Church of Nossa Senhora da Encarnação

The destruction caused by the 1755 earthquake and by the fire that followed damaged the building a great deal and forced the Santíssimo Sacramento Fraternity to order a plan for the architectural and decorative renewal of the church. Two of the most renowned perspective painters of Lisbon responded to the appeal: Simão Caetano Nunes, who painted the sacristy ceiling, and Gaspar José Raposo, his disciple, who took care of the chancel's ceiling.

In 1802, a fire inside the church destroye d the Baroque ceiling of the aisle and, once again, the Santíssimo Sacramento Fraternity tried to renew the decoration by ordering a new ceiling and new side altars, this time to José António Mateus and João Rodrigues, respectively. The inauguration of the new interior took place in 1826 and this is considered as the last great work done inside the temple, without considering the one which happened in the 20th century, when the façade was finished.

The effects of pollution and natural erosion on the ceilings of the aisle and the chancel were responsible, at the beginning of the 21st century, for a blurred vision of their artistic and architectural values. World Monuments Fund and its patrons, in collaboration with the restoration company Junqueira 220, in charge of the recuperation and preservation of the material conditions of these ceilings, so that, in an integrated perspective, Art History can carry on adding new visions to the study of ceiling paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries.

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