Um olhar sobre o "Bau" do laboratório de Física da ESNA : Contributo para a valorização da herança do Colégio de S. Fiel

No final do século XIX, o Liceu de Castelo Branco debatia-se com baixa frequência de alunos. A isso não foi alheio a abertura do Colégio de S. Fiel, colégio jesuíta. A situação de ''penúria" da escola pública contrastava com S. Fiel. Este estabelecimento de ensino, com um plano de estudos eclético, bons laboratórios e material científico actual e de qualidade, adquirido a prestigiados fabricantes de instrumentos, permitiu a actividade prática desenvolvendo nalguns alunos um gosto pelas Ciências. Com a expulsão dos jesuítas, em 191O, o liceu herdou os dispositivos do colégio. Muitos destes dispositivos foram perdendo valor de utilização comparados com outros de fácil manipulação. Arrumados dispersamente e por vezes desmembrados, urgia voltar a juntá-los de novo recriando a colecção do Colégio S. Fiel. Este aspecto exigiu um trabalho de "mãos na massa" que nos mobilizou fortemente, já que ia consistindo em pequenas descobertas diárias, contribuindo para o enriquecimento deste espólio. O objectivo principal do trabalho aqui apresentado centrou-se na valorização dos dispositivos constituintes desta colecção explorando a sua origem, a sua função e a sua contextualização, didáctica na época, reconhecendo a sua actualidade científica e pedagógica. ABSTRACT; ln the end of the 19th Century, the Grammar School of Castelo Branco was facing a situation of low attendance of students. That was due to the opening of S. Fiel boarding school, a Jesuit school. The situation of «penury» of state schools contrasted with that of S. Fiel. This boarding school, with eclectic curricula, good labs and updated, quality, scientific material acquired from very prestigious manufacturers of instruments enabled the practical activity, developing in some students the taste for science. With the expelling of the Jesuits, m 1905, the Grammar School of Castelo Branco inherited the instruments and materials from S. Fiel boarding school. Many of these materials were no longer user-friendly compared with others which could be handled more easily. Kept in different places and sometimes scattered, it was absolutely necessary to collect them again, in order to recreate the collection of S. Fiel. This aspect demanded «to be working on », which encouraged us more and more as small daily discoveries were being made, contributing therefore, to improve the quality of this asset. The main purpose of the work presented here, is concerned with the importance and worth given to the materials which constitute this collection, exploring its origin, function, didactic and time context and recognizing its scientific and pedagogic modernity.

Simplified Chinese lacquer techniques and Nanban style decoration on Luso-Asian objects from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries

The meeting of multiple cultures and their mutual influence during the Portuguese expansion in Asia led to the emergence of different types of fusion styles in objects commissioned by the settlers, merchants, and religious orders present in Portuguese India. The east-Asian lacquer coatings of modestly sized wooden objects of various types dating from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries have been analyzed as part of the research for a doctoral thesis that aims to establish their cultural and geographical attribution within the context of the Getty Conservation Institute’s lacquer research project. Among the objects were three seventeenthcentury lacquered trays from Portuguese museums and private collections that had previously been classified as Japanese Nanban, Chinese or Ryukyuan lacquers or even as Indo-Portuguese artifacts. The materials and techniques that were identified show close similarities with Chinese techniques mentioned in historic accounts — the only existing Ming Chinese Treatise on lacquering Xiushi lu and the eighteenth-century memoirs of the Jesuit priest d’Incarville. These nearly 400-year-old artifacts are among the first lacquered objects commissioned by Europeans and probably the first of Chinese origin. Their detailed technical study contributes to international lacquer research and complements existing knowledge and perceptions of the lacquering processes that were applied in response to an early European demand for exotic items.

19th c. Coloured stuccos and plasters from Grilos' Church (Oporto, Portugal): Materials and techniques employed

The Oporto's St. Lourenço Church of the Jesuit College is locally known, since the St. Augustin Barefooted Eremites occupation (1779/80), as Grilos' Church. The Oporto's siege laid by D. Pedro and D. Miguel (1832/33) succeed in the college abandonment by Grilo's Friars. Throughout Augustin Friars presence period, the white plasters of the nave (end of 18th c.) were executed and it was constructed the Holly Sacrament Chapel (early 19th c.) with neoclassic coloured stuccos and plasters, influenced by Robert Adam, Luigi Chiari and Teixeira Barreto ornamental motifs. Pigments were added to the external layer to imitate the marble and to achieve the “base” colour of the panels. This study of the blue, rose and white stuccos and plasters of H.S. Chapel of Grilo's Church allows carrying out useful database on the original mortars composition by the use of different analytical techniques, important to select the most adequate solutions for restoration interventions. Optical microscopy, XRD, TG-DTA, SEM-EDS, XRF analysis results were considered to identify the composition of different layers and to provide mineralogical, microstructure and chemical characterization of the mortars components and to quantify the binder content in those mortars. These results were compared with collected information on compositions from other sources. This study allowed the identification of the decay causes of decorative stuccos and plaster, suggesting that water retention in the masonries and wooden laths structure of the dome of the chapel is the main factor.