Diptych of the Altarpiece of Porto da Luz

The Diptych of the Porto da Luz Altarpiece is a diptych of oil paintings on oak wood from around 1555 by the Portuguese Mannerist painter Diogo de Contreiras, who initially intended to decorate a Chapel in Porto da Luz, Alenquer, and which is currently in a private collection. The work stems from being one of the last works of Diogo de Contreiras, due to the fact that the commissioner of the work is portrayed, and because, what was rare, the structure of the Altarpiece is preserved in full, despite the illegitimate painting about carpentry that distorted the quality of the Renaissance carving. Diptych of the Porto da Luz Altarpiece is a work of exception, reflecting the two paintings by Contreiras, their classicist and Italianizing formation with longilineous figures and elegant design, a sophisticated design of planning and a competent application of a rich palette. Comparatively, the panel of the Holy Martyrs is superior to that of the Holy Martyrs, which is also more deteriorated and revealing less dynamism in the expression of the characters and a visual distance from the center of the Altarpiece. In a 1962 book, Notable Monuments and Buildings of the District of Lisbon, he refers to Altarpiece: “The small Chapel, although very simple, with its 16th-century door and triumphal arch, has a Renaissance Altarpiece with two remarkable paintings by Santos and Santas. The panel on the side of the Gospel, above all, is distinguished by the presence of a portrait of the donor of exceptional pictorial quality”.