This, in a sense, is the
natural course of things, as, generally, illumination has preceded the
other kinds of painting.
With regard to Portugal, very little is recorded that does not in some
way connect itself with Spain. So we find that Antonio and Francesco de
Holanda, seemingly of Netherlandish origin, are mentioned in relation to
the books illuminated for the Royal Monastery of Thomar; Francesco also
worked for the monastery of Belem. Francesco de Holanda was a great
admirer and imitator of Clovio, but he always insisted that his father
Antonio was the inventor of the method of "stippling," as the finishing
with minute points of colour is technically called, which was brought to
such perfection by Clovio and his scholars and imitators.
Taken altogether, the work of the Spanish illuminators at the Escorial
and those of Toledo and Seville is really the same, with just the
variations we might expect from pupils and imitators, as that of their
masters in Genoa, Rome, Venice, or Bruges. Examples of it may be seen
occasionally in diplomas, such as are found in the British Museum and
other public libraries, as, _e.g._ Claud. B. x. Lansd. 189, Add. 12214,
18191, 27231, etc.
In 1572, the same year in which Luiz de Camoens published his Lusiades,
an accomplished calligrapher, Miguel Barata, published an elaborate
treatise on his own art, then in high repute.
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