Name of Monument:

Biblioteca Joanina da Universidade de Coimbra

Also known as:

Casa da Livraria (Library house)

Location:

Parish of Sé Nova, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Date:

1728

Artists:

Architects: Gaspar Ferreira, Manuel Moreira; supervisor: João Carvalho Ferreira; stonemason: António Martins João; glazier: André Salgado; facade: attributed to Claude de Laprade; bookshelves: Gaspar Ferreira; woodwork: Francesco Gualdini; painting: Domenico Duprà, António Simões Ribeiro; ceiling paintings: Vicente Nunes, Manuel da Silva (chinoiserie) [dates unknown]

Denomination / Type of monument:

Secular, library

Patron(s):

King João V, during the rectorships of Nuno da Silva Telles II, Pedro de Baena and Francisco Carneiro de Figueiroa at the University of Coimbra.

History:

In 1716 the rector of the university requested of King João V some simple improvements to the university library in order to store new books on theology, philosophy and law acquired with the University’s new curricula. The King, however, saw this as an opportunity to aim higher and gave the university permission to construct a new, modern library.

Description:

Outside, the royal coat of arms crowns the Baroque doorway as a memento of royal patronage. Inside, two identical triumphal arches link the three rooms and create a multiplicity of images that attract the eye to King João V's portrait overlooking the Library like an altar in a church.
Competing with the Golden Libraries of central Europe, the chinoiserie motifs on the bookshelves, give the visitor a taste of exoticism, while the allegorical trompe l'oeil ceiling paintings recall Portuguese participation in globalisation.
In this “noble” floor open to visitors, the shelves contain 28,943 books, but two more levels of shelving are in use today below this one where around 30,000 rare and antique books are stored.

The Library of the University of Coimbra is an important example of civil Baroque architecture during the reign of King João V, and one of the most beautiful libraries in Europe. The main façade, with its four huge monolithic columns and arches connecting three spacious interior rooms, underline the notion that these are royal entrances to knowledge stored away in the library bookcases that cover the walls.
On the wall facing the door is a portrait of King João V by the royal painter G. D. Duprà. The allegorical trompe l'oeil ceiling paintings by Simões Ribeiro (1723) create the illusion of the library being larger than it really is.

How Monument was dated:

Documents

Special features

Library Façade

Exterior

1723

Attributed to Claude Laprade [n.d.]

Magnificent Baroque façade in limestone with four huge columns crowned by the royal coat of arms and the phrase “So highly are books praised here in Coimbra that a library crowns the city head”.

Large reading tables

Interior, Biblioteca Joanina da Universidade de Coimbra

1724

Design and execution: Francesco Gualdini [n.d.]

The six large tables (buffets) in multi-coloured and exotic woods are all slightly different and designed to match each room.

Middle room balcony railings

Interior, Biblioteca Joanina da Universidade de Coimbra

1724

Design and execution: Francesco Gualdini, João Rodrigues de Almeida; supervisor: Gaspar Ferreira; painting and gilding of woodwork: Manuel da Silva [dates unknown]

Each room has a different colour scheme and decorative emphasis with multicoloured bookshelves of different lacquered finishes in green, red and black decorated with chinoiserie motifs. Each of the rooms is two-storeys high, with a balcony and stairs incorporated into the furniture.

Portrait of João V

Interior, Biblioteca Joanina da Universidade de Coimbra

1725(?)

Giorgio Domenico Duprà [n.d.]

The portrait of the King João V emerges from a sort of a “rideau de scène” in carved wood, upheld by angels. The oil on canvas painting is by Domenico Duprà, royal painter in Lisbon before 1730.

Detail of ceiling painting

Interior, Biblioteca Joanina da Universidade de Coimbra

1723

António Simões Ribeiro and Vicente Nunes [n.d.]

The Trompe l'oeil ceiling painting depicts three manifestations of Wisdom: an allegory of the library (Bibliotheca), of the university (Universitas) and of the encyclopaedia (Encyclopaedia).

Selected bibliography:

Raczinski, Le Comte A., Les Arts au Portugal, lettres adréssées à la Société artistique et Scientifique de Berlin (...), Paris, 1846.
Pimentel, A. F., "O gosto oriental na obra das estantes da Livraria da Universidade de Coimbra", IV Simpósio Luso-espanhol de História da Arte, Coimbra, 1987.
Pereira, J. F., Pereira, P. (dir.), Dicionário da Arte Barroca, Lisbon, 1989.
Amaral, A. E. Maia do (co-ord.), Tesouros da Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra. Coimbra, 2009.

Additional Copyright Information:

Copyright images: Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra.

Citation of this web page:

A. E.  Maia do Amaral "Biblioteca Joanina da Universidade de Coimbra" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;pt;Mon11;11;en

Prepared by: A. E. Maia do AmaralA. E. Maia do Amaral

SURNAME: Maia do Amaral
NAME: António Eugénio

AFFILIATION: General Library, University of Coimbra

TITLE: Deputy Director

CV:
António Eugénio Maia do Amaral has been a Senior Librarian since 1986 and is currently the Deputy Director at the General Library of the University of Coimbra. His main areas of expertise are Portuguese manuscripts and Chinese woodblock prints. He has published over 50 articles and books on these topics and maintains a website dedicated to Chinese prints.
Translation by: A. E. Maia do AmaralA. E. Maia do Amaral

SURNAME: Maia do Amaral
NAME: António Eugénio

AFFILIATION: General Library, University of Coimbra

TITLE: Deputy Director

CV:
António Eugénio Maia do Amaral has been a Senior Librarian since 1986 and is currently the Deputy Director at the General Library of the University of Coimbra. His main areas of expertise are Portuguese manuscripts and Chinese woodblock prints. He has published over 50 articles and books on these topics and maintains a website dedicated to Chinese prints.
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: PT 11