveals the raising of questions from the past and indicates new doubts, pointing out the path that the current study will take towards the integrated clarification of Fons Vitae painting. Reflection, examination and analysis set the tone for approaching the issues of materiality that make up the work. About the support, the construction methods and the phases it went through from its original production to the present day are understood. It is even noticed that the current frame is not original and even the previous frame would not be, in fact, the original frame would play a structural component that does not exist today. The construction of the stratigraphic structure is confirmed as corresponding to the standards of 16th century Flemish painting, and the identification of materials corresponding to the ground layers proves disruptive with the standardization that was established for the division of production centres in northern and southern Europe. The study of the underlying drawing shows that more than one hand was responsible for the figurative project and that many dissimilarities are established when compared with other works attributed to Colijn de Coter, the author appointed for the painting Fons Vitae. The chromatic layers are presented in accordance with the Flemish moulds, both in the identification of pigments and other materials that appear associated with the work. The work is innovative in that it uses a recent technological and digital spectral imaging tool, developed by XpectralTEKR. As the results obtained through this tool are presented, they are verified with totally accepted analytical methods in archaeometry and conservation science. As a concluding element, it deals with chronological issues, issues of provenance, materiality, authorship, conservation and other means for an integrated understanding of the work.

Date of Award	10 Mar 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Nuno Camarneiro (Supervisor) & Maria Aguiar (Co-Supervisor)