COSTA E SILVA, José da - b. 1747 Lisboa, d. 1819 Rio de Janeiro - WGA

COSTA E SILVA, José da

(b. 1747 Lisboa, d. 1819 Rio de Janeiro)

Portuguese architect. His work helped establish Neoclassical architecture in Portugal and colonial Brazil.

He studied architecture in Rome, where he had contact with Italian Neoclassicism. He later became Royal architect, and headed several important projects in Portugal. Among his most important works are the Royal Theatre of São Carlos (1793) in Lisbon and the Military Hospital (1792) near Torres Vedras. He is also believed to be the author of Séteais Palace (1801) in Sintra. In Lisbon, Costa e Silva and the Italian Francisco Xavier Fabri (1761-1807) created the project for the Royal Palace of Ajuda (after 1802), which was however too grandiose and could not be completed.

In 1807, Costa e Silva went to Brazil together with John VI and the Portuguese court, which had to escape the invasion of Portugal by Napoleonic troops. In Rio de Janeiro, which became capital of the Portuguese Empire, Costa e Silva designed an opera house in Neoclassical style. This opera house, called Royal Theatre of St John and modelled after the São Carlos of Lisbon, was one of the first Neoclassical buildings in Brazilian soil. It was later destroyed in a fire.

Exterior view

Most of the monuments of the idyllic town of Sintra either date back to the 15th and 16th centuries or can be seen as part of the historicising movements of the second half of the 20th century. Nevertheless, the rediscovery of this town belongs to the Neoclassical period. The densely forested Atlantic coastline had enchanted both the Romans and the Moors, and ultimately the Portuguese kings proceeded to build their summer residences here. In the 19th century the area became a destination for English and German travelers, looking for the spirit of Romanticism, and they discovered in Sintra living traces of Portugal’s diverse culture.

Neoclassicism had only a minor influence in Sintra, though wealthy merchants built their villas here. The largest of these is the Pal�cio dos S�teais, begun in 1787. The owner of this palace, which features clearly demarcated buildings and a central triumphal arch, was a Dutch diamond merchant, who was also consul.

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Exterior view

Lisbon’s new opera house was erected in just six months in 1793 due to the generous donations from the city’s merchants. The coherently Neoclassical structure replaced the famous opera house of Giovanni Carlo Bibbiena on the bank of Tejo, which had been destroyed in the earthquake of 1755.

Costa e Silva looked to Italian models. For the exterior he chose the austere but dignified forms of the Scala in Milan - a rusticated ground floor with dramatically projecting portico - while the interior recalls the opera house in Naples, which also bore the name of San Carlo.

The Teatro de São Carlos signaled the arrival of Neoclassicism as the legitimate architectural style for buildings representing the interests of the middle classes.

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Exterior view

The Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon signaled the arrival of Neoclassicism as the legitimate architectural style for buildings representing the interests of the middle classes. Court architecture, on the other hand, found it difficult to shake off entirely the influence of Baroque. An example was provided by the laying of the foundation in 1802 for the new Pal�cio da Ajuda, which had been destroyed by fire. The residence was begun from plans by Francisco Xavier Fabri (1761-1807) and Jos� da Costa e Silva. Napoleon’s invasion, however, prevented work from progressing, and it was finished only in 1835.

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