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The second half of the eighteenth century is a period when the activity of tile masters and tile painters in Lisbon is still poorly documented and, therefore, also understudied.
After the 1755 earthquake, in the period of the so-called Pombaline reconstruction, we witnessed a progressive reconstruction effort and a reorganization of the economic and social fabric of the city. In order to meet the new challenges they were faced with, master tilers organized themselves into societies aiming at securing the necessary capital to carry out their contracts while tile painters created a society to ensure fair pay for all painting work.
Now unveiled, these societies’ notarial documentation allows us not only to better understand their working methods, but also to better identify many of the main master tilers and tile painters, among those who were active in Lisbon in the third quarter of the eighteenth century.