Armadores e armação de igrejas, na cidade do Porto, nos séculos XIX e XX: efemeridade e retabulística

Abstract

The problem of ephemerality in art has almost exclusively focussed on the Baroque and its grandiose celebrations for the elite. The metamorphosis of religious spaces that the diversity of materials and the complexification of liturgical rituals had allowed since the end of the Middle Ages and growing through­out the Modern period has rarely been addressed. Some Portuguese authors have drawn attention to «armadores» (Portuguese name for officials who used to hang textiles and other objects in churches for solemnities) and the ornamentation of churches up until the 18th century. In this work we propose, through written sources and images, particularly photography, to take a closer look at the labour, profile and transformation of these officials and their activity in the city of Porto, Portugal. in the 19th and 20th centuries.