Manueline architecture is a Portuguese style that flourished from about 1490 to 1520 during the reign of King Manuel I, spreading with Portugal's overseas empire to the Azores, Madeira, Brazil, Goa and Macau. It combines late Gothic structure with maritime and discovery imagery, carving portals, windows, columns and arcades with motifs drawn from ships and the sea, including armillary spheres, anchors, chains and twisted rope like columns, alongside botanical and Christian ornament. Belem Tower and the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon, the chapter house window at the Convent of Christ in Tomar and the Monastery of Batalha are its best known monuments. The style draws on Flamboyant Gothic, Spanish Plateresque, Mudejar and Italian and Flemish decorative traditions, and marks Portugal's transition from Gothic to Renaissance building.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Notable Examples
Francisco de Arruda's 1514 to 1519 fortified tower guarding the Tagus, paired with Jeronimos Monastery as the twin defining monuments of Manueline architecture.
Begun 1501 under Manuel I with proceeds of the Indies trade, its maritime-themed carved stonework is the defining monument of Manueline architecture, alongside Belem Tower.
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