João Paulo Freire e Carlos de Passos, Mafra, Col. Monumentos de Portugal, nº 1, Porto, Ed. Litografia Nacional, 1933

THE CHURCH

The principal façade is 220 metres longo At its extremities stand two gigantic towers and in the middle rises the basilica, which is a perfect specimen of the pompous and grandiose italIanism of Miguel Angelo, remarkable in the harmony of its proportions and colours (as was already described by Raczinsky). Enthusiastic praise has been lavished by all critics on the interior, even by those who did not spare Ludovici their censure. Not only lhe architecture, a classlc master-piece in his profiles and lines (both as regards the artistic execution and technique), but also its decoration (the splendid marbles it contains) (1), make the church an admirable structure of beauty and solemn grandeur. It is in the form of a Latin cross and is 62,50 metres long forming an almost square body with the side chapels. Some would have it a copy on a reduced scale of St. Peter's in Rome, There are in truth some analogies between the two churches, but it is a fact that inspiration drawn from the Itallan renaissance was general at the time.

The façade which is surmounted by a pediment and has a tower on each side is made up of two parts which reveal an observance of the rules of Vignola, the De Benedictione balcony jutting out from the upper one; in the tympanum of the pediment at the extremities of which are flame-resembling flnials, there is flxed a jasper slab carved in relief representing the group of the Vlrgin, the Holy Child and Saint Anthony, the titulars of the Church.

The towers 68 metres high rise in 5 storeys, the 1^st and 2^nd of which, subject to the Renaissance style of Vignola, contrast / 116 /  with the others in Portuguese baroque style of the 18th century, which in Dieulafoy's opinion revealed the Portuguese temperarnent. Flame-bearing urins ornament the 5^th and it is terminated by bulbous domes from which rise vanes(2). The north tower holds 55 bells and the south one 54, their weight amounting to 217.000 kilos of bronze; 46 and 17 of them respectively make up the celebrated carillons(3). They are among the best in the world and unique in the Peninsula. They were made at Antwerp in 1730, and are rung either by hand or automatically. The exact cost is not known, and that has been the cause of various calculations from 1.200.000 francs (gold value), up to 6 million. The most probable must be that of 1.600.000 francs (gold value). In connectlon with this they relate the followlng anecdote: king John V had ordered a carillon, but the factory, thinking the customer was not able to pay, informed him it cost a million of cruzados (2 million francs gold value), and in answer to that somewhat impertinent observation the king is understood to have said: «It's cheap, l'II have two».

A vestibule adorned wlth 22 statues of Carrara marble, of large proportions and set in niches, precedes the church. All of them are the work of Italian sculptors and were made in Italy, as were also the 54 in the interior of the Church and 4 of the façade. They represent the founders of religious orders, apostles, evangelists, doctors of the Church. Some, such as those of St. Vincent, St. Bruno and St. Sebastian, show excellent artistic work. This sculptural group forms the Itallan school, which contrasts with the Portuguese one expressed in the remaining sculptural work, especially the reredosses of the chapels.

The interior strikes one by its sumptuosity and perfect correctness; it is manifest that in It is reproduced the jesuit Italianism of the Church of Jesus in Rome. It is covered by a / 117 / cyllndrlcal vault; along the walls rise twin pilasters with Scamozzi capitals, about which Beckford says he never saw any so well carved. In the side-chapels the reredosses stand out prominently as also the Carrara lunettes with scenes of the life of the Blessed Virgln Mary carved in high relief, which reveal the perfect sculptural work of the Mafra school established by Alexander Giusti (or Justi). In the majestic central portion of the nave rises the imposing dome, and at the extremities of the transepts are the chapels of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin and the Sacred Heart wlth their Carrara reredosses.

The former is shut off by a fine screen of forged iron with sculptured bronze fittings.

The dome is composed of 4 parts: drum, cupola, lantern, and the cupola of this last, imitating that of St. Peter's in Rome, and so being a double one formed by two concentric cupolas. It is incontestably a beautiful and magnificent work of art, among the best of the kind, and strikingly enhances the perspective of the basilica. The lantern was cut out of a single stone, but havlng been struck by lightning in 1766 it was destroyed in part; its cupola is a monolith. From the top of the lantern one can enjoy an admirable panorama with an extensive horizon reaching seawards as far as the Berlengas.

The painting behind the high altar is by Trevisani, an excellent piece of work, representing St. Anthony worshipping the Blessed Virgin. Above it, resting on the pediment, is an enormous crucifix of jasper, 3 metres high, surrounded by a halo of glory, made by the sculptor José Almeida. The sumptuous organs are a prominent feature with their frames of lignum vitae and gilt bronze fittings, which enchanted Byron so highly that he went so far as to say they were the best he knew of. King John VI ordered them to be made in the Arsenal of the Army in 1807. With the 4 in the transepts the church possesses six organs, a fact unique in the world.

In the sacristy is shown a painting by Inacio Oliveira Bernardes, worthy of admiration, representing the Blessed Virgin and St. Francis.

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(1) – Beckford affirmed he had never seen any 50 fine and varied.

(2) – In the 5th storey are the clock-bells; the one that strikes the hours is 2 metros in diameter and weighs 12,000 kilos. When all would be in full suving the grand effect would be felt within a radius of three leagues.

(3) – The biggest bells weigh 10.000 kilos and the smallest 30, each having from 2 to 4 hammers.