João Maria Correia Ayres de Campos (his surname also graphed Aires de Campos in contemporary Portuguese), 1st
Count of Ameal,
GCC,
CvNSC,
OOPA (
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
, 5 February 1847 – 13 July 1920) was a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
, best known as a great
art collector
A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...
,
maecenas
Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. During the rei ...
and
bibliophile
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books.
Profile
The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...
. He is renowned chiefly for having assembled one of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
's largest and most important private art collections, as well as what was at the time the largest private library in the country; his collections are also famous for having been auctioned ''en masse'' after his death in 1920, leading to the largest
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
recorded in the
Iberian peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
(and one of the largest in Europe) on that decade. Several pieces belonging to him have since been incorporated in the collections of the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, the
Prado
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It migh ...
, the
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga
The Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (; MNAA), also known in English as the National Museum of Ancient Art, is a Portuguese national art museum located in Lisbon. With over 40,000 items spanning a vast collection of painting, sculpture, goldware, fur ...
in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
and the
Soares dos Reis National Museum
Soares dos Reis National Museum ( pt, Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis) is a museum, currently housed in the Carrancas Palace situated in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória, in the northern Portug ...
in
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
.
Early life and family
João Maria Correia Ayres de Campos was born out of wedlock in
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
, the son of
João Correia Ayres de Campos and Leonor da Conceição. His father, a magistrate and amateur
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
who for a number of years represented Coimbra in the
Portuguese National Assembly, only saw to his official legitimation in 1860. From his father the Count of Ameal would eventually inherit a sizeable collection of
manuscripts
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
and
early printed books as well as a small number of
antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
and archaeological artefacts, a legacy which would form the basis of his own private collection.
As a young man, João Maria studied Law at the
University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...
– following on the footsteps of his father, who had pursued the same course of studies there in the 1830s. In 1876, he married Maria Amélia de Sande Mexia Vieira da Mota; issuing from an old landed family with tradition in the areas of
magistrature
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicia ...
and
academia
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
, she was the niece and sole heir of
Carlos Pinto Vieira da Mota, 1st Count of Juncal, who would distinguish himself in the last decades of the nineteenth century as head of the
Portuguese Supreme Court of Justice
The Supreme Court of Justice ( pt, Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, , STJ) is the highest court of law in Portugal without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court.
The judges of the STJ are referred to as "counselors" (''conselhei ...
. They had four children.
His eldest son and successor was
João de Sande Magalhães Mexia Ayres de Campos, 1st Viscount of Ameal, later 2nd Count of Ameal, a politician and diplomat and a key participant in the failed republican
Municipal Library Elevator Coup
The Municipal Library Elevator Coup ( pt, Golpe do Elevador da Biblioteca), also known as The Elevator Coup (') or 28 January 1908 Coup ('), was the name given for the attempted ''coup d'état'' by members of the Portuguese Republican Party and ...
of 1908.
His grandson, João Francisco de Barbosa Azevedo de Sande Ayres de Campos, 3rd Count of Ameal, would become a prolific author and historian during Portugal's
Estado Novo, signing his works with the pseudonym
João Ameal
João Ameal was the literary pseudonym of Portuguese historian, political theorist, novelist and politician João Francisco de Barbosa Azevedo de Sande Ayres de Campos, 3rd Count of Ameal, GCC, OSE (Coimbra, 23 October 1902 – Lisbon, 23 Nove ...
.
Political career and honours
Having obtained his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in 1874 and his
licentiate in 1875, João Maria Correia Ayres de Campos joined the ''
Partido Regenerador
The Regenerator Party (Portuguese: ''Partido Regenerador'') was a Portuguese political party. Along with their "rivals" the Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Ch ...
'', a conservative
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
opposed to the ''
Partido Progressista'' during the
Liberal Monarchy. Its chairman for the
District of Coimbra
Coimbra District ( pt, Distrito de Coimbra, or ) is located in the Centro Region, Portugal. The district capital is the city of Coimbra.
Municipalities
The district is composed by 17 municipalities:
* Arganil
* Cantanhede
* Coimbra
* Condeixa ...
, he was elected
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of Coimbra (at the time the country's third city in size and importance) in 1893, serving in this position until 1895. Throughout this decade he also served intermittently as deputy to the
Parliament of Portugal
The Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese: ''Assembleia da República'', ), commonly referred to as simply Parliament (Portuguese: ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament ...
, where he was a member of the
parliamentary committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
s for
Public Administration
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...
(1893 and 1894),
Commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
and the
Art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
s (1894) and
Statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
(1897).
Over the course of his public life, Ayres de Campos would be awarded the Grand Cross of the
Military Order of Christ
The Military Order of Christ is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910 it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was ...
, a knighthood in the
Royal Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa and both the Gold and Silver Palms of the French
Ordre des Palmes Académiques
A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...
. In 1890, he was also received as a fellow of the
Lisbon Geographic Society
The Lisbon Geographic Society (Portuguese: ''Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa'') is a Portuguese scientific society created in Lisbon in the year of 1875, aiming to "promote and assist the study and progress of geography and related sciences in Po ...
.
Upon his retirement from active political life in 1901, he was created
Count of Ameal by king
Charles I of Portugal
''Dom'' Carlos I (; English: King Charles of Portugal; 28 September 1863 – 1 February 1908), known as the Diplomat ( pt, o Diplomata), the Martyr ( pt, o Martirizado), and the Oceanographer ( pt, o Oceanógrafo), among many other names, was ...
- a title which refers to the small hamlet in the outskirts of Coimbra where his paternal ascendants had their roots and family home. On the same occasion, his eldest son - a politician and
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
then serving in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
under
Venceslau de Lima
Venceslau de Sousa Pereira de Lima, ComTe, GCTE, ComSE, GCSE, ComC, GCC, ComNSC, GCNSC (15 November 1858 in Porto – 24 December 1919 in Lisbon), also known as Venceslau de Lima and anglicized as Wenceslau de Sousa Pereira de Lima or Wen ...
- was granted the
courtesy title
A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title).
In some co ...
''Viscount of Ameal''.
To embellish his
coat-of-arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...
, he chose the motto ''Ars Super Omnia'' ("Art Above All Things").
The art collection
João Maria Correia Ayres de Campos began to amass his large collection in the 1880s. Having bought the 16th-century buildings of the old
friary and college of Saint Thomas (formerly one of the religious halls of the University of Coimbra and a base of the
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...
) he transformed them into a vast palatial residence, with the complex's original
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
-style
cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
as a centerpiece. The palace's monumental Italianate portico, one of its most remarkable original features, has since been relocated to the
Machado de Castro National Museum
The National Museum Machado de Castro ( pt, Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro) is an art museum in Coimbra, Portugal, named after the renowned Portuguese sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro. It first opened in 1913 and its latest renovation (200 ...
. Over the years, its rooms, several of which still retained their original gothic form despite the building's soberer classical exterior, would be filled with precious furniture,
paintings and about 30.000 rare books, while the palace grew into a vibrant cultural
salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
.
His collection of paintings, which at its height amounted to more than 600 pieces displayed across 10 saloons, included a canvas then attributed to
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...
(''Saint John the Baptist''), one large drawing by
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
(''Head of a Man''), a large ''Glorification of the Virgin'' by
Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
, ''The Earthly Paradise'' by
Jan Brueghel (now in the Louvre) and two portraits of saints by
Zurbarán. The collection further contained two canvases by
Murillo, three by
Greuze
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting.
Biography Early life
Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed h ...
, four by
Ribera and one canvas and four
aquatint
Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. It has also been used h ...
s by
Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...
, as well as a large collection of watercolors by
Turner
Turner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name
*One who uses a lathe for turni ...
and
Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross").
It may refer to:
People
* Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium
* Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...
.
Ameal also gathered a considerable selection of oil paintings and drawings by
Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa (1615 –1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th ...
, an artist then virtually unknown in Portugal but one of his favourite painters, which he procured through emissaries in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
An admirer of contemporary Portuguese painters, particularly of the
Realist school that was then at the height of its popularity, the Count of Ameal also owned a large selection of canvases and drawings by
José Malhoa
José Vital Branco Malhoa, known simply as José Malhoa (28 April 1855 – 26 October 1933) was a Portuguese painter.
Malhoa was, with Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, the leading name in Portuguese naturalist painting in the second half of the ...
,
Columbano and
António Silva Porto. Of the latter, he possessed the famous ''The Boy and His Sheep'', now in the
Soares dos Reis National Museum
Soares dos Reis National Museum ( pt, Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis) is a museum, currently housed in the Carrancas Palace situated in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória, in the northern Portug ...
in
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
. He sponsored some contemporary Portuguese artists, namely Silva Porto's disciple
Ezequiel Pereira, whom he sent to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
in the 1890s.
Towards the end of his life, the Count came to assemble a large collection of gothic sculpture and painting, as well as one of late-medieval and early-modern Portuguese religious painting (the latter chiefly purchased after the suppression of the property of the
religious orders
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...
by the
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
in 1910).
Other important parts of the Count's collection were his selection of porcelain and
Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
faience
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
, mostly
Iberian and late-medieval, which amounted to around 800 pieces, and his
numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
collection, begun already by his father, which comprised 3558 coins.
Upon the Count's death in 1920, his widow and heirs decided to sell most of the collection, as well as to donate the palace that housed it to a religious order. For that purpose, a major auction was hastily organized in July 1921, the biggest event of the kind in the history of auctioneering in Portugal. Both the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
and the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
sent emissaries to the event, the latter having acquired a large number of porcelain pieces and most of the Count's collection of Islamic faience.
The sale of Ameal's immense library in 1924 was described in a series of chronicles by Gustavo de Matos Sequeira in the periodical ''O Mundo'', later compiled in the book ''No Leilão Ameal'' (1925). These record the sale of his extensive collection of
illuminated manuscripts
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...
, as well as of his edition of the
Nuremberg Chronicle
The ''Nuremberg Chronicle'' is an illustrated encyclopedia consisting of world historical accounts, as well as accounts told through biblical paraphrase. Subjects include human history in relation to the Bible, illustrated mythological creatures, ...
and other
incunabula
In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...
.
Death and burial
The 1st Count of Ameal died in
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
in 1920, aged 74. He had designed for himself, his wife and his descendants an exquisite octagonal gothic pantheon in Coimbra's cemetery of ''Conchada'', which was completed in 1899. The 10-meter-tall monument, comprising a relatively small chapel at ground level and a crypt with six floors beneath, has been considered one of the masterpieces of Portuguese
gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
.
[Ana Lídia Pinto, Fernanda Meireles and Manuela Cernadas Cambotas, ''História da Arte ocidental e portuguesa, das origens ao final do século XX'' (Porto, 2006), p. 458.] Bearing a number of allusions to
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
's
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
, the structure is adorned with eagles,
griffins
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back ...
and lilies, its spire topped by an over-lifesize statue of
Beatrice. The works on this monument were led by sculptor
Costa Mota Tio, who had been responsible for the
revivalist reconstruction of the eastern wing of the
Jerónimos Monastery
The Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery ( pt, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, ) is a former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome near the Tagus river in the parish of Belém, in the Lisbon Municipality, Portugal. It became the necropolis o ...
in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, and include a great deal of sculpture by João Machado, famous for his work on the
Buçaco Palace
The Buçaco Palace is a former convent that today houses a luxury hotel located in the Buçaco mountain range, in the municipality of Mealhada, in central Portugal.José Mattoso História de Portugal - Volume 5 1993 - Page 678 "Palace Hotel do ...
.
The pantheon is still in use by the Count's descendants today.
Trivia
* The name of the ''Rua Aires de Campos'', a street in central Coimbra, is often thought to refer to the Count of Ameal; in fact, its name alludes to his father, Dr.
João Correia Ayres de Campos, who was a distinguished local politician and amateur archaeologist in his own right.
See also
*
Count of Ameal
*
João Ameal
João Ameal was the literary pseudonym of Portuguese historian, political theorist, novelist and politician João Francisco de Barbosa Azevedo de Sande Ayres de Campos, 3rd Count of Ameal, GCC, OSE (Coimbra, 23 October 1902 – Lisbon, 23 Nove ...
*
João Correia Ayres de Campos
*
Palácio da Justiça (Coimbra)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres de Campos, Joao Maria Correia
1847 births
1920 deaths
Legislators in Portugal
People from Coimbra
19th-century Portuguese people
University of Coimbra alumni
Portuguese nobility