Hall of Lost Steps

This hall is furnished and decorated as if it was a Waiting Room. Its name – Hall of Lost Footsteps – relates to the people who would walk from one side to the other while waiting. Thus, people would be walking in a confined space leading nowhere.

It is not known exactly how this area would have looked like originally. In this area, only the ground floor survived until the 20th century. During the architectural intervention carried out between 1937 and 1959, it was decided to add two other floors to the ground floor, thus creating the Hall of Lost Steps as we know it today.

Here one may find a variety of objects, such as textiles, paintings, furniture, ceramics, metals…

One’s gaze is immediately drawn to two enormous tapestries – part of a series of four – known as the “Pastrana Tapestries”. The designation comes from the fact that they are unique copies of the late 15th-century tapestries housed in the Museo Parroquial de Tapices de Pastrana (Spain).

This series narrates the conquest of the North African city of Asilah in 1471 (depicted in three tapestries) and the capture of Tangier (one tapestry), which took place during the reign of King Afonso V of Portugal. It is most likely a royal commission produced in one of the Flemish manufacturing centres (Tournai, Belgium) in the third quarter of the 15th century. It has been suggested that «the tapestries would have taken between three to five years to complete, with four looms operating simultaneously and sixteen to twenty weavers» (Maria Antónia Quina). This is a unique work of its kind in Europe and in the world, depicting with historical accuracy the military events that occurred, which are also corroborated by documentation.

Furniture is represented by several chestnut wood tables dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. There are also several Indo-Portuguese cabinets made of teak wood with ebony and ivory inlays, dating from the 17th century. The term “Indo-Portuguese” has been used to designate objects made between the 16th and 18th centuries in the historical context between Portugal and India. Nowadays, some prefer to use the term “Indian production for the Portuguese market”.

From the collection of Porcelain displayed in this Hall, two large – wheel-thrown – pots with lid should be highlighted. They are made of polychrome white porcelain in cobalt blue, green, yellow, sepia and gold. The decoration is European in theme. Within a reserve, the coat of arms of the patron – Sampaio e Melo – may be seen. These pieces are Chinese – dating from the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi period – and were produced between 1700 and 1720.

In a corner of the Hall, there is an iron lectern supporting a Plainchant Book (or Kyriale).