Decorative Arts in Lisbon 18th Century Apparatus Staircases

Abstract

The apparatus staircase in the Baroque Palace is a typical artistic phenomenon of the eighteenth century, subsidiary of the Italian architectural culture that intended to express to the visitor the resident’s social status. However, in Portugal, the architectural compositions by the Italian way will be considered too cold and austere, with its patrons proceeded at a later stage, its “improvement” through the application of decorative arts, such as azulejo, plasters or metal guards. In other cases, more disconnected from the Italian model, the staircase is designed to receive panels of figurative azulejos, which acquire a large role in the set, even subordinating the architecture. Later in Pombal time, they lose importance and are replaced with more economical solutions, such as pattern azulejos, plasters or mural paintings imitating ornamental stones. Anyway, this association in the apparatus staircase between architecture and decorative arts is a typical phenomenon of Portuguese cultural universe.