Impressions of art and heritage in European cities most visited by Portuguese travelers (London, Madrid, Naples and Paris): Notes for the study of an aesthetic sensibility (1860-1910)

The work entitled Impressions of art and heritage in European cities most visited by Portuguese travelers (London, Madrid, Naples and Paris): Notes for the study of aesthetic sensibility (1860-1910), presents a reflection on the importance of art , heritage and artistic culture in the Portuguese travel description – in the period 60 of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, which saw the flowering of more than thirty precursor artistic trends of modern art.

We have used the testimony of fourteen Portuguese authors (three ladies and eleven gentlemen), which express in seventeen titles published, in the form of letters, diaries and / or travel impressions, everything they observe worthy of reference of art and heritage.

The seventeen works studied, published in Portugal between 1860 and 1910, are written by artists, diplomats, writers, journalists, politicians, essentially travelers who describe what they see. Some of them have significantly earlier or later dates, but with the trips made within the studied dates. The texts published in memoirs, diaries and guides, or more rarely collected from unpublished correspondence from private estates, highlight sensitivities and odd visions recorded as notes of a journey that every author draws on business travel or leisure, where the look at the other (and particularly to the art, as a novelty) does not go unnoticed. The reveal in these works, there is the personal nature of each author, indicating the personality, training, behavior, experiences, aesthetic options.

In this context, we distinguish Eca de Queiroz (1845-1900), Guiomar Torrezão (1844-1898), Manuel Teixeira-Gomes (1860-1941), Ramalho Ortigão (1836-1915) and Teixeira de Vasconcellos (1816-1878) that, reside temporarily out of Portugal, as journalists and / or diplomats, give us different descriptions, more familiar with the observed object (or less touristy and voyeuristic).

We let ourselves also involve the traveler adventures as Maria Celina de Sauvayre da Camara (1857-1929) and Count of Arnoso (1855-1911), depicting the art and heritage expeditions discovered in the East, but always comparing what there see with previous journeys memories made by Europe.

As Maria Celina de Sauvayre da Camara, Daniel Martins de Moura Guimarães (1827-1893) presents a unique work published in his lifetime and unknown posthumous work. It is a very complete artistic tour guide, for which the author is preparing in advance, reading dozens of guides that references in this his rare work.

Other distinguished ladies are Guiomar Torrezão and Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho (1847-1921), all praised not only because it is unusual to find Portuguese travelers, but also write and publish travel impressions – which is hard to find in women. This despite the travel and travel literature publication be a fashion also extended to women, especially in Europe and USA. The Count of Arnoso confirms the rarity and the exotic of the question, when he complain about shortage of ladies steam while traveling (and lack that make the long journeys, as one that performs to China and Japan).

We studied works of some already mentioned travelers, and others, more connected to journalism as Alberto d ‘Oliveira (1873-1940), António Augusto Teixeira de Vasconcellos, Diogo de Macedo (1844-1938), Eca de Queirós and Ramalho Ortigão. Moreover, we also travel exhibitions of Roussado Baron or Roussado Manuel (1831-1911), Julio Cesar Machado (1835-1890) and Manuel Teixeira Gomes – all with complete works published and studied, but without analysis within the theme we work . The same with Eca de Queiroz, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho and Ramalho Ortigão.

Finally, we find a common thread in the works of Count of Arnoso, Maria Celina de Sauvayre da Camara, Ramalho Ortigão, Teixeira de Vasconcellos and Viscount of Benalcanfôr (1830-1889) which describe, in first person, trips to Europe and the world . This is a kind of narrative next to Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) – as a symbol of foreign contemporary literature, not aristocratic.

European capitals of London, Madrid and Paris are the most visited by Portuguese and also the city of Naples and the historic industrial interest of this one at the time as Naples Kingdom of capital 1282 to 1816. After that date, joined to Sicily, the capital becoming the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861.

As the most visited capitals, seem to us obvious first choices: Madrid proximity issues and on the way to France; London and Paris as a fashion center and new par excellence, with the consequent influx of schools and trends that then develop and cohabiting.

Our last choice, Naples, is also due to the historical significance that then have the archaeological finds in the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae – covered by ash due to the eruption of Vesuvius – and the industrial interest that the city has the time without forgetting the legacy of the studied authors who publish considerable advice on the art and the Neapolitan heritage.

They are: Daniel Martins de Moura Guimarães, founder of the Grande Hotel do Porto, the one who writes about the four cities studied most visited, with a view to publishing a guide to all that is best about the arts; Viscount of Benalcanfôr who visit and observe, carefully, not just the Museum of Naples and Vesuvius, as the city itself and surrounding area (the viscount writes also about Paris and London in the work signed with the name Ricardo Guimarães); a special case is Maria Celina Camara de Sauvayre da Camara describing Naples, very little, if we take into account the five months that she passes there before leaving for Jerusalem where she writes daily published, recalling previous trips to Europe.

The geographical selection and artistic (at the referenced spoils) is thus based on the predominance in our sources and is conditioned by the inability to contain this small contribution, all observations and pieces found and initially studied (more than twenty).

Author(s)
Year 2016
Type Thesis
Institution Faculdade de Geografia e História da Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Degree PhD
Supervisor(s) Prof. Doutor D. Juan Manuel Monterroso Montero
Language Português
Field Studies of Art History and Music
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