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Lettering in Lisbon: The Carmo - Part II
See Part I of my notes on the Carmo.
The Simão Correia font
When we see old things in old buildings like the Carmo, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that they have always been there. Unmoved, perhaps even put there when the place was first built. A large stone font, weighing perhaps half a tonne would be hard to move, surely it wouldn't just wander around?...
In the north aisle of the Carmo is a large, shallow sandstone font, 1.5 metres in diameter. This photo (by Charles Chusseau-Flaviens, public domain) from around 100 years shows several large stone objects in the middle of the nave which are now elsewhere. We can't be certain that the sandstone font was in its current position at that time, but it didn't start its life in this convent, or even on this continent.
When I visited the Carmo in 2016 I took photos of most of the carved lettering that I could see, but for some reason I took only an incomplete set of images of the lettering on this font. This is a composite image showing around half of the inscription around the rim:
The words of the inscription run together somewhat, I don't speak Portugese and I was unable to find a decent record of the font on any English language web sites, but I found a great description of the font in Portugese here (scroll down to page 336). The site gives highlights from a 12-volume history of Portugal, written at the start of the 20th century by Chagas.
The book records the inscription as follows:
SYMAO COREA SENDO CAPYTAM E GOVERNADOR EM A CYDADE DAZAMOK ESTA PYA QUE FOY ACHADA ANTRE OS MOUROS MANDOU TRAZER A ESTE MOSTEYRO QUE ELLE fundou A SUA PROPYA CUSTA
The single word in lower case here, fundou, is assumed to be the word on a broken section of the rim - damage sustained perhaps during the great earthquake of 1755.
In English the inscriptions reads (roughly):
SIMAO COREA BEING CAPTAIN AND GOVERNOR IN THE CITY OF AZAMOR THIS FONT WHICH WAS FOUND AMONG THE MOORS WAS SENT TO THIS MONASTERY WHICH HE founded AT HIS COST
Simão Correia was the governor of the city of Azamor, now named Azemmour, about 50km SW of Casablanca in Morocco. In 1486 the city came under the control of King João II of Portugal. The inscription says that the font was found among the Moors - the Moorish people in North Africa - so may have had some quite different use when it was made. It appears Correia had the inscription carved when the font was first moved from Morocco to Portugal.
The inscription also says that Correia had it sent to "this monastery", but that does not refer to the Carmo. Correia founded a monastery elsewhere, according to Chagas, Nossa Senhora da Esperança; in Portimão, in 1530.
The convent founded by Correia is now partly derelict, privately owned and not open to visitors (image from Google Maps):
Large and heavy this font may be but it has travelled from where it was made in Morocco at some unknown date, first to Portimão, then a further 250 km north to Lisbon to the Carmo. Has the font moved to different positions around the Carmo?... and I wonder where it will go next?
See Part I of my notes on the Carmo.