Books and reading

Where Publications gathers the bibliography by theme, this page gives it the form of a reading note: brief comments on works worth having on the shelf. The section will grow over time.

Walter Rossa, A Urbe e o Traço (2002)

A collection of studies on Portuguese urban culture and the concept of the “Portuguese city”. Dense, but unavoidable for anyone wishing to think about the city beyond the history of styles. It establishes the vocabulary with which the urbanism of Portuguese matrix is discussed today.

Paulo Pereira (ed.), História da Arte Portuguesa

The standard panoramic synthesis, in several volumes. Useful above all as a work of reference: it allows any monument to be situated in the sequence of periods and offers an abundant body of images. A good starting point before descending into the monographic detail.

José Meco, O Azulejo em Portugal (1989)

The classic introduction to the azulejo, which fixed the periodisation in common use today. It combines the rigour of the art historian with the clarity needed for a subject that spans five centuries and a thousand buildings.

The reading notes are reasoned opinions of the project, not academic reviews. For the full bibliographic reference, see Publications.