Culture reflected in a material. Portuguese tiles narrate historical themes, from the religious to the profane. They shape the Portuguese landscape and scenery when covering buildings, interiors and public spaces. In this way, its expression continues in constant change and adaptation to weave the Moorish ancestry with contemporaneity.
The tile appeared as a "ceramic tapestry" during the 15th century in the Hispano-Moorish territory. Upon arriving in Portugal in the 16th century, this element gained a new character by adding scenographic images to the space. At this time, tiles dramatized architectural features such as doors, arches and rose windows providing new lines, tones of light and color to the buildings. These contours became testimonies of Portuguese daily life in the built environment. They were increasingly complex in their illustrations and ways of occupying surfaces, from housing to significant public works, still in the 17th century.
In its understanding as an image coating, it gains the characteristic that is perhaps the most striking in the collective imagination in the 18th century: the blue palette of colors that portrays biblical and hagiographic narratives. On a white surface, the indigo and aniseed tones look like porcelain and convey an image of even more refinement for the environment.
The prominence of the Portuguese tile increased even more as time passed by. It then began to change the experience in the public space by spreading across panels in the city, in the second half of the 20th century, along with the concept of Public Art.
With the weight of their heritage wealth, Portuguese tiles still have great influence and are incorporated into the country's contemporary architecture. Artists and architects seek new ways to introduce the element in their works, avoiding its musealization and in a constant dialogue with the past.
Besides the traditional uses, it is possible to find examples in which the tile appears as an inspiration to reinterpret the Lusitanian imaginary in other ways: from tapestry to new, created patterns that mix different materials and play with light and shadow.
If we think of the tile as a ceramic piece, it is still possible to find several examples that do not explore motives to expose a narrative. They are linked to a geometric rigor that can be monochromatic or that creates different patterns and rhythms that move the eye through the work. In this sense, its material texture is still present, but new colors and ways of introducing the element into space appear.
Reference: Portuguese Tile: World Heritage. GlazeArch2015. International Conference - Glazed Ceramics in Architectural Heritage.
