Jardim Botânico de Coimbra: contraponto entre a Arte e a ... - artez
Jardim Botânico de Coimbra: contraponto entre a Arte e a ... - artez
Jardim Botânico de Coimbra: contraponto entre a Arte e a ... - artez
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<strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>: <strong>contraponto</strong> <strong>entre</strong> a <strong>Arte</strong> e a Ciência<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n: Counterpoint between Art and Science<br />
O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> nasce com a<br />
reforma pombalina da Universida<strong>de</strong>, constituindo<br />
um dos mais fiéis reflexos do espírito<br />
e objectivos que a impulsionaram. Com<br />
efeito, a renovação científica e pedagógica<br />
dos estudos, <strong>de</strong> acordo com as novas directrizes<br />
emanadas do movimento das Luzes<br />
e do experimentalismo, traduziu-se numa<br />
<strong>de</strong>cidida aposta nas faculda<strong>de</strong>s naturais,<br />
necessariamente apoiadas por estabelecimentos<br />
capazes <strong>de</strong> à teoria aliar a prática,<br />
introduzindo no processo <strong>de</strong> aprendizagem<br />
a observação e a <strong>de</strong>monstração 1 .<br />
É certo que o projecto <strong>de</strong> criação <strong>de</strong> uma<br />
tal valência na cida<strong>de</strong> não era novo pois,<br />
durante o longo reitorado <strong>de</strong> Francisco<br />
Carneiro <strong>de</strong> Figueiroa, Jacob <strong>de</strong> Castro Sarmento<br />
enviara àquele reitor, um plano, i<strong>de</strong>alizado<br />
pelo arquitecto E. Oakley, com data<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1731, para a realização <strong>de</strong> um jardim<br />
botânico. O projecto [1] apresentava semelhanças<br />
com o Chelsea Physic Gar<strong>de</strong>n <strong>de</strong><br />
Londres, o que se po<strong>de</strong>rá explicar, não só<br />
pelo facto <strong>de</strong> Jacob Sarmento ter estado<br />
em Inglaterra, on<strong>de</strong> foi membro do Real<br />
Colégio dos Médicos, como também pela<br />
familiarida<strong>de</strong> <strong>entre</strong> o arquitecto Oakley e o<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> londrino, para o qual <strong>de</strong>senharia, por<br />
esta altura, o projecto das estufas.<br />
Esta proposta pioneira <strong>de</strong>nunciava já o<br />
intuito <strong>de</strong> articular a mo<strong>de</strong>rnização da ciência<br />
botânica com o <strong>de</strong>senvolvimento da<br />
medicina. Não passaria, contudo, do papel,<br />
sendo necessário aguardar pelo pragmatismo<br />
férreo da «nova fundação» para que<br />
a formulação concreta <strong>de</strong> um horto botânico<br />
no espaço da Universida<strong>de</strong> visse a luz<br />
do dia.<br />
Os novos Estatutos foram publicados em<br />
1772, na sequência do Compêndio histórico<br />
do estado da Universida<strong>de</strong>, apresen-<br />
JoAnA BriteS<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n dates from the<br />
Pombaline reform of the University, and<br />
faithfully reflects the spirit and aims of<br />
those times. In<strong>de</strong>ed, it emerged out of the<br />
scientific and pedagogical changes that<br />
were introduced in or<strong>de</strong>r to bring the curriculum<br />
into line with the values of the<br />
Enlightenment and experimentalism; this<br />
led to investment in science faculties, supported<br />
by establishments that emphasized<br />
the practical component, introducing<br />
observation and <strong>de</strong>monstration into the<br />
learning process 1 .<br />
The i<strong>de</strong>a to create a botanical gar<strong>de</strong>n in the<br />
city was not in fact new. A plan for one [1],<br />
drawn up by the architect E.Oakley in 1731,<br />
had been sent to the rector of the University,<br />
Francisco Carneiro <strong>de</strong> Figueiroa, during<br />
his long period in office, by Jacob <strong>de</strong> Castro<br />
Sarmento. That first pioneering project,<br />
which aimed at forging links between a<br />
mo<strong>de</strong>rnized botanical science and medicine,<br />
bore some resemblance to the Chelsea<br />
Physic Gar<strong>de</strong>n in London, which is not surprising<br />
if we consi<strong>de</strong>r that Jacob Sarmento<br />
had spent some time in England, where he<br />
was a member of the Royal College of Physicians,<br />
and that Oakley in fact <strong>de</strong>signed the<br />
greenhouses for that gar<strong>de</strong>n at around the<br />
same time. However, it did not get further<br />
than the drawing board. It was necessary<br />
to await the iron pragmatism of the “new<br />
foundation” before any project could properly<br />
come to fruition.<br />
In 1772, the new Statutes were published,<br />
following the presentation, in 1771, to the<br />
king of the “Historical Compendium of the<br />
State of the University” by the Literary Provi<strong>de</strong>nce<br />
Committee (which had been charged<br />
in 1770 with analysing the causes of the<br />
University’s <strong>de</strong>cline and suggesting ways in<br />
31
tado ao rei em 1771, pela Junta <strong>de</strong> Providência<br />
Literária, encarregue em 1770 <strong>de</strong> analisar<br />
as causas da <strong>de</strong>cadência da Universida<strong>de</strong> e<br />
apontar os meios para a sua reestruturação.<br />
A par da profunda reformulação das faculda<strong>de</strong>s<br />
existentes – Teologia, Cânones, Leis e<br />
Medicina –, era extinta a das <strong>Arte</strong>s e criadas<br />
a <strong>de</strong> Matemática e a <strong>de</strong> Filosofia, ocupandose<br />
esta das Ciências da Natureza. Previa-se<br />
ainda a construção <strong>de</strong> diversos equipamentos:<br />
o hospital escolar, o teatro anatómico, o<br />
dispensatório farmacêutico (anexos à Faculda<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> Medicina); o observa tório astronómico<br />
(<strong>de</strong>pen<strong>de</strong>nte da Faculda<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> Matemática);<br />
e os gabinetes <strong>de</strong> História Natural<br />
e <strong>de</strong> Física Experimental, o Laboratório<br />
Químico e o <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> (agregados à<br />
Faculda<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> Filosofia).<br />
Com o propósito <strong>de</strong> complementar o Gabinete<br />
<strong>de</strong> História Natural, os Estatutos preconizavam<br />
a indispensabilida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> um jardim<br />
botânico, ditando, <strong>de</strong>s<strong>de</strong> logo, os objectivos<br />
a que este espaço <strong>de</strong>veria obe<strong>de</strong>cer:<br />
“Ainda que no Gabinete <strong>de</strong> Historia Natural<br />
se incluem as Producções do Reino Vegetal;<br />
como porém não po<strong>de</strong>m ver-se nelle as<br />
Plantas, senão nos seus Cadaveres, secos,<br />
macerados, e embalsamados; será necessario<br />
para complemento da mesma Historia o<br />
Estabelecimento <strong>de</strong> hum <strong>Jardim</strong> Botanico,<br />
no qual se mostrem as Plantas vivas. Pelo<br />
que: No lugar, que se achar mais proprio, e<br />
competente nas vizinhanças da Universida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
se establecerá logo o dito <strong>Jardim</strong>: Para<br />
que nelle se cultive todo o genero <strong>de</strong> Plantas;<br />
e particularmente aquellas, das quaes se<br />
conhecer, ou se esperar algum prestimo na<br />
Medicina, e nas outras <strong>Arte</strong>s; havendo o cuidado,<br />
e provi<strong>de</strong>ncia necessaria, para se ajuntarem<br />
as Plantas dos meus Dominios Ultramarinos,<br />
os quaes tem riquezas immensas,<br />
no que pertence ao Reino Vegetal.” 2<br />
No sentido <strong>de</strong> levar à prática os Estatutos<br />
<strong>de</strong>finidos, Sebastião José <strong>de</strong> Carvalho e<br />
Melo escreve uma carta, a 7 <strong>de</strong> Novembro<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1772, dirigida a D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos<br />
<strong>de</strong> Faria Pereira Coutinho, reitor da Uni-<br />
32<br />
which it could be restructured). With these,<br />
the existing faculties (Theology, Canon Law,<br />
Law and Medicine) were radically restructured,<br />
the Faculty of Arts was extinguished<br />
and new faculties of Mathematics and Philosophy<br />
were created, the last of which was<br />
to concern itself with the Natural Sciences.<br />
The construction of other facilities was also<br />
envisaged, including a teaching hospital,<br />
anatomical theatre, pharmaceutical dispensary<br />
(attached to the Faculty of Medicine),<br />
astronomical observatory (subordinated<br />
to the Faculty of Mathematics), and, within<br />
the Faculty of Philosophy, offices of Natural<br />
History and Experimental Physics, a Chemistry<br />
Laboratory and the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
The Statutes emphasised the importance<br />
of the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n as a complement<br />
to the Natural History Office, and set forth<br />
its aims as follows: “Although the Office of<br />
Natural History contains examples from<br />
the vegetable kingdom, the plants inclu<strong>de</strong>d<br />
therein are no better than corpses, dried,<br />
macerated and embalmed. A Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n is thus a necessary complement to<br />
that History, in or<strong>de</strong>r to display living plants.<br />
Hence, such a gar<strong>de</strong>n shall be established<br />
in an appropriate place in the neighbourhood<br />
of the University, where all manner of<br />
plants shall be cultivated, particularly those<br />
that are known or hoped to offer some benefits<br />
to Medicine and other arts. Plants shall<br />
be collected there from my overseas territories,<br />
which are immensely rich as regards<br />
the vegetable kingdom.” 2<br />
The first step towards putting the Statutes<br />
into practice was taken by Sebastião<br />
José <strong>de</strong> Carvalho e Melo, the Marquis <strong>de</strong><br />
Pombal, in a letter dated 7th November<br />
1772 addressed to D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos <strong>de</strong><br />
Faria Pereira Coutinho, rector of the University<br />
and main executor of the reform. The<br />
letter was accompanied by a list of specifications,<br />
in which a section of the grounds<br />
of the St Bento College was indicated as the<br />
most suitable site for the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
This opinion was corroborated by Domen-
versida<strong>de</strong> e principal executor da reforma,<br />
fazendo-a acompanhar <strong>de</strong> uma memória<br />
on<strong>de</strong> se indicava a porção <strong>de</strong> terreno da<br />
cerca <strong>de</strong> S. Bento como a mais a<strong>de</strong>quada<br />
para a instituição do «Horto <strong>Botânico</strong>», opinião<br />
corroborada por Domenico Van<strong>de</strong>lli,<br />
encarregado da direcção do novel <strong>Jardim</strong>,<br />
que então se encontrava na corte.<br />
A respeito da referida implantação acrescentava<br />
ainda que “o Abba<strong>de</strong> do Collegio<br />
<strong>de</strong> Saõ Bento, e todos os seus Fra<strong>de</strong>s;<br />
achando-se possuidos por hum terror<br />
pânico <strong>de</strong> que lhe hiam tomar parte do seu<br />
Collegio, e toda a sua cerca para se establecer<br />
o referido Horto: E querendo sacrificar<br />
huma parte para salvar o todo: Me viéram<br />
offerecer pelo seu Procurador Geral o Terreno,<br />
(…) o qual V. S.ª com os Professores da<br />
Faculda<strong>de</strong> po<strong>de</strong> hir ver; <strong>de</strong>marcar, e fazer<br />
murar, logo que se recolherem os Doutores<br />
Ciera, e Van<strong>de</strong>lli”. Rematava apelando<br />
ao uso pru<strong>de</strong>nte da referida oferta, a fim <strong>de</strong><br />
não se esten<strong>de</strong>r para além do indispensável<br />
o Horto que, dizia, em nenhuma parte ter<br />
visto ser “huma Quinta extensa” 3 .<br />
A 3 <strong>de</strong> Fevereiro <strong>de</strong> 1773, o reitor-reformador<br />
tranquilizava o ministro, noticiando-o<br />
<strong>de</strong> que “já se acham n’esta cida<strong>de</strong> os Doutores<br />
Ciera, Van<strong>de</strong>lli e Dalabella, e com<br />
elles e Franzini irei ámanhã ver o sítio que<br />
V.ª Ex.ª <strong>de</strong>signou para n’elle estabelecer-se o<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> Botanico” 4 . Em resposta, o marquês<br />
<strong>de</strong> Pombal anunciava a vinda do tenentecoronel<br />
Guilherme Els<strong>de</strong>n, ensamblador ou<br />
marceneiro londrino, estabelecido em Portugal<br />
pelo menos <strong>de</strong>s<strong>de</strong> 1763, que executava<br />
serviços <strong>de</strong> engenharia e arquitectura.<br />
Era este inglês, igualmente responsável por<br />
outros edifícios da reforma pombalina, que<br />
o estadista encarregava <strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>linear o <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
“pelos apontamentos dos professores” 5 . Aos<br />
docentes cabia, na companhia <strong>de</strong> Francisco<br />
<strong>de</strong> Lemos, o reconhecimento do local.<br />
Cumprida com brevida<strong>de</strong> tal inspecção,<br />
verificou-se, porém, não ser o <strong>de</strong>stinado<br />
sítio o mais apropriado, dada a existência<br />
<strong>de</strong> acentuados <strong>de</strong>sníveis que implicariam<br />
ico Van<strong>de</strong>lli, who had been appointed curator<br />
of the new gar<strong>de</strong>n, and who was at that<br />
time at court.<br />
The letter went on: “The Abbot of the College<br />
of St Bento and all his friars, terrified of<br />
that their college and all its grounds would<br />
be taken over for the establishment of the<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n, and wanting to sacrifice a part to<br />
save the whole, offered me, through their<br />
legal representative, the terrain (…), which<br />
you and your Faculty professors may view,<br />
<strong>de</strong>marcate and enclose, as soon as Doctor<br />
Ciera and Doctor Van<strong>de</strong>lli return”. It conclu<strong>de</strong>d<br />
by urging that the offer be used pru<strong>de</strong>ntly,<br />
not going beyond what was strictly<br />
necessary, for nowhere should the Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
be perceived as “an extensive estate” 3 .<br />
On 3rd February 1773, the reformer rector<br />
informed the Marquis that “Doctors Ciera,<br />
Van<strong>de</strong>lli and Dalabella are now in the city,<br />
and they and Franzini shall go tomorrow<br />
to the site that Your Excellency has <strong>de</strong>signated<br />
for the establishment of the Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n” 4 . In his reply, the Marquis<br />
announced the arrival of Lieutenant Colonel<br />
William Els<strong>de</strong>n, a joiner or cabinetmaker<br />
from London, who had been based<br />
in Portugal since at least 1763, and who performed<br />
services in engineering and architecture.<br />
Els<strong>de</strong>n, who was also responsible<br />
for other buildings of the Pombaline reform,<br />
had been commissioned to <strong>de</strong>marcate the<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n “from the professors’ notes” 5 ; the<br />
professors, for their part, were to survey the<br />
site in the company of Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos.<br />
However, following the brief inspection, it<br />
was <strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d that the site was not really suitable<br />
for the gar<strong>de</strong>n since it contained sharp<br />
differences in level, which would require<br />
“great expense in the creation of terraces<br />
one above the other and even so, would<br />
remain uneven”. The College gar<strong>de</strong>n, located<br />
in Alegria, near the so-called ‘Ínsua dos<br />
Bentos’, was consi<strong>de</strong>red as a second choice,<br />
but was also rejected as not viable “since it<br />
is very cramped, is exposed to flooding of<br />
the Mon<strong>de</strong>go, would also require extensive<br />
33
“fazer uma imensa <strong>de</strong>speza em sucalcos uns<br />
acima dos outros, e ainda <strong>de</strong>pois <strong>de</strong> tudo<br />
isto ficaria sempre irregular”. Pon<strong>de</strong>rada<br />
como segunda possibilida<strong>de</strong> a ocupação da<br />
horta do Colégio, situada na Alegria, junto<br />
à <strong>de</strong>nominada Ínsua dos Bentos, concluiuse<br />
não ser igualmente viável “por ser muito<br />
apertado, ficar exposto ás inundações do<br />
Mon<strong>de</strong>go, necessitar tambem <strong>de</strong> gran<strong>de</strong>s<br />
sucalcos, e ficar longe da Universida<strong>de</strong>”.<br />
Finalmente, uma solução reuniu consenso:<br />
“a parte da mesma cêrca [dos monges beneditinos]<br />
que confronta <strong>de</strong> uma parte os<br />
Arcos da cida<strong>de</strong>, da outra com a estrada que<br />
vae para S. José dos Mariannos, e da outra<br />
com huma vinha dos ditos P. es Mariannos”.<br />
As vantagens <strong>de</strong> tal escolha residiam na<br />
proximida<strong>de</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong> e dos Arcos,<br />
no fácil acesso a água através do Aqueduto<br />
do convento das freiras <strong>de</strong> Santa Ana e<br />
também na “circumstancia <strong>de</strong> ficar o <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
visinho a uma estrada, que indireitada e alinhada<br />
fórma hum bello e necessario passeio<br />
publico para recreação dos Estudantes” 6 .<br />
Num ofício <strong>de</strong> 2 <strong>de</strong> Março <strong>de</strong> 1773, acompanhado<br />
por uma provisão da mesma<br />
data, o marquês <strong>de</strong> Pombal elogiava o cuidado<br />
posto no exame do terreno <strong>de</strong>stinado<br />
ao dito estabelecimento, <strong>de</strong>terminando<br />
a compra do mesmo, bem como a sua<br />
<strong>de</strong>marcação. No espaço <strong>de</strong> meses, os professores<br />
italianos enviam para Lisboa uma<br />
sumptuosa planta para o <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong><br />
da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. Trata-se, presumivelmente,<br />
do <strong>de</strong>senho a tinta-da-china<br />
e aguada sobre papel [2] que se encontra<br />
na biblioteca do Departamento <strong>de</strong> Botânica,<br />
sem data ou assinatura <strong>de</strong>vido à falha<br />
que apresenta na sua parte central supe-<br />
34<br />
terracing and is a long way from the University”.<br />
Finally, a consensus was reached. It was<br />
<strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d to construct the gar<strong>de</strong>n in “that<br />
part of the same grounds [i.e. of the Benedictine<br />
college] that at one si<strong>de</strong> faces the<br />
city Aqueduct, at another faces the road<br />
that goes to S. José dos Mariannos, and<br />
at another a vineyard belonging to those<br />
Marian priests”. The advantages of this site<br />
lay in its proximity to the University and<br />
the Aqueduct, the easy access to water via<br />
the Aqueduct of the convent of Saint Anne,<br />
and also in the fact that "the Gar<strong>de</strong>n will be<br />
next to a road, forming a beautiful straight<br />
public promena<strong>de</strong> for the recreation of the<br />
Stu<strong>de</strong>nts” 6 .<br />
In an official letter of 2nd March 1773,<br />
accompanied by a writ of the same date, the<br />
Marquis praised the care taken in the examination<br />
of the land <strong>de</strong>stined for the Gar<strong>de</strong>n,<br />
and announced his <strong>de</strong>cision to purchase it<br />
and or<strong>de</strong>r its <strong>de</strong>marcation. Within months,<br />
the Italian professors had sent a sumptuous<br />
plant to Lisbon <strong>de</strong>stined for the Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n of the University of <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
This is presumably what is represented in<br />
a Chinese ink and watercolour drawing on<br />
paper [2] in the Botany Department library,<br />
though unfortunately its date and signature<br />
are missing due to the fact that the part of<br />
the paper where this information would<br />
have been given, together with the key to<br />
the plan, is torn.<br />
The massive project for the Gar<strong>de</strong>n is<br />
remarkably similar to the undated “Sketch<br />
of the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n for the University<br />
of <strong>Coimbra</strong>” [3] by Júlio Mattiazzi, published<br />
together with the other “Sketches<br />
for Works on the University of <strong>Coimbra</strong>” in<br />
1983 by the Machado <strong>de</strong> Castro National<br />
Museum. This project was probably prepared<br />
after the other, since it is somewhat<br />
simplified in relation to it. It contains fewer<br />
flowerbeds, fountains and sculptures, and<br />
the arboretum is laid out differently, in the<br />
form of a square subdivi<strong>de</strong>d into four.
ior, on<strong>de</strong> se leriam essas informações, bem<br />
como as legendas do plano.<br />
O colossal projecto do <strong>Jardim</strong> apresenta<br />
uma notória semelhança com o Risco do<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> para a Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> [3], não datado, da autoria <strong>de</strong><br />
Júlio Mattiazzi, publicado juntamente com<br />
outros Riscos das obras da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, em 1983, pelo Museu Nacional <strong>de</strong><br />
Machado <strong>de</strong> Castro. Este projecto foi, com<br />
probabilida<strong>de</strong>, formulado a jusante do primeiro,<br />
pois <strong>de</strong>nota em relação a ele alguma<br />
simplificação. As diferenças resultam da<br />
redução do número <strong>de</strong> canteiros e <strong>de</strong> fontes<br />
<strong>de</strong> repuxo, bem como das peças escultóricas.<br />
O arboreto evi<strong>de</strong>ncia ainda uma disposição<br />
distinta, assumindo a forma <strong>de</strong> um<br />
quadrado, subdividido em quatro.<br />
Ambos os <strong>de</strong>senhos <strong>de</strong>nunciam fortes paralelismos<br />
com o <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong> Pádua,<br />
fundado em 1545. Com efeito, o esquema<br />
do círculo <strong>de</strong> canteiros que envolve o quadrado<br />
central, dividido, por sua vez, em<br />
quatro canteiros, é comum aos dois hortos.<br />
A distribuição das fontes <strong>de</strong> repuxo nesta<br />
zona coinci<strong>de</strong> igualmente, tal como se verifica<br />
pelo confronto das respectivas plantas.<br />
Ora, esta «marca» paduana <strong>de</strong>ve ser compreendida<br />
à luz do percurso <strong>de</strong> dois homens,<br />
cujo rumo passou quer por Pádua, quer por<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>. Referimo-nos a Domenico Van<strong>de</strong>lli<br />
e a Júlio Mattiazzi, ambos nascidos na<br />
dita cida<strong>de</strong> italiana e familiarizados com o<br />
seu <strong>Jardim</strong>. O primeiro, naturalista <strong>de</strong> reconhecido<br />
prestígio, concluiu os cursos <strong>de</strong><br />
filosofia natural e medicina na Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> Pádua em 1761 e manteve correspondência<br />
com Lineu <strong>entre</strong> 1759 e 1773. Chega<br />
a Lisboa, a convite do marquês <strong>de</strong> Pombal,<br />
em 1764, à partida <strong>de</strong>stinado à docência<br />
no Colégio dos Nobres mas, na realida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
sem exercício <strong>de</strong> funções oficiais até 1768,<br />
altura em que aparece nomeado para dirigir<br />
as obras do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Ajuda. Em<br />
1772 vem para <strong>Coimbra</strong> ensinar química e<br />
história natural na recém criada Faculda<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> Filosofia, tendo-se nela graduado gratui-<br />
Both <strong>de</strong>signs have strong parallels with the<br />
Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n of Padua, foun<strong>de</strong>d in 1545.<br />
In fact, the scheme of a circle of flowerbeds<br />
around the central quadrangle, divi<strong>de</strong>d in<br />
turn into four beds, is shared by the two<br />
gar<strong>de</strong>ns, while the fountains in this area are<br />
distributed in a very similar manner, as comparison<br />
of the two plans clearly shows.<br />
This influence must surely be un<strong>de</strong>rstood in<br />
the light of the careers of two men, whose<br />
path passed through both Padua and <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
We are of course referring to Domenico<br />
Van<strong>de</strong>lli and Júlio Mattiazzi, who were both<br />
born in Padua and were familiar with its<br />
gar<strong>de</strong>n. The former, a naturalist of acknowledged<br />
prestige, completed his <strong>de</strong>grees in<br />
natural philosophy and medicine at the<br />
University of Padua in 1761 and maintained<br />
a correspon<strong>de</strong>nce with Linnaeus between<br />
1759 and 1773. He was invited to Lisbon by<br />
the Marquis of Pombal and arrived in 1764,<br />
ostensibly to take up a lectureship at the<br />
College of Nobles, though he did not in fact<br />
perform any official functions until 1768,<br />
when he was appointed to supervise the<br />
works being carried out at the Ajuda Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n. In 1772 he came to <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
to teach chemistry and natural history in<br />
the recently created Faculty of Philosophy,<br />
graduating from it on 9th October of that<br />
year and on 12th of the same month from<br />
the Faculty of Medicine. The Statutes stipulated<br />
that the lectureship in natural history<br />
should entail responsibility for the Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n, and so he directed it until his<br />
retirement in January 1791, when he was<br />
replaced by Félix Avelar Brotero.<br />
35
tamente a 9 <strong>de</strong> Outubro <strong>de</strong>sse ano e a 12 do<br />
mesmo mês na Faculda<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> Medicina. A<br />
leccionação <strong>de</strong> história natural acarretava,<br />
cumulativamente, tal como se previa nos<br />
Estatutos, a «intendência» do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>,<br />
tarefa que exerceu até Janeiro <strong>de</strong> 1791,<br />
ano em que se jubilou e foi substituído na<br />
direcção do <strong>Jardim</strong> por Félix Avelar Brotero.<br />
Van<strong>de</strong>lli surge-nos associado a outros dois<br />
paduanos que se <strong>de</strong>bruçariam sobre o horto<br />
conimbricense. João António Dalla-Bella,<br />
graduado a 4 <strong>de</strong> Maio <strong>de</strong> 1773 na Faculda<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> Medicina e na <strong>de</strong> Filosofia, on<strong>de</strong> ensinou<br />
física, integrou, como acima relatámos, o<br />
grupo <strong>de</strong> professores que, juntamente com<br />
o reitor, visitaram e analisaram o local para<br />
o estabelecimento do <strong>Jardim</strong>. Mas é sobretudo<br />
Júlio Mattiazzi que nos importa <strong>de</strong>stacar,<br />
uma vez que, antes <strong>de</strong> ser trazido por<br />
Van<strong>de</strong>lli para Portugal, em 1768, para com<br />
ele colaborar em Lisboa e em <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
<strong>de</strong>sempenhava funções <strong>de</strong> jardineiro no<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong> Pádua. Não é, por conseguinte,<br />
<strong>de</strong> estranhar que o risco do <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
da Universida<strong>de</strong> por ele executado <strong>de</strong>ixe<br />
transparecer o mo<strong>de</strong>lo do da sua cida<strong>de</strong><br />
natal.<br />
Permanece incerto o lugar <strong>de</strong> Guilherme<br />
Els<strong>de</strong>n no <strong>de</strong>lineamento do inicial programa<br />
do <strong>Jardim</strong>, não sendo possível assegurar ser<br />
da sua autoria a planta guardada na biblioteca<br />
do Departamento <strong>de</strong> Botânica. Por<br />
um lado, sabe-se que, em Maio <strong>de</strong> 1773, o<br />
tenente-coronel já havia chegado a <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
e, à partida, tudo indica que se tenha<br />
<strong>de</strong>dicado a tal tarefa, uma vez que o marquês<br />
o havia expressamente responsabilizado<br />
pela mesma. Aliás, quando, em Fevereiro<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1773, D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos escrevia<br />
ao ministro sobre a análise do terreno<br />
para o <strong>Jardim</strong> e o andamento das restantes<br />
obras universitárias, garantia que “fico esperando<br />
o tenente-coronel Els<strong>de</strong>n para com<br />
elle conferir tudo quanto respeita á execução<br />
das Plantas que V.ª Ex.ª foi servido<br />
remetter-me, e o mais que for preciso. E<br />
sem elle nada obrarei” 7 . A própria planta do<br />
36<br />
Van<strong>de</strong>lli’s name frequently appears associated<br />
with two other Paduans that were<br />
also connected to the <strong>Coimbra</strong> Gar<strong>de</strong>n,<br />
João António Dalla-Bella and Júlio Mattiazzi.<br />
Dalla-Bella, who graduated on 4th May<br />
1773 from the Faculty of Medicine and Philosophy,<br />
where he taught physics, was in<br />
the group of professors that, together with<br />
the Rector, visited and analysed the site for<br />
the Gar<strong>de</strong>n, as we have mentioned. But it<br />
is Júlio Mattiazzi that is most <strong>de</strong>serving of<br />
our attention, since before being brought<br />
to Portugal by Van<strong>de</strong>lli in 1768 to collaborate<br />
with him in Lisbon and <strong>Coimbra</strong>, had<br />
been the gar<strong>de</strong>ner at the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
of Padua. It is therefore not surprising that<br />
his sketch for the University Gar<strong>de</strong>n should<br />
reflect features of the mo<strong>de</strong>l in his native<br />
city.<br />
The role played by William Els<strong>de</strong>n in the<br />
<strong>de</strong>lineation of the initial programme for<br />
the Gar<strong>de</strong>n remains unclear, since we do<br />
not know for certain if the plan kept in the<br />
Botany Department library is in fact by<br />
him. On the one hand, we know that he<br />
arrived in <strong>Coimbra</strong> in May 1773 and everything<br />
indicates at the outset that he was<br />
to un<strong>de</strong>rtake the task, since the Marquis<br />
had expressly appointed him for it. In<strong>de</strong>ed,<br />
when D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos wrote to the<br />
minister in February 1773 about the analysis<br />
of the terrain for the Gar<strong>de</strong>n and the<br />
progress of the remaining university works,<br />
he assured him that he was “awaiting Lieutenant-Colonel<br />
Els<strong>de</strong>n to discuss with him<br />
the plans that Your Excellency has sent me<br />
and anything else that is <strong>de</strong>emed necessary.<br />
Until he comes I shall not proceed” 7 .<br />
The plan itself, which had been drawn in<br />
the meantime, also reveals ignorance of the<br />
unevenness of the terrain, which could be<br />
explained by the fact that Els<strong>de</strong>n had not<br />
accompanied the rector and professors on<br />
their visit to the site, having been in Lisbon<br />
at the time “incapacitated with an attack of<br />
gout” 8 .<br />
On the other hand, we do not have his sig-
<strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>entre</strong>tanto concebida <strong>de</strong>ixa transparecer<br />
um certo alheamento relativamente<br />
ao seu <strong>de</strong>snivelado terreno <strong>de</strong> implantação,<br />
o que se po<strong>de</strong>ria explicar pelo facto <strong>de</strong><br />
Els<strong>de</strong>n não ter acompanhado o reitor e os<br />
professores na visita ao local, por se encontrar<br />
nessa altura ainda em Lisboa, “impossibilitado<br />
com um acci<strong>de</strong>nte <strong>de</strong> gota” 8 .<br />
Por outro lado, não temos a sua assinatura<br />
no projecto <strong>de</strong>positado na referida biblioteca,<br />
presumivelmente o enviado a Pombal,<br />
nem tão pouco a avaliação que <strong>de</strong>le o ministro<br />
fez refere Els<strong>de</strong>n como autor, sendo<br />
apenas vagamente mencionada “a Planta,<br />
que esses Professores <strong>de</strong>linearam”, esclarecendo-se,<br />
mais adiante, que “os ditos professores<br />
saõ italianos” 9 . A própria feição<br />
barroca da molduração do plano afasta-se<br />
do traço neoclássico que caracteriza os edifícios<br />
projectados por Els<strong>de</strong>n para a Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
e, recor<strong>de</strong>-se ainda, o carácter paduano<br />
da planta não po<strong>de</strong>ria resultar da experiência<br />
<strong>de</strong> um engenheiro inglês. Além disso,<br />
no relatório que Els<strong>de</strong>n dirige a Sebastião<br />
José <strong>de</strong> Carvalho e Melo, dando-lhe conhecimento<br />
dos trabalhos que, no âmbito das<br />
obras da Universida<strong>de</strong>, executou precisamente<br />
<strong>entre</strong> Julho e Setembro <strong>de</strong> 1773, não<br />
faz qualquer referência ao traçado da planta<br />
para o <strong>Jardim</strong>.<br />
Certo é o facto <strong>de</strong> uma primeira proposta<br />
não ter sido aprovada. Num ofício <strong>de</strong> 5 <strong>de</strong><br />
Outubro <strong>de</strong> 1773, o estadista rejeita veementemente<br />
o “dilatado espaço”, talhado<br />
“pelas medidas da (…) Fantasia”, o qual<br />
“absorberia os meyos pecuniarios da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
antes <strong>de</strong> concluir-se”. Frisando<br />
que “as couzas naõ saõ boas, por que saõ<br />
muito custozas, e Magnificas; mas sim, e taõ<br />
somente, porque saõ proprias, e a<strong>de</strong>quadas<br />
para o uso, que <strong>de</strong>llas se <strong>de</strong>ve fazer”, or<strong>de</strong>nava<br />
que se <strong>de</strong>lineasse outro plano, “reduzido<br />
somente ao numero <strong>de</strong> Ervas Medicinaes,<br />
que saõ indispensaveis para os exercicios<br />
Botanicos, e necessarios para se darem<br />
aos Estudantes as noçoens precizas para<br />
que naõ ignorem esta parte da Medicina;<br />
nature on the plan that is in the library<br />
(presumably the one sent to Pombal), nor<br />
does the Marquis’ assessment of it make<br />
any mention of Els<strong>de</strong>n as author. Instead it<br />
vaguely mentions “the plan that those professors<br />
drew up”, clarifying later on that “the<br />
aforementioned professors are Italian” 9 . The<br />
Baroque flavour of the ground plan is also<br />
quite different from the neoclassical style<br />
of the buildings <strong>de</strong>signed by Els<strong>de</strong>n for the<br />
University; and of course, the Paduan influence<br />
could not have resulted from the experience<br />
of an English engineer. Moreover, the<br />
report that Els<strong>de</strong>n addressed to Sebastião<br />
José <strong>de</strong> Carvalho e Melo informing him of<br />
the works that he had un<strong>de</strong>rtaken at the<br />
University between July and September<br />
1773 ma<strong>de</strong> no mention of the plans for the<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
What is clear, however, is that the first proposal<br />
was not approved. In an official letter<br />
dated 5th October 1773, the Marquis vehemently<br />
rejected the “extensive space”,<br />
shaped “with fantastic dimensions”, which<br />
“would absorb the pecuniary resources of<br />
the University before it is finished”. Adding<br />
that “things are not good simply because<br />
they are very costly and magnificent, but<br />
rather, and only, because they are appropriate<br />
and suitable for the use that is to be<br />
ma<strong>de</strong> of them”, he or<strong>de</strong>red another plan to<br />
be drawn up, “reduced only to the number<br />
of medicinal herbs that are indispensable<br />
for botany exercises, and necessary to<br />
give the stu<strong>de</strong>nts precise notions so that<br />
they are not ignorant of that part of Medicine;<br />
(…) leaving for another time all that<br />
is botanical luxury, at present spreading all<br />
over Europe”.<br />
To dispel any doubts, he explained that<br />
the new <strong>de</strong>sign should be no bigger and<br />
no more sumptuous than Chelsea Gar<strong>de</strong>n,<br />
which he would certainly have known,<br />
having been stationed in London on diplomatic<br />
duty between 1739 and 1743. Finally,<br />
he advised that “a budget be calculated that<br />
is appropriate for a boys’ Study Gar<strong>de</strong>n,<br />
37
(…) Deixando-se para outro tempo o que<br />
pertencer ao Luxo Botanico, que actualmente<br />
grassa em toda a Europa”.<br />
Para dissipar qualquer dúvida, esclarecia que<br />
a nova concepção não <strong>de</strong>via ser nem maior<br />
nem mais sumptuosa do que a do <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> Chelsea em Londres, certamente familiar<br />
ao marquês que nesta cida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>sempenhara<br />
funções diplomáticas <strong>entre</strong> 1739<br />
e 1743. Por fim, recomendava que “se calcule<br />
por hum justo Orçamento o que ha<strong>de</strong><br />
custar o tal <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>de</strong> Estudo <strong>de</strong> rapazes, e<br />
naõ <strong>de</strong> Ostentaçaõ <strong>de</strong> Princepes, ou <strong>de</strong> particulares,<br />
daquelles extravagantes, e Opulentos,<br />
que estaõ arruinando gran<strong>de</strong>s Cazas<br />
na Cultura <strong>de</strong> Brêdos, Beldroégas, e Poejos<br />
da India, da China e da Arabia.” 10<br />
Os trabalhos acabariam por se iniciar sob<br />
planos mais mo<strong>de</strong>stos, mantendo, todavia,<br />
um traço tipicamente italiano. A Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
tomou conta do terreno a 16<br />
<strong>de</strong> Janeiro <strong>de</strong> 1774 e sem <strong>de</strong>mora as obras<br />
foram avançando. Principiou-se a construção<br />
da muralha <strong>de</strong> suporte do lado da cerca<br />
dos Beneditinos, bem como as obras <strong>de</strong> terraplanagem.<br />
Para ambas foram aproveitadas<br />
gran<strong>de</strong>s quantida<strong>de</strong>s <strong>de</strong> pedra e entulho,<br />
provenientes <strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>molições <strong>de</strong> parte<br />
do edifício dos Jesuítas e do castelo.<br />
Em Novembro <strong>de</strong>sse ano o Horto <strong>Botânico</strong><br />
estava pronto para receber as primeiras<br />
plantas, vindas por mar. Da sua plantação<br />
era encarregado Júlio Mattiazzi, jardineiro<br />
do Real <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Ajuda, o<br />
qual <strong>de</strong>veria regressar à corte após o cumprimento<br />
<strong>de</strong> tal diligência, ficando João Luís<br />
Rodrigues responsável por <strong>de</strong>las cuidar, tornando-se<br />
este, assim, o primeiro jardineiro<br />
do novo <strong>Jardim</strong>.<br />
Desconhece-se o alcance da acção <strong>de</strong> Mattiazzi,<br />
aquando da sua presença em <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
no âmbito da imposta re<strong>de</strong>finição<br />
do <strong>Jardim</strong> exigida por Pombal. Sabemos<br />
que o jardineiro tinha propensão a arquitecto,<br />
pois, quando Van<strong>de</strong>lli caracterizou<br />
o seu <strong>de</strong>sempenho, na parcial administração<br />
do Real Museu <strong>de</strong> História Natu-<br />
38<br />
rather than for the ostentation of princes or<br />
private individuals, that extravagance and<br />
opulence that is ruining the great houses<br />
with the cultivation of amaranth, purslane<br />
and pennyroyal from India, China and<br />
Arabia.” 10<br />
When the work eventually started, it was<br />
based upon more mo<strong>de</strong>st plans, though<br />
retaining typically Italian traits. The University<br />
took over the land on 16th January<br />
1774 and work went ahead without <strong>de</strong>lay.<br />
It began with the construction of a support<br />
wall alongsi<strong>de</strong> the grounds of the Benedictine<br />
College, and with the levelling of the<br />
land. Both operations ma<strong>de</strong> use of large<br />
quantities of stone and rubble from the<br />
<strong>de</strong>molition of part of the Jesuits’ building<br />
and the castle.<br />
In November of that year, the Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n was ready to receive the first<br />
plants, which were brought in by sea. Júlio<br />
Mattiazzi, gar<strong>de</strong>ner for the Royal Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n of Ajuda, was responsible for the<br />
planting, but returned to court afterwards,<br />
leaving João Luís Rodrigues in charge of looking<br />
after them. It was he who thus became<br />
the first gar<strong>de</strong>ner of the new Gar<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
The extent of Mattiazzi’s actions as regards<br />
the re<strong>de</strong>finition of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n in accordance<br />
with Pombal’s <strong>de</strong>mands is not known.<br />
However, we do know that the gar<strong>de</strong>ner<br />
had a certain propensity for architecture,<br />
for Van<strong>de</strong>lli, <strong>de</strong>scribing his compatriot’s<br />
partial administration of the Royal Museum<br />
of Natural History and Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n of<br />
Ajuda while teaching in <strong>Coimbra</strong>, specifically<br />
mentioned his fascination with architecture.<br />
The Paduan’s experience may therefore<br />
have resulted in a reconfiguring of the<br />
terrain, although there are no known documents<br />
that confirm it. Mattiazzi’s stay was<br />
relatively short, and he was probably on his<br />
way back to Lisbon in January.<br />
We are sure, however, that, shortly after<br />
the arrival of the gar<strong>de</strong>ner, alterations were<br />
ma<strong>de</strong> to the area and levelling of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
In fact, the Rector, who wanted to increase
al e <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Ajuda durante o<br />
período em que o naturalista assegurava a<br />
docência coimbrã, <strong>de</strong>ixa bem claro a sedução<br />
do seu compatriota pela arquitectura.<br />
Da experiência do paduano po<strong>de</strong>ria ter<br />
resultado uma reconfiguração do terreno.<br />
No entanto, <strong>de</strong>sconhece-se qualquer documento<br />
que o confirme. A estadia <strong>de</strong> Matti<br />
azzi foi relativamente curta e, provavelmente<br />
em Janeiro, estaria já <strong>de</strong> volta a<br />
Lisboa.<br />
Resta-nos a certeza <strong>de</strong> que, pouco <strong>de</strong>pois da<br />
vinda do referido jardineiro, se realizaram<br />
alterações ao nível da área e nivelamento<br />
do <strong>Jardim</strong>. De facto, enten<strong>de</strong>ndo-se necessário<br />
aumentar o terreno <strong>de</strong>stinado às culturas,<br />
o Reitor esten<strong>de</strong>u, através da compra<br />
<strong>de</strong> um olival, a área do <strong>Jardim</strong> até à estrada<br />
pública e pediu autorização ao Governo<br />
para adquirir mais terreno, com vista a conferir<br />
ao Horto uma forma mais regular. Concedida<br />
a licença a 7 <strong>de</strong> Dezembro <strong>de</strong> 1774,<br />
a compra foi ajustada com os fra<strong>de</strong>s marianos,<br />
apesar <strong>de</strong> só muito mais tar<strong>de</strong> ter sido<br />
realizada.<br />
A partir <strong>de</strong> 1777, com o falecimento do rei<br />
D. José I e a consequente «morte política»<br />
do marquês, o abrandamento do ritmo das<br />
obras universitárias não <strong>de</strong>ixou <strong>de</strong> se reflectir<br />
também na construção <strong>de</strong>ste estabelecimento,<br />
apesar dos esforços movidos por<br />
D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos para cativar a atenção<br />
da nova rainha, D. Maria I. A Relação<br />
geral do estado da Universida<strong>de</strong> redigida<br />
pelo reitor-reformador e remetida, em 1777,<br />
à soberana, materializa o intuito <strong>de</strong> não<br />
<strong>de</strong>ixar cair por terra a reestruturação principiada.<br />
Misto <strong>de</strong> justificação da própria<br />
reforma e <strong>de</strong> balanço da obra feita e da por<br />
realizar, o texto salienta, na parte referente<br />
ao <strong>Jardim</strong>, o facto <strong>de</strong> este continuar longe<br />
<strong>de</strong> estar terminado pois, à excepção <strong>de</strong> uma<br />
pequena estufa construída em 1776, os trabalhos<br />
e verbas gastas até então (1.349$045<br />
reis) tinham sido essencialmente <strong>de</strong>dicados<br />
a entulhar as partes baixas, a fim <strong>de</strong> se obter<br />
no recinto “a igualda<strong>de</strong> possivel” 11 .<br />
the amount of land given over to cultures,<br />
bought an olive grove and exten<strong>de</strong>d the<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n as far as the public road; he also<br />
applied for authorization from the Government<br />
to acquire more land in or<strong>de</strong>r to make<br />
it more regular in shape. After the granting<br />
of the licence on 7th December 1774, the<br />
purchase was negotiated with the Marian<br />
friars, although the <strong>de</strong>al was only finalized<br />
much later.<br />
From 1777, with the <strong>de</strong>ath of the king D.<br />
José I and the consequent political <strong>de</strong>mise<br />
of the Marquis, there was a slackening of<br />
momentum as regards the building works<br />
at the university, reflected also in the construction<br />
of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n, <strong>de</strong>spite the efforts<br />
of D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos to interest the new<br />
queen, D. Maria I, in the project. The “General<br />
Report on the State of the University”<br />
drawn up by the reformer rector and sent<br />
to the sovereign in 1777 reflects his intention<br />
not to abandon the plan for restructuring.<br />
The text, which both justifies the<br />
reform itself and presents a balance of the<br />
works done and still to do, mentions that<br />
the Gar<strong>de</strong>n was far from being finished;<br />
with the exception of a small greenhouse<br />
built in 1776, almost all the work and funds<br />
spent until then (1349$045 reis) had been<br />
directed at filling in the low parts in or<strong>de</strong>r<br />
to obtain a surface “as level as possible” 11 .<br />
It is believed that this manuscript was complemented<br />
by a volume entitled, on the<br />
binding, Riscos das Obras da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> (“Sketches for Works on the<br />
University of <strong>Coimbra</strong>”), which inclu<strong>de</strong>d<br />
not only a <strong>de</strong>scription of the state of the<br />
new constructions in September 1777 and<br />
a list of expenses, but also a series of thirty<br />
drawings of those constructions. The last<br />
two concern the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n: one is<br />
the plan drawn up by Júlio Mattiazzi, which<br />
we have already <strong>de</strong>scribed; the other is the<br />
“Sketch of the Greenhouses of the Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n of the University of <strong>Coimbra</strong>” [4],<br />
undated and unsigned. Curiously, there is<br />
a very similar drawing to this in the Botany<br />
39
Este manuscrito tinha como complemento,<br />
segundo se crê, um volume intitulado, na<br />
enca<strong>de</strong>rnação, Riscos das Obras da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, o qual compreen<strong>de</strong>, além<br />
da <strong>de</strong>scrição do estado em que se encontravam,<br />
em Setembro <strong>de</strong> 1777, os novos estabelecimentos,<br />
bem como da enumeração<br />
das <strong>de</strong>spesas, uma série <strong>de</strong> trinta <strong>de</strong>senhos,<br />
relativos a essas construções. Os dois finais<br />
dizem respeito ao <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>: um é o<br />
plano elaborado por Júlio Mattiazzi, sobre<br />
o qual já nos <strong>de</strong>tivemos; o outro é o Risco<br />
das Estufas do <strong>Jardim</strong> Botanico da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, sem data ou assinatura<br />
[4]. Curiosamente, este último encontra<br />
também, na biblioteca do Departamento<br />
<strong>de</strong> Botânica, um <strong>de</strong>senho que muito se lhe<br />
assemelha.<br />
Titulado Risco das Estufas do Real <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> [5], o<br />
grandioso projecto apresenta, pese embora<br />
a sua visível <strong>de</strong>terioração, as plantas, alçados<br />
e cortes das estufas, cuja interpretação nos<br />
é facilitada pela legenda à esquerda do conjunto.<br />
A planta da estufa principal apresenta<br />
nove compartimentos: ao centro localiza-se<br />
a “caza das liçoens”; à sua esquerda, do meio<br />
para o topo do edifício, prevê-se um tepidário,<br />
um “calidário”, um novo tepidário e,<br />
por fim, uma casa <strong>de</strong>stinada à conservação<br />
40<br />
Department.<br />
Entitled Risco das Estufas do Real <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
(“Sketch of the Greenhouses of the Royal<br />
Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n of the University of <strong>Coimbra</strong>’)<br />
[5], the grandiose project shows,<br />
<strong>de</strong>spite visible <strong>de</strong>terioration, the ground<br />
plans, elevations and cross-sections of the<br />
greenhouses, with a key on the left hand<br />
si<strong>de</strong>. The ground plan of the main greenhouse<br />
shows nine compartments: in the<br />
c<strong>entre</strong> was the “lichen house”, to the left of<br />
which, in the upper half of the building, was<br />
a temperate house, a hot house, another<br />
temperate house and finally, a place for<br />
the conservation of seeds and the “dry herbarium”.<br />
To the right of the lichen house is<br />
the same succession of temperate and hot<br />
houses, culminating in a room <strong>de</strong>stined for<br />
the “botanical library”. A “bench of green”<br />
covers the corridor of the stoves which, at<br />
the back of the greenhouses, controls the<br />
temperature of the various sections.<br />
The main faça<strong>de</strong>, which contained eight<br />
doors into the “greenhouse passage”, is<br />
punctuated at intervals, according to neoclassical<br />
taste, by a sequence of roun<strong>de</strong>d<br />
arches on rustic-style pillars, on top of<br />
which is a balustra<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>corated with alternating<br />
vases and statues. The statues are all
das sementes e “erbario seco”; à direita da<br />
casa das lições surge-nos a mesma sucessão<br />
<strong>de</strong> tepidários e “calidário”, rematada, no<br />
extremo, por uma divisão <strong>de</strong>stinada a “livraria<br />
botanica”. Uma “banqueta <strong>de</strong> verdura”<br />
cobre o corredor dos fornos que, na parte<br />
posterior das estufas, permitem controlar a<br />
temperatura das várias secções.<br />
A fachada principal, na qual se abrem oito<br />
portas para a “serventia das Estufas”, é ritmada,<br />
ao gosto neoclássico, por uma<br />
sequência <strong>de</strong> arcos redondos assentes<br />
sobre pilares rusticados, encimada por uma<br />
balaustrada <strong>de</strong>corada por uma alternância<br />
<strong>de</strong> vasos e estátuas. Graças ao nome latino<br />
inscrito no plinto <strong>de</strong> cada escultura, é-nos<br />
possível i<strong>de</strong>ntificá-las na totalida<strong>de</strong>, confirmando<br />
o carácter erudito e simbólico <strong>de</strong>sta<br />
construção. Da direita para a esquerda<br />
suce<strong>de</strong>m-se as seguintes figuras: Avicena<br />
(médico e filósofo árabe), Galeno (um dos<br />
maiores médicos da Antiguida<strong>de</strong>), Hipócrates<br />
(médico grego, consi<strong>de</strong>rado o “pai<br />
da Medicina”), Bauhino (médico e botânico<br />
suíço), Cesalpino (médico e filosofo<br />
italiano), Dioscóri<strong>de</strong>s (médico e naturalista<br />
grego), Plínio (militar, funcionário imperial,<br />
historiador e cientista romano, autor<br />
da Historia Naturalis) e Teofrasto (filósofo<br />
e cientista sucessor <strong>de</strong> Aristóteles e autor<br />
<strong>de</strong> uma vasta produção, on<strong>de</strong> se incluem<br />
i<strong>de</strong>ntified by a Latin name carved into the<br />
plinth of each one, confirming the erudite<br />
and symbolic character of this construction.<br />
From right to left, we have the following figures:<br />
Avicenna (Arab doctor and philosopher),<br />
Galen (one of the greatest doctors of<br />
antiquity), Hippocrates (Greek doctor, consi<strong>de</strong>red<br />
the “father of medicine”), Bauhino<br />
(Swiss doctor and botanist), Cesalpino (Italian<br />
doctor and philosopher), Dioscori<strong>de</strong>s<br />
(Greek doctor and naturalist), Pliny (Roman<br />
soldier, imperial official, historian and scientist,<br />
and author of the Historia Naturalis)<br />
and Theophrastus (philosopher and scien-<br />
tist that succee<strong>de</strong>d Aristotle, and author of<br />
a vast oeuvre, including the works History of<br />
Plants and Causes of Plants, which earned<br />
him the epithet of creator of botany). In the<br />
c<strong>entre</strong> of this imposing corpus is a triangular<br />
pediment crowned with the Portuguese<br />
royal coat-of-arms, itself flanked by two allegorical<br />
figures.<br />
At the right end of the building is the door<br />
leading into the greenhouses on the Bentos<br />
si<strong>de</strong>, overlooked by the sculptures of Avicenna<br />
and Petiver (English botanist); at the<br />
opposite end, a statue of Theophrastus and<br />
another of Micheli (Florentine botanist)<br />
complete a window that “overlooks part<br />
of the Mon<strong>de</strong>go”. The pediment over the<br />
door leading into the lichen house, on the<br />
41
as obras Historia das Plantas e Causas das<br />
Plantas, as quais lhe valem o epíteto <strong>de</strong> criador<br />
da botânica). Ao centro <strong>de</strong>ste imponente<br />
corpo <strong>de</strong>staca-se um frontão triangular<br />
coroado pelo escudo real português,<br />
la<strong>de</strong>ado, por sua vez, por duas figuras alegóricas<br />
<strong>de</strong> cada lado.<br />
Na extremida<strong>de</strong> direita do edifício situase<br />
a porta <strong>de</strong> ingresso para as estufas do<br />
lado dos Bentos, sobrepujada pelas esculturas<br />
<strong>de</strong> Avicena e Petiver (botânico inglês);<br />
no extremo oposto, uma estátua <strong>de</strong> Teofrasto<br />
e outra <strong>de</strong> Micheli (botânico florentino)<br />
rematam uma janela que “cahe p.ª a<br />
parte do Mon<strong>de</strong>go”. A frontaria da porta <strong>de</strong><br />
ingresso para a “caza das liçoens”, do lado<br />
dos Bentos, é a<strong>de</strong>quadamente coroada por<br />
quatro estátuas <strong>de</strong> botânicos que foram<br />
professores em universida<strong>de</strong>s europeias em<br />
finais do século XVII e inícios do XVIII: Ponte<strong>de</strong>ra<br />
(botânico italiano, professor da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> Pádua e director do <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong>sta cida<strong>de</strong>), Morison (médico<br />
e botânico inglês, professor na Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> Oxford), Dillen (botânico alemão,<br />
docente em Oxford) e Lineu (célebre naturalista<br />
sueco, professor na Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
Upsala). Concomitantemente, o projecto<br />
prevê a construção <strong>de</strong> uma estufa <strong>de</strong> menor<br />
dimensão e mo<strong>de</strong>sto acabamento que serviria<br />
para as “sementeiras <strong>de</strong> America e<br />
Africa q <strong>de</strong>pen<strong>de</strong>m <strong>de</strong> muito calor”.<br />
Comparativamente ao plano das estufas<br />
que acompanharia a Relação geral do estado<br />
da Universida<strong>de</strong>, este <strong>de</strong>senho <strong>de</strong>nota<br />
um maior <strong>de</strong>senvolvimento pois, além da<br />
<strong>de</strong>scrição das construções já mencionadas,<br />
igualmente presentes no projecto enviado<br />
em 1777, contempla mais três edificações:<br />
o portal <strong>de</strong> entrada para o <strong>Jardim</strong> da parte<br />
dos Bentos, <strong>de</strong>corado com a representação<br />
<strong>de</strong> Hércules, famoso herói grego, e Minerva,<br />
<strong>de</strong>usa romana da sabedoria, do qual se faria<br />
uma cópia para o ingresso da parte dos<br />
Carmelitas Descalços; o portal <strong>de</strong> ingresso<br />
ao <strong>Jardim</strong> pela rua da Alegria, adornado<br />
com uma estátua <strong>de</strong> Fortuna, <strong>de</strong>usa romana<br />
42<br />
Bentos si<strong>de</strong>, is appropriately crowned with<br />
statues of four botanists that were professors<br />
in European universities at the end of<br />
the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries:<br />
Ponte<strong>de</strong>ra (Italian botanist, professor<br />
at the University of Padua and curator of<br />
that city’s botanical gar<strong>de</strong>n), Morrison (English<br />
physician and botanist, and professor at<br />
the University of Oxford), Dillen (German<br />
botanist and lecturer at Oxford) and Linnaeus<br />
(famous Swedish naturalist, professor<br />
at the University of Uppsala). The project<br />
also envisaged the construction of a smaller<br />
greenhouse with more mo<strong>de</strong>st finishings<br />
that would serve as “seedbeds for plants<br />
from America and Africa that require a lot<br />
of heat”.<br />
Compared to the plan of the greenhouses<br />
that accompanied the “General Report on<br />
the State of the University”, this one is more<br />
<strong>de</strong>veloped, since, in addition to the <strong>de</strong>scription<br />
of the constructions already mentioned,<br />
also present in the project sent in<br />
1777, it inclu<strong>de</strong>s three more buildings: the<br />
gateway into the Gar<strong>de</strong>n from the Bentos<br />
College, <strong>de</strong>corated with a representation<br />
of Hercules, the famous Greek hero, and<br />
Minerva, the Roman god<strong>de</strong>ss of knowledge,<br />
a copy of which was later ma<strong>de</strong> for<br />
the entrance from the Barefoot Carmelites;<br />
the gateway into the Gar<strong>de</strong>n from Alegria<br />
Street, adorned with a statue of Fortuna,<br />
the Roman god<strong>de</strong>ss of luck, and another of<br />
Ceres, Roman earth mother god<strong>de</strong>ss; and<br />
the ground plan and cross section of the<br />
staircase that allowed access to the Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
from the public footpath, and the gateway<br />
protecting it, <strong>de</strong>corated with two sculptures,<br />
including Asklepius, the Roman god<br />
of medicine.<br />
A comparison of the two sketches reveals<br />
that the undated drawing from the Botany<br />
Department library was probably executed<br />
before the one in the album “Sketches for<br />
Works on the University of <strong>Coimbra</strong>” that<br />
was sent to the queen. In fact, it could have<br />
accompanied the first Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n
do Acaso, e outra <strong>de</strong> Ceres, <strong>de</strong>usa maternal<br />
da Terra para os romanos; a planta e corte<br />
da escada que permitiria o acesso ao <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
pelo passeio público, bem como o portal<br />
que a resguardaria, guarnecido <strong>de</strong> duas<br />
esculturas, <strong>entre</strong> as quais Esculápio, <strong>de</strong>us<br />
romano da medicina.<br />
Do confronto <strong>entre</strong> ambos os riscos po<strong>de</strong>se,<br />
portanto, concluir que, embora o <strong>de</strong>senho<br />
da biblioteca do Departamento <strong>de</strong><br />
Botânica não patenteie uma data, ele terá<br />
sido, com probabilida<strong>de</strong>, formulado antes<br />
daquele que viria a integrar o álbum Riscos<br />
das Obras da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
enviado à rainha. Po<strong>de</strong>ria, com efeito, ter<br />
acompanhado o primeiro projecto para o<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> avaliado e recusado, pela<br />
sua sumptuosida<strong>de</strong>, em 1773 pelo marquês.<br />
Por outro lado, o facto <strong>de</strong> tanto o plano do<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> como o das estufas que se acham na<br />
dita biblioteca encontrarem um «correspon<strong>de</strong>nte»<br />
nos <strong>de</strong>senhos enviados em 1777<br />
à soberana, leva-nos a consi<strong>de</strong>rar a hipótese<br />
<strong>de</strong> ter havido, da parte do reitor, a tentativa<br />
<strong>de</strong> retomar a configuração outrora<br />
reprovada pelo ministro <strong>de</strong> D. José. Se assim<br />
foi, o intuito <strong>de</strong> D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos não<br />
vingou uma vez mais, pois nem estas estufas<br />
foram construídas, nem o <strong>Jardim</strong> obe<strong>de</strong>ceu<br />
ao grandioso feitio. O remediado plano<br />
seguido parece ter sido, afinal, o resultado<br />
da adaptação das linhas italianas às possibilida<strong>de</strong>s<br />
económicas, às sensibilida<strong>de</strong>s<br />
dos que sobre este espaço se foram <strong>de</strong>bruçando,<br />
aos condicionalismos do terreno e<br />
das ocasiões e às necessida<strong>de</strong>s pedagógicas<br />
que reclamavam um ponto final a este<br />
moroso processo construtivo.<br />
O ano <strong>de</strong> 1779 assinala a exoneração <strong>de</strong> D.<br />
Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos, o qual só voltaria ao<br />
governo da Universida<strong>de</strong> vinte anos mais<br />
tar<strong>de</strong>. Neste <strong>entre</strong>tanto, correspon<strong>de</strong>nte<br />
aos reitorados <strong>de</strong> D. José Francisco <strong>de</strong> Mendonça<br />
e D. Francisco Rafael <strong>de</strong> Castro, prosseguiram<br />
os trabalhos. Edificou-se uma<br />
casa para as lições <strong>de</strong> botânica. Em 1790<br />
ficou terminado o terrapleno inferior, ainda<br />
project that had been assessed and rejected<br />
by the Marquis for being too sumptuous.<br />
On the other hand, the fact that the plans<br />
of both gar<strong>de</strong>n and greenhouses found in<br />
that library have a counterpart in the drawings<br />
sent in 1777 to the queen suggests that<br />
there may have been an attempt on the part<br />
of the rector to revive the earlier configuration<br />
rejected by the Marquis. If so, then it<br />
was unsuccessful a second time round, for<br />
the greenhouses remained unbuilt and the<br />
gar<strong>de</strong>n did not follow the grandiose <strong>de</strong>sign.<br />
The plan that was eventually adopted seems<br />
to have been the result of an adaptation of<br />
Italian lines to the economic possibilities,<br />
the sensibilities of those involved, the limitations<br />
of the terrain and circumstances,<br />
and educational needs, which <strong>de</strong>man<strong>de</strong>d<br />
an end to the longwin<strong>de</strong>d process of construction.<br />
In 1779 D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos was discharged<br />
from his position as rector, only<br />
returning to govern the University twenty<br />
years later. During this interval, un<strong>de</strong>r the<br />
rectorates of D. José Francisco <strong>de</strong> Mendonça<br />
and D. Francisco Rafael <strong>de</strong> Castro,<br />
the works went ahead. A house was built<br />
for botany lessons. In 1790, the lower level,<br />
still today known as the “central quadrangle”,<br />
was completed, as was the tank in the<br />
middle of it and the plumbing system used<br />
for most of the waters. In this period, the<br />
or<strong>de</strong>r was also given to construct a larger<br />
greenhouse, as the existing one “would not<br />
satisfy the purposes for which it had been<br />
built” 12 .<br />
The plan for the greenhouses of the Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n, signed by Manuel Alves Macomboa<br />
and dated April 1791, responds to this<br />
need. This master carpenter, who had been<br />
called by the Marquis in 1773 to work on<br />
the University buildings, had also since 1777<br />
performed the role of master stonemason<br />
and, following the <strong>de</strong>ath of William Els<strong>de</strong>n,<br />
took over the function of architect in 1782.<br />
His <strong>de</strong>signs of the ground plan and elevation<br />
of the main faça<strong>de</strong> of the greenhouses,<br />
43
hoje conhecido por «quadrado central», o<br />
tanque situado no meio <strong>de</strong>ste e o encanamento<br />
<strong>de</strong> gran<strong>de</strong> parte das águas. É igualmente<br />
<strong>de</strong>sta época a or<strong>de</strong>m <strong>de</strong> construção<br />
<strong>de</strong> uma estufa <strong>de</strong> maiores dimensões, visto<br />
que a existente “não satisfazia o fim a que<br />
era <strong>de</strong>stinada” 12 .<br />
O projecto para as estufas no <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>,<br />
assinado por Manuel Alves Macomboa<br />
e datado <strong>de</strong> Abril <strong>de</strong> 1791, articula uma<br />
resposta a esta necessida<strong>de</strong>. Chamado pelo<br />
marquês, em 1773, para as obras da Universida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
este mestre carpinteiro acumula,<br />
<strong>de</strong>s<strong>de</strong> 1777, os serviços <strong>de</strong> mestre pedreiro<br />
e, <strong>de</strong>pois do falecimento <strong>de</strong> Guilherme<br />
Els<strong>de</strong>n, assume, a partir <strong>de</strong> 1782, a função<br />
<strong>de</strong> arquitecto. O <strong>de</strong>senho que faz da planta<br />
e alçado da fachada principal das estufas,<br />
para o qual apresenta duas propostas divergentes<br />
apenas na altura, filia-se num sóbrio<br />
classicismo. Três vãos laterais emolduram<br />
um arco central encimado por frontão<br />
triangular em correspondência com a porta<br />
<strong>de</strong> entrada, igualmente dotada <strong>de</strong> frontão<br />
triangular, interrompido por um medalhão<br />
com “Busto [que] po<strong>de</strong> ser <strong>de</strong> Lineu =<br />
querendo=” 13 .<br />
Desconhece-se se este traçado veio a<br />
ser executado. No entanto, a julgar pelo<br />
Mapa do terreno que ocupa o <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
[6], elaborado em 1795 por Macomboa,<br />
parece-nos que tal proposta veio a ter,<br />
<strong>de</strong> forma parcial, seguimento. De facto, a<br />
planta das estufas <strong>de</strong>lineada no dito mapa<br />
assemelha-se à proposta por si avançada<br />
em 1791, indicando-se a parte já acabada<br />
e a somente projectada. Este mapa dá-nos<br />
ainda conta do andamento dos trabalhos,<br />
representando já os lanços <strong>de</strong> escadas e<br />
parapeitos do gran<strong>de</strong> quadrado inferior que<br />
haviam sido terminados em 1794. Neste ano<br />
foram também concluídos os portões <strong>de</strong><br />
acesso ao quadrado central, encontrandose<br />
no do lado Este uma inscrição laudatória<br />
a D. Maria com a data <strong>de</strong> 1791.<br />
Em 1799 o bispo-con<strong>de</strong> D. Francisco <strong>de</strong><br />
44<br />
for which he presented two proposals that<br />
differed only as to height, are in a sober classical<br />
style. Three si<strong>de</strong> bays frame a central<br />
arch topped by a triangular pediment, leading<br />
to a doorway, also with triangular pediment,<br />
<strong>de</strong>corated with a medallion bearing a<br />
“bust [that] could be Linnaeus” 13 .<br />
We do not know if this <strong>de</strong>sign was ever executed.<br />
However, judging by the “Map of the<br />
terrain occupied by the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
of University of <strong>Coimbra</strong>” [6] drawn in 1795<br />
by Macomboa, it would seem that it was at<br />
least partially followed. In fact, the outline<br />
of the greenhouses in that map resembles<br />
his own proposal put forward in 1791, indicating<br />
the part that was already completed<br />
and that which was merely planned. This<br />
groundplan also informs us of the progress<br />
of the works and already shows the flights of<br />
stairs and parapets of the large lower quadrangle<br />
that had been finished in 1794. In<br />
that year, the doorways giving access to the<br />
central quadrangle were also finished, with<br />
an inscription in praise of D. Maria, dated<br />
1791, on the eastern si<strong>de</strong>.<br />
In 1799, the bishop-count D. Francisco <strong>de</strong><br />
Lemos returned to direct the University,<br />
remaining in the post until 1821. From the<br />
moment he resumed functions, he committed<br />
himself to furthering the works on the<br />
Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n, an effort which unfortunately<br />
was less fruitful than in his first<br />
period in office, given the context, marked<br />
by the French invasions and political convulsions<br />
on the national scale.<br />
In 1801, he or<strong>de</strong>red the construction of the<br />
stairs on the second level. The unsigned and<br />
undated <strong>de</strong>sign in Chinese ink and watercolour<br />
on paper that is found in the General<br />
Library of the University of <strong>Coimbra</strong> was<br />
probably the project for the stairs linking<br />
the second and third levels of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n,<br />
drawn up at the end of the 18th century<br />
and put into practice at the beginning of<br />
the 19th. In fact, this plan was clearly followed<br />
since, on both the north and south<br />
si<strong>de</strong>s of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n, the staircases leading to
Lemos retoma a direcção da Universida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
mantendo-se no cargo até 1821. Logo que<br />
reassumiu funções empenhou-se em dar o<br />
maior <strong>de</strong>senvolvimento às obras do <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong>, esforço que, porém, não viria a ser<br />
tão frutífero como no seu primeiro reitorado<br />
dado o contexto, marcado pelas invasões<br />
francesas e pelas convulsões políticas<br />
nacionais, em que se <strong>de</strong>senrolou.<br />
Em 1801 or<strong>de</strong>nou a construção das escadas<br />
do segundo plano. O <strong>de</strong>senho a tinta-<br />
-da-china e aguada castanha e cinzenta<br />
sobre papel, não datado nem assinado, que<br />
se encontra na Biblioteca Geral da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, constitui, com probabilida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
o projecto, guisado no final do<br />
século XVIII e posto em prática no começo<br />
da centúria seguinte, para o levantamento<br />
das escadas <strong>entre</strong> o segundo e terceiro<br />
plano do <strong>Jardim</strong>. De facto, da sua observação<br />
resulta o reconhecimento que tal plano<br />
veio a ter consecução, uma vez que, quer do<br />
lado Norte, quer do lado Sul do <strong>Jardim</strong>, as<br />
the third level follow the scheme proposed.<br />
Moreover, of the two solutions put forward<br />
for the endings of the walls, it is precisely<br />
the <strong>de</strong>coration marked “not suitable” that<br />
seems to have been used, if we look carefully<br />
at the present Gar<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
In 1807, the purchase of part of the grounds<br />
belonging to the Marian priests, negotiated<br />
33 years before, finally went ahead. It<br />
was also the year when Félix Avelar Brotero<br />
(who had been in charge of the scientific<br />
organization of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n since 1791<br />
and was responsible for the teaching of<br />
botany and agriculture) ma<strong>de</strong> his most<br />
<strong>de</strong>cisive pronouncement about the plan<br />
to be followed in the Gar<strong>de</strong>n. The report<br />
sent to the rector on 5th March 1807 is of<br />
great importance, not only because in it<br />
Avelar Brotero specifies the <strong>de</strong>finition and<br />
aims of this type of establishment, but also<br />
because he indicates which parts of it were<br />
essential and which secondary [7], accompanied<br />
by a survey of what had been com-<br />
45
escadarias que dão acesso ao terceiro patamar<br />
obe<strong>de</strong>cem ao esquema proposto. Por<br />
outro lado, das duas soluções avançadas<br />
para o remate dos muretes, é precisamente<br />
o ornato indicado como aquele que “não<br />
serve”, o que irá, segundo nos parece, ter<br />
seguimento, tal como se conclui através <strong>de</strong><br />
um olhar atento sobre o <strong>Jardim</strong> actual.<br />
Do ano <strong>de</strong> 1807, altura em que realizou<br />
finalmente a compra da parte da cerca dos<br />
Marianos, agendada há já 33 anos, data<br />
o pronunciamento mais <strong>de</strong>cisivo <strong>de</strong> Félix<br />
Avelar Brotero, encarregado <strong>de</strong>s<strong>de</strong> 1791<br />
da organização científica do <strong>Jardim</strong> e da<br />
regência da ca<strong>de</strong>ira <strong>de</strong> botânica e agricultura,<br />
acerca do plano a seguir no <strong>Jardim</strong>. O<br />
relatório enviado ao reitor, a 5 <strong>de</strong> Março <strong>de</strong><br />
1807, reveste-se da maior importância, quer<br />
pelo facto <strong>de</strong> nele Avelar Brotero precisar a<br />
<strong>de</strong>finição e os objectivos <strong>de</strong>ste tipo <strong>de</strong> estabelecimento,<br />
quer pela indicação das suas<br />
partes essenciais e secundárias [7], acompanhada<br />
do levantamento do que estava feito<br />
e do que havia <strong>de</strong> o ser. Dela se <strong>de</strong>preen<strong>de</strong>,<br />
concomitantemente, uma crítica velada às<br />
anteriores restrições pombalinas, as quais,<br />
embora na memória, seriam conveniente e<br />
conscientemente esquecidas com o passar<br />
dos anos e o avolumar <strong>de</strong> exemplos <strong>de</strong> similares<br />
jardins que outras universida<strong>de</strong>s europeias<br />
vinham promovendo.<br />
Da exposição <strong>de</strong>ste naturalista, por muitos<br />
46<br />
pleted and what was still to do. It also offers<br />
a veiled criticism of the previous Pombaline<br />
restrictions, which, though still within living<br />
memory, had been conveniently and consciously<br />
forgotten with the passage of the<br />
years and the <strong>de</strong>velopment of similar gar<strong>de</strong>ns<br />
in other European universities.<br />
The arguments put forward by this naturalist<br />
(whom many called the “Portuguese Linnaeus”)<br />
are interesting as regards the <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n. In relation to its essential parts,<br />
Brotero highlighted: “or<strong>de</strong>red beds” (E),<br />
confirming that “this is done with walls, balconies<br />
and iron gates”; “Parterre – groups<br />
without any scientific or<strong>de</strong>r, contributing to<br />
the <strong>de</strong>coration and conservation of many<br />
species” (P), adding that this was “almost<br />
finished on the upper level”; “hot and temperate<br />
house” (T), of which the temperate<br />
house was ready; “Shelter” (A), “begun on<br />
the eastern si<strong>de</strong> of the temperate house;<br />
“Site for seed beds” (S), “begun on the si<strong>de</strong> of<br />
the arches and only later planted with trees<br />
that <strong>de</strong>mand shelter”; “Avenues and copses”<br />
(L), “1. on the land between the main street<br />
and the wall along the public road; 2. on<br />
the slopes of the hill next to the walls of<br />
the Carmelite and Benedictine grounds;<br />
3. on a portion of the terrain right next to<br />
the northern gate entrance”; “Damp shady<br />
place (the hill next to the grounds of the<br />
Benedictine friars)” and finally, the “water
apelidado <strong>de</strong> “Linneo portuguez”, interessanos<br />
sobretudo sublinhar o que a respeito do<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> conimbricense se discriminava. Em<br />
relação às suas partes essenciais, Brotero<br />
<strong>de</strong>stacava: “eschola methodica” (E), confirmando<br />
que “está feita com muros, varandas<br />
e portas <strong>de</strong> ferro”; “Parterre – grupos sem<br />
or<strong>de</strong>m scientifica, contribuindo para <strong>de</strong>coração<br />
e conservação <strong>de</strong> muitas especies”<br />
(P), acrescentando estar “quasi estabelecido<br />
no plano superior á eschola”; “Estufa quente<br />
e temperada” (T), estando feita a temperada;<br />
“Abrigadouro” (A), “principiado ao<br />
lado oriental da estufa temperada; “Logar<br />
para sementeiras” (S), “começado do lado<br />
dos arcos, sendo <strong>de</strong>pois plantado com arvores<br />
que exigiam abrigo”; “Lamedas e bosquetes”<br />
(L), “1.º no terreno que fica <strong>entre</strong> a<br />
rua principal e o muro ao longo da estrada<br />
publica; 2.º nas encostas da collina contigua<br />
aos muros das cercas dos Carmelitas e benedictinos;<br />
3.º numa porção <strong>de</strong> terreno que<br />
fica logo á entrada da porta septentrional”;<br />
“Logar húmido e sombrio (a collina vizinha<br />
á cerca dos fra<strong>de</strong>s bentos)” e, finalmente,<br />
“<strong>de</strong>positos <strong>de</strong> agua” 14 . Quanto às partes<br />
secundárias <strong>de</strong>stacava a aula, o lugar <strong>de</strong> cultura<br />
<strong>de</strong> plantas medicinais (M), a <strong>de</strong>coração<br />
(a<strong>de</strong>quada à natureza do local e às possibilida<strong>de</strong>s<br />
económicas) e as casas do professor,<br />
do jardineiro e do guarda.<br />
O minucioso exame que acabámos <strong>de</strong><br />
transcrever <strong>de</strong>ixa transparecer não só o<br />
pragmatismo do docente, mas também o<br />
seu profundo conhecimento da realida<strong>de</strong><br />
do dito recinto. Contudo, os tempos que<br />
se avizinhavam não viriam a permitir que<br />
este relatório assumisse o carácter <strong>de</strong> programa<br />
a levar à prática. Com efeito, aproximavam-se<br />
as invasões francesas e, com<br />
elas, todas as obras seriam interrompidas.<br />
O último apontamento que temos do ano<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1807, um plano do <strong>Jardim</strong> elaborado por<br />
José do Couto [8], ficaria na gaveta e só seria<br />
retomado após o fim da Guerra Peninsular.<br />
Entretanto, Avelar Brotero partiria para<br />
Lisboa para aí dirigir o <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da<br />
tanks” 14 . As regards the secondary parts, he<br />
indicated the classroom; the place for the<br />
cultivation of medicinal plants (M); <strong>de</strong>coration<br />
(suitable for the nature of the site and<br />
economic possibilities) and the houses of<br />
the professor, gar<strong>de</strong>ner and guard.<br />
This careful examination reveals not only<br />
the teacher’s pragmatism but also his profound<br />
knowledge of the site itself. However,<br />
in the coming years, it would not be possible<br />
for this report to become a programme<br />
to be put into practice. In fact, the French<br />
invasions were at hand, and with them, all<br />
building work was interrupted. The last<br />
notes we have from the year 1807, a ground<br />
plan of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n by José do Couto [8],<br />
were shelved and would only be taken up<br />
again at the end of the Peninsula War. In the<br />
meantime, Avelar Brotero left for Lisbon to<br />
run the Ajuda Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>ns, retiring in<br />
1811.<br />
If there were any <strong>de</strong>signs or plans dating<br />
from the period of the French invasions,<br />
they are not known. We do, however, have<br />
the testimony of a contemporary witness<br />
who allows us to imagine what the place<br />
was like at that time. Laura Junot, duchess<br />
of Abrantes and wife of the French ambassador<br />
in Portugal, <strong>de</strong>clared in 1808 that “the<br />
Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n of <strong>Coimbra</strong> was consi<strong>de</strong>rably<br />
better than the gar<strong>de</strong>n of the king<br />
in Lisbon. Each plant had a plaque with its<br />
classification number, like in the Paris ‘Plant<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n’, which meant that the strange and<br />
beautiful flora of Portugal could be properly<br />
studied” 15 .<br />
While the botanical merits of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
were recognised, architecturally it had still<br />
to be completed. Work was resumed on it<br />
from 1814 un<strong>de</strong>r the direction of António<br />
José das Neves e Mello. Between 1814 and<br />
1821, the land was levelled between the central<br />
and upper roads, and work went ahead<br />
on the construction of the outer wall and<br />
railings, with iron brought over from Stockholm<br />
for this purpose. In 1822, the gate on<br />
the si<strong>de</strong> of the seminary was built.<br />
47
Ajuda, jubilando-se em 1811.<br />
Do período das invasões francesas, se a<br />
<strong>de</strong>senhos ou plantas não nos po<strong>de</strong>mos<br />
reportar, temos porém um testemunho<br />
contemporâneo que nos possibilita imaginar<br />
o estado em que se encontrava este<br />
espaço. Laura Junot, duquesa <strong>de</strong> Abrantes e<br />
esposa do embaixador francês em Portugal,<br />
<strong>de</strong>clarava em 1808 que “el Jardín Botánico<br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> era bastante superior al jardín<br />
<strong>de</strong>l rey en Lisboa. Cada planta tenía tablilla<br />
com su nombre <strong>de</strong> clasificación, como en el<br />
«Jardin <strong>de</strong>s Plantes» <strong>de</strong> Paris, permitiendo<br />
estudiar perfectamente la curiosa y bella<br />
flora <strong>de</strong> Portugal” 15 .<br />
Se do ponto <strong>de</strong> vista botânico se reconheciam<br />
méritos, a parte arquitectónica permanecia<br />
por apurar. A ela se <strong>de</strong>dicariam<br />
os trabalhos, retomados a partir <strong>de</strong> 1814 e<br />
cuja direcção se <strong>entre</strong>gou a António José<br />
das Neves e Mello. Entre 1814 e 1821 realizaram-se<br />
as terraplanagens <strong>entre</strong> a rua central<br />
e a superior e proce<strong>de</strong>u-se à construção<br />
do muro e gradaria exterior, mandandose<br />
vir, para este efeito, ferro <strong>de</strong> Estocolmo.<br />
Em 1822 foi construído o portão do lado do<br />
48<br />
José do Couto dos Santos Leal’s project for<br />
the main gate of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n was approved<br />
in 1818. This is a <strong>de</strong>sign in Chinese ink and<br />
watercolour on paper [9], which is preserved<br />
in the Machado <strong>de</strong> Castro National<br />
Museum. It presents two alternative proposals;<br />
the columns and pillars are on tall<br />
bases and are topped by an entablature finished<br />
off with pronounced volutes, differing<br />
mostly as regards the coping. The one<br />
on the right is completed with an allegorical<br />
figure of Nature; the one on the left, which<br />
was approved and executed, <strong>de</strong>velops more<br />
mo<strong>de</strong>stly, culminating upwards in two urns<br />
and a pinnacle.<br />
The project was certainly executed before<br />
1839, the date of publication of the famous<br />
watercolour of Saint Anne’s Fountain, lithographed<br />
by Louis Hague, which shows the<br />
gateway already built, with only its iron gate<br />
missing. This was placed later, since it has<br />
the date of 1844 on its upper wing and the<br />
name of the locksmith, Manuel Bernar<strong>de</strong>s<br />
Galinha, near the lock.<br />
The gateway near St Sebastian’s aqueduct<br />
was also built in the first <strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong>s of the 19th
seminário.<br />
Data <strong>de</strong> 1818 a aprovação do projecto para<br />
o portal principal do <strong>Jardim</strong>, da autoria <strong>de</strong><br />
José do Couto dos Santos Leal. Trata-se<br />
<strong>de</strong> um <strong>de</strong>senho a tinta-da-china e aguada<br />
sobre papel [9] que se conserva no Museu<br />
Nacional <strong>de</strong> Machado <strong>de</strong> Castro. Apresenta<br />
duas propostas alternativas – <strong>de</strong>finidas por<br />
um alto envasamento sobre o qual se conjugam<br />
colunas e pilastras encimadas por<br />
um entablamento rematado por uma pronunciada<br />
voluta – que diferem sobretudo<br />
ao nível do coroamento. A da direita é concluída<br />
por uma figura alegórica da Natureza;<br />
a da esquerda, aprovada e executada,<br />
<strong>de</strong>senvolve-se <strong>de</strong> forma mais mo<strong>de</strong>sta, culminando,<br />
em ritmo ascen<strong>de</strong>nte, com duas<br />
urnas e um pináculo.<br />
O projecto foi certamente realizado ainda<br />
antes <strong>de</strong> 1839, data da publicação da célebre<br />
água-tinta, representando a Fonte <strong>de</strong><br />
Sant’Ana, gravada por Louis Hague, na qual<br />
se observa, em segundo plano, o portal já<br />
levantado, faltando-lhe apenas a colocação<br />
da sua porta <strong>de</strong> ferro. Esta é posterior,<br />
patenteando na ban<strong>de</strong>ira a data <strong>de</strong> 1844 e<br />
o nome do serralheiro responsável, Manuel<br />
Bernar<strong>de</strong>s Galinha, junto da fechadura.<br />
O portal <strong>de</strong> entrada do lado do aqueduto<br />
<strong>de</strong> S. Sebastião foi erguido também nas primeiras<br />
décadas do século XIX, pois aparece<br />
já representado quer na água-tinta a que<br />
já nos referimos, quer num <strong>de</strong>senho <strong>de</strong> D.<br />
Maria José Pereira Forjaz <strong>de</strong> Sampaio, da<br />
primeira meta<strong>de</strong> do século XIX, representando<br />
a parte Norte do <strong>Jardim</strong> ainda sem as<br />
estufas.<br />
Em Outubro <strong>de</strong> 1854 foi aprovado o projecto<br />
geral da estufa, riscada pelo engenheiro<br />
francês Pedro José Pezerat, e um ano<br />
<strong>de</strong>pois já estavam concluídos os seus alicerces.<br />
Em Julho <strong>de</strong> 1857 celebrou-se com<br />
o Instituto Industrial <strong>de</strong> Lisboa o contrato<br />
para a execução da obra, tendo chegado a<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, em Outubro <strong>de</strong> 1859, a primeira<br />
parte da estufa. Iniciados os trabalhos da<br />
sua colocação e armação, por operários<br />
century, since it appears both in the watercolour<br />
mentioned above and in a drawing<br />
by D. Maria José Pereira Forjaz <strong>de</strong> Sampaio<br />
from the first half of the 19th century,<br />
showing the northern part of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n as<br />
yet without the greenhouses.<br />
In October 1854, the general plan for the<br />
greenhouse, sketched by the French engineer<br />
Pedro José Pezerat, was approved, and<br />
a year later, the foundations were already<br />
laid. In July 1857, a contract was celebrated<br />
with the Lisbon Industrial Institute for the<br />
execution of the work, and the first part of<br />
the greenhouse arrived in <strong>Coimbra</strong> in October<br />
of 1859. Work began on the structure,<br />
using workers specially recruited in Lisbon<br />
for the purpose, and in July 1860, most of<br />
it was already in place. However, various<br />
problems, particularly the lack of resources,<br />
<strong>de</strong>layed the completion of the works. The<br />
rest of the greenhouse was only or<strong>de</strong>red<br />
two years later, from the Massarelos Foundry<br />
in Oporto, without any alterations to<br />
the sketches and plans adopted.<br />
In 1865, the greenhouse, consisting of three<br />
sections with different temperatures and<br />
conditions, was finished and the first exotic<br />
plants started to arrive. Work then began<br />
on two smaller greenhouses, “<strong>de</strong>stined for<br />
the propagation and culture of special specimens”<br />
16 . The gar<strong>de</strong>ner Edmond Goëze from<br />
Holstein, who had worked in the gar<strong>de</strong>ns of<br />
Kew and Paris, was appointed to oversee<br />
the cultures and greenhouses in 1866.<br />
The years 1854 to 1867, un<strong>de</strong>r the curatorship<br />
of Henrique do Couto d’Almeida,<br />
saw the construction of flights of stairs on<br />
the southern si<strong>de</strong>, most of the irrigation<br />
tanks, the pilasters and railings of most of<br />
the levels of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n. In 1868, the year<br />
Antonino José Rodrigues Vidal took over<br />
as curator, the first In<strong>de</strong>x Seminum (a seed<br />
catalogue that facilitated exchanges and<br />
transfers with similar institutions) was<br />
published. In this period, the grounds of<br />
the now extinct Benedictine College were<br />
<strong>de</strong>finitively incorporated, putting an end to<br />
49
contratados em Lisboa expressamente para<br />
este fim, em Julho <strong>de</strong> 1860 estava já assente<br />
gran<strong>de</strong> parte. No entanto, dificulda<strong>de</strong>s <strong>de</strong><br />
or<strong>de</strong>m diversa, sobretudo relativas a falta<br />
<strong>de</strong> meios, atrasaram a finalização dos trabalhos.<br />
Só dois anos <strong>de</strong>pois se encomendou o<br />
resto da estufa, sem alteração dos riscos e<br />
planos adoptados, à Fábrica <strong>de</strong> Fundição <strong>de</strong><br />
Massarelos no Porto.<br />
Em 1865, a estufa, composta <strong>de</strong> três corpos<br />
<strong>de</strong> temperatura e condições distintas, estava<br />
concluída e começava a albergar as primeiras<br />
plantas exóticas. Proce<strong>de</strong>u-se seguidamente<br />
à construção <strong>de</strong> outras duas pequenas<br />
estufas, “<strong>de</strong>stinadas á multiplicação e<br />
a algumas culturas mais especiaes” 16 . Para<br />
dirigir os trabalhos <strong>de</strong> cultura das estufas foi<br />
contratado, em 1866, o jardineiro Edmond<br />
Goëze, que era natural <strong>de</strong> Holstein e havia<br />
trabalhado nos jardins <strong>de</strong> Kew e <strong>de</strong> Paris.<br />
Entre 1854 e 1867, período que correspon<strong>de</strong><br />
à direcção <strong>de</strong> Henrique do Couto<br />
d’Almeida, foram construídos os lanços <strong>de</strong><br />
escadas do lado Sul, gran<strong>de</strong> parte dos reservatórios<br />
<strong>de</strong> água para regas, as pilastras<br />
e gra<strong>de</strong>s da maioria dos planos do <strong>Jardim</strong>.<br />
Em 1868, ano em que Antonino José Rodrigues<br />
Vidal passa a chefiar os <strong>de</strong>stinos do<br />
estabelecimento, foi publicado o primeiro<br />
In<strong>de</strong>x Seminum, catálogo <strong>de</strong> sementes que<br />
tornou possível a permuta com instituições<br />
congéneres. Nesta época proce<strong>de</strong>u-se<br />
ainda à <strong>de</strong>finitiva incorporação da cerca do<br />
extinto Colégio dos beneditinos, pondo-se<br />
fim a um processo que se vinha arrastando<br />
<strong>de</strong>s<strong>de</strong> 1836. A hoje <strong>de</strong>nominada “mata”,<br />
cujo acesso está vedado ao público, começou<br />
por esta altura a ser sistematicamente<br />
plantada, sob a direcção do jardineiro<br />
Gabriel Douverel, e a ser <strong>de</strong>sbravada pela<br />
abertura <strong>de</strong> várias ruas e atalhos <strong>de</strong>lineados<br />
por António Borges Me<strong>de</strong>iros.<br />
Em 1873 era confiada a Júlio Augusto Henriques<br />
a direcção do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>. Abria-se, a vários níveis, um novo<br />
capítulo da história <strong>de</strong>ste <strong>Jardim</strong> que, a<br />
partir <strong>de</strong> então, afirmaria sem prece<strong>de</strong>ntes<br />
a process that had dragged out since 1836.<br />
The area of woodland and thicket known<br />
today as the mata, which is not open to the<br />
public, began to be systematically planted<br />
at this time, un<strong>de</strong>r the direction of gar<strong>de</strong>ner<br />
Gabriel Douverel, and was opened up with<br />
a number of roads and paths <strong>de</strong>signed by<br />
António Borges Me<strong>de</strong>iros.<br />
In 1873, Júlio Augusto Henriques took over<br />
as curator of the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n and a<br />
new chapter opened in its history. The scientific<br />
status of the gar<strong>de</strong>n was now confirmed<br />
in an unprece<strong>de</strong>nted way. Symbolically,<br />
the first step was to transfer the<br />
botany lessons, till then given in the Natural<br />
History Museum, to the S. Bento building;<br />
the professor also announced his support<br />
for a teaching methodology that was<br />
essentially practical in nature, something<br />
he in fact fought for his whole life. With the<br />
scanty resources available, he managed to<br />
furnish the classroom, acquire materials to<br />
use in his lessons and equip the botanical<br />
laboratory that he created. He replaced aca<strong>de</strong>mic<br />
dissertations with practical work in<br />
microscopy, comparative morphology and<br />
herborizations, encouraging the stu<strong>de</strong>nts to<br />
compile little herbariums that would contribute<br />
to the Gar<strong>de</strong>n’s own collection.<br />
Aware that “the effective teaching of botany<br />
requires not only a gar<strong>de</strong>n where the most<br />
important species can be studied, but also<br />
collections of another or<strong>de</strong>r, amongst which<br />
an important place is occupied by diverse<br />
vegetal products” 17 , he set to work organizing<br />
the museum, using at first the examples<br />
that already existed in the Museum of<br />
Natural History. His mo<strong>de</strong>l was the Royal<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>ns at Kew, which he visited in 1878,<br />
adapting it the Portuguese context and, of<br />
course, limited resources available.<br />
The museum, which was established in the<br />
old Benedictine refectory, expan<strong>de</strong>d, until<br />
by the end of the century it had spilled over<br />
into two additional rooms, a sign of the<br />
increase in the size of the collection. The<br />
cabinets were ma<strong>de</strong> of wood from differ-<br />
51
o seu estatuto científico. Simbolicamente, o<br />
primeiro passo dado pelo lente foi a transferência<br />
da aula <strong>de</strong> botânica, então leccionada<br />
no Museu <strong>de</strong> História Natural, para o<br />
edifício <strong>de</strong> S. Bento, anunciando a <strong>de</strong>fesa <strong>de</strong><br />
um ensino prático, pelo qual pugnaria toda<br />
a sua vida. Dentro dos parcos rendimentos<br />
<strong>de</strong> que dispunha, conseguiu mobilar a sala<br />
<strong>de</strong> aula, adquirir material para usar nas suas<br />
lições e para apetrechar o laboratório botânico<br />
que criou. Substituiu as dissertações<br />
académicas por trabalhos <strong>de</strong> microscopia,<br />
<strong>de</strong> morfologia comparada e por herborizações,<br />
incentivando os alunos a compilar<br />
pequenos herbários que contribuíam para a<br />
própria colecção do <strong>Jardim</strong>.<br />
Por outro lado, ciente <strong>de</strong> que “o ensino proveitoso<br />
da botanica exige, além d’um jardim<br />
on<strong>de</strong> se possam encontrar os elementos<br />
fundamentaes do seu estudo, collecções<br />
<strong>de</strong> outra or<strong>de</strong>m, <strong>entre</strong> as quaes occupa<br />
<strong>de</strong> certo logar importante a que for constituida<br />
<strong>de</strong> diversos productos fornecidos<br />
pelos vegetaes” 17 , empenhou-se em organizar<br />
o museu, aproveitando, numa primeira<br />
fase, os exemplares existentes no Museu <strong>de</strong><br />
História Natural. Uma visita, em 1878, ao<br />
acervo do <strong>Jardim</strong> Real <strong>de</strong> Kew, serviu-lhe<br />
<strong>de</strong> mo<strong>de</strong>lo, o qual procurou <strong>de</strong>pois adaptar<br />
à realida<strong>de</strong> portuguesa e, sobretudo, aos<br />
escassos meios <strong>de</strong> que dispunha.<br />
Estabelecido no antigo refeitório beneditino,<br />
o museu expandiu-se até ao fim da centúria<br />
por outras duas salas, sinal do aumento da<br />
colecção que <strong>de</strong>tinha. Os armários foram<br />
feitos <strong>de</strong> ma<strong>de</strong>iras provenientes <strong>de</strong> várias<br />
colónias portuguesas, <strong>de</strong>signadamente <strong>de</strong> S.<br />
Tomé, Angola, Moçambique e Índia, constituindo<br />
“por si já parte do mesmo museu” 18 .<br />
Na esteira <strong>de</strong> uma museologia hoje <strong>de</strong>nominada<br />
«tradicional», pretendia-se reunir<br />
no mesmo espaço, <strong>de</strong> acordo com o âmbito<br />
do museu, “a maior copia <strong>de</strong> objectos”, não<br />
obstante a preocupação em “dispor e or<strong>de</strong>nar<br />
esses objectos <strong>de</strong> modo que o todo<br />
cause boa impressão ao visitante, porque<br />
então o exame das partes será feito com<br />
52<br />
ent Portuguese colonies, such as S. Tomé,<br />
Angola, Mozambique and India, and as such<br />
“were themselves part of the museum” 18 .<br />
Following a museological policy which today<br />
would be called “traditional”, the aim was<br />
to collect together in the same space “the<br />
largest copy of objects”, <strong>de</strong>spite the concern<br />
with “organizing and or<strong>de</strong>ring those objects<br />
in such a way as to make a good impression<br />
on the visitor, so that more attention will be<br />
given to examining the parts” 19 .<br />
In 1880, Júlio Henriques foun<strong>de</strong>d the Broterian<br />
Society to further the acquisition and<br />
exchange of plants with different places<br />
in the country, and its first bulletin was<br />
published in 1883. The library, which was<br />
located in the room before the herbarium,<br />
was enriched by an exchange scheme<br />
established with numerous foreign journals<br />
and publications. The herbarium too,<br />
laid out in the former sacristy of the College<br />
of S. Bento and co-directed by Joaquim<br />
<strong>de</strong> Mariz, an assistant naturalist, was given<br />
an important impulse, immediately evi<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
in the increase in the number of requests<br />
from other gar<strong>de</strong>ns, teaching institutions<br />
and private establishments, and in the need<br />
expressed by the curator in 1887 to construct<br />
a gallery above the main group of cabinets<br />
in or<strong>de</strong>r to accommodate the growing<br />
number of species; these had been donated,<br />
obtained by exchange or through herborizations<br />
un<strong>de</strong>rtaken in Portugal and its colonies,<br />
or were purchased, as happened with<br />
the famous herbarium collected by Heinrich<br />
Moritz Willkomm.<br />
In the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n itself, there were<br />
reforms on the scientific, aesthetic and<br />
material levels, within the constraints of<br />
the limited budget. At a time when “scientific<br />
colonization” was wi<strong>de</strong>ly supported,<br />
Júlio Henriques, assisted by his head gar<strong>de</strong>ner,<br />
Adolfo Fre<strong>de</strong>rico Moller, encouraged<br />
attempts at different cultures and<br />
sent seeds and plants (particularly cinchonas,<br />
which were consi<strong>de</strong>red to be “sources<br />
of wealth” and “medically precious for many
maior interesse e attenção” 19 .<br />
Em 1880, com vista à aquisição e troca <strong>de</strong><br />
plantas <strong>de</strong> diversos locais do país, Júlio Henriques<br />
fundou a Socieda<strong>de</strong> Broteriana, cujo<br />
primeiro boletim foi publicado em 1883.<br />
A permuta estabelecida com numerosas<br />
revistas e publicações estrangeiras permitiu<br />
enriquecer a biblioteca, situada na sala que<br />
precedia o herbário. Este, disposto na antiga<br />
sacristia do Colégio <strong>de</strong> S. Bento e co-dirigido<br />
por Joaquim <strong>de</strong> Mariz, naturalista adjunto,<br />
conheceu também um <strong>de</strong>cisivo impulso,<br />
<strong>de</strong>s<strong>de</strong> logo patente no crescimento <strong>de</strong> solicitações<br />
por parte <strong>de</strong> outros jardins, instituições<br />
<strong>de</strong> ensino e particulares, bem como<br />
na necessida<strong>de</strong>, expressa pelo director,<br />
em 1887, <strong>de</strong> construir uma galeria sobre o<br />
corpo principal <strong>de</strong> armários para acomodar<br />
o número crescente <strong>de</strong> espécies oferecidas<br />
ou obtidas quer por troca, quer através das<br />
herborizações realizadas no país e nas colónias,<br />
quer ainda por compra, como suce<strong>de</strong>u<br />
com o famoso herbário coligido por Heinrich<br />
Moritz Willkomm.<br />
No <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>, as reformas esten<strong>de</strong>ram-se,<br />
<strong>de</strong>ntro <strong>de</strong> um orçamento limitado,<br />
ao campo científico, estético e material.<br />
Numa altura em que ecoava a <strong>de</strong>fesa duma<br />
“colonização científica”, Júlio Henriques,<br />
auxiliado pelo jardineiro chefe, Adolfo Fre<strong>de</strong>rico<br />
Moller, promoveu o ensaio <strong>de</strong> várias<br />
culturas e o envio, para a África oci<strong>de</strong>ntal,<br />
<strong>de</strong> sementes e plantas, sobretudo cinchonas,<br />
consi<strong>de</strong>radas “fontes <strong>de</strong> riqueza” e<br />
“medicamento precioso para muitas enfermida<strong>de</strong>s”<br />
20 , nomeadamente para a malária.<br />
Crítico do seu tempo e, particularmente, do<br />
modo como era conduzida a colonização,<br />
não <strong>de</strong>ixou <strong>de</strong> sublinhar e <strong>de</strong> fazer chegar<br />
às instâncias superiores a crença <strong>de</strong> que<br />
“não necessitamos (…) <strong>de</strong> gran<strong>de</strong>s exércitos,<br />
porque a nossa nacionalida<strong>de</strong> está garantida<br />
pelas condições geraes do equilibrio<br />
europeo; mas temos necessida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> sciencia,<br />
que anime as nossas industrias, que<br />
vivifique as nossas colónias, que nos torne<br />
emfim respeitados.” 21<br />
infirmities” 20 , such as malaria) to western<br />
Africa. Critical of his times and particularly<br />
of the way colonization was conducted, he<br />
ma<strong>de</strong> sure his superiors knew his belief that<br />
“we don’t need (…) large armies, because<br />
our nationality is guaranteed by the general<br />
conditions of European equilibrium; we do,<br />
however, need science, which animates our<br />
industries, enlivens our colonies and ultimately<br />
wins us respect.” 21<br />
The central quadrangle, where the plants<br />
had long been arranged in the Linnaean<br />
or<strong>de</strong>r in concentric beds with the tank,<br />
was reconfigured to create a “geographical<br />
gar<strong>de</strong>n”, where the species were placed<br />
in such a way as to represent the different<br />
botanical regions of the earth. Thus, in 1891,<br />
the species that had occupied this space<br />
were replanted in other parts of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n,<br />
in accordance with the curator’s gui<strong>de</strong>lines.<br />
The trays immediately above this level were<br />
also modified, receiving ornamental plants<br />
that would therefore frame the roads and<br />
avenues. On the remaining terraces and on<br />
the terrain near the “Avenue of Lin<strong>de</strong>ns”,<br />
they were distributed according to natural<br />
families.<br />
As well as sporadic improvements to the<br />
plumbing and greenhouse heating system,<br />
and the repainting of the railings and large<br />
greenhouse, there were also some more<br />
significant changes. Two new greenhouses<br />
were built: one of them, whose iron roof<br />
was finished in 1887, replaced the two ol<strong>de</strong>r<br />
ones used for orchids and reproduction;<br />
the other, raised in the area of the College<br />
grounds, was <strong>de</strong>stined for the cultivation of<br />
ferns and other plants that required a damp<br />
environment. The enclosure of the inner<br />
zones (such as in the area near the small<br />
greenhouse and on the "Avenue of Lin<strong>de</strong>ns")<br />
with stone pillars and iron railings was also<br />
completed, in 1888 and 1891 respectively.<br />
One of the most visible legacies of Júlio<br />
Henriques’ curatorship is the statue of<br />
Félix Avelar Brotero in front of the main<br />
gate to the Gar<strong>de</strong>n. This homage had first<br />
53
O quadrado central, on<strong>de</strong> as plantas haviam<br />
permanecido muito tempo dispostas pela<br />
or<strong>de</strong>m linneana em canteiros concêntricos<br />
com o tanque, foi reconfigurado, com vista<br />
a constituir um “jardim geográfico”, on<strong>de</strong><br />
as espécies fossem colocadas <strong>de</strong> forma a<br />
representar as diversas regiões botânicas<br />
da Terra. Nesse sentido, em 1891, replantaram-se<br />
em outras partes do <strong>Jardim</strong> as<br />
que ocupavam este espaço, dando início à<br />
concretização das orientações do director.<br />
Os tabuleiros imediatamente superiores a<br />
este patamar foram também modificados,<br />
recebendo plantas ornamentais que, assim,<br />
enquadravam as ruas e alamedas. Nos restantes<br />
terraços e no terreno contíguo à<br />
«avenida das Tílias», imperava a sua distribuição<br />
por famílias naturais.<br />
A par <strong>de</strong> melhoramentos pontuais ao nível<br />
da canalização das águas, do aquecimento<br />
das estufas, da repintura da gradaria do<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> e da estufa gran<strong>de</strong>, <strong>de</strong>stacam-se<br />
algumas obras significativas. Construíramse<br />
duas estufas: uma, concluída em 1887<br />
com a colocação da sua cobertura em ferro,<br />
veio substituir as duas antigas <strong>de</strong> orquí<strong>de</strong>as<br />
e <strong>de</strong> reprodução; outra, erguida na zona<br />
da cerca, foi <strong>de</strong>stinada à cultura <strong>de</strong> fetos e<br />
outras plantas que exigissem humida<strong>de</strong>.<br />
Além disso, completou-se a cercadura,<br />
formada pelo gra<strong>de</strong>amento <strong>de</strong> ferro e por<br />
pilares <strong>de</strong> pedra, nas zonas interiores em<br />
falta, nomeadamente na área junto da<br />
estufa pequena, em 1888, e na «avenida das<br />
Tílias», finalizada em 1891.<br />
Uma das heranças mais visíveis da direcção<br />
<strong>de</strong> Júlio Henriques é a estátua <strong>de</strong> Félix Avelar<br />
Brotero, erguida em frente do portão principal<br />
do <strong>Jardim</strong>. A proposta <strong>de</strong>sta homenagem<br />
remontava a 1876; porém, só a partir<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1880 se iniciaram as diligências, nomeando-se<br />
uma comissão e abrindo-se uma<br />
subscrição com vista a angariar fundos para<br />
a sua efectivação. Definido o material (mármore)<br />
e assente que o distinto professor<br />
<strong>de</strong>veria ser representado com os hábitos<br />
académicos, encarregou-se o escultor Antó-<br />
54<br />
been proposed in 1876; however, nothing<br />
was done about it until 1880, when a<br />
committee was appointed and a fund set<br />
up to attract donations. Once it had been<br />
<strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d that the material would be marble<br />
and that the distinguished professor would<br />
be represented in his aca<strong>de</strong>mic gown, the<br />
sculptor António Soares dos Reis was commissioned<br />
to execute the statue and the<br />
architect Tomás Augusto Soller the pe<strong>de</strong>stal.<br />
The whole thing was placed in position<br />
and inaugurated on 1st April 1887.<br />
In 1918, Júlio Henriques retired. He had<br />
ma<strong>de</strong> a profound mark on the Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
during his four <strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong>s as curator, and this<br />
was acknowledged. The avenue running<br />
parallel to the main entrance of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
was named after him in that same year,<br />
and in April 1925, following a proposal presented<br />
to the Government by the Faculty of<br />
Sciences, a <strong>de</strong>cree was issued <strong>de</strong>termining<br />
that the <strong>Coimbra</strong> Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n and its<br />
annexes (herbariums, museum, library and<br />
laboratories) would thereafter be named<br />
the Dr. Júlio Henriques Botanical Institute.<br />
In 1918, the management of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
passed into the hands of Luiz Wittnich Carrisso,<br />
who un<strong>de</strong>rtook the complex task of<br />
renovation. He regenerated the teaching<br />
staff, the Broterian Society, the library, herbarium<br />
and gar<strong>de</strong>n, and was also concerned<br />
with the premises of the former Benedictine<br />
building, part of which had been given<br />
over to the José Falcão High School, obliging<br />
some of the annexes to be relocated and<br />
the limited space to be managed imaginatively.<br />
As regards the gar<strong>de</strong>n, Luiz Carrisso was<br />
a<strong>de</strong>pt at reconciling the <strong>de</strong>mands of science<br />
with landscaping precepts. With the<br />
new curator, more attention was now given<br />
to the visitor, a sign that the space was no<br />
longer conceived as a place for “boys’ study”,<br />
but for the education and enjoyment of<br />
an increasingly broa<strong>de</strong>r public. As well as<br />
extending the area that was open to visitors,<br />
this period also saw the cultivation of
nio Soares dos Reis <strong>de</strong> executar a estátua e<br />
o arquitecto Tomás Augusto Soller <strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>linear<br />
o pe<strong>de</strong>stal. O conjunto foi colocado no<br />
<strong>de</strong>vido lugar e inaugurado no dia 1 <strong>de</strong> Abril<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1887.<br />
Em 1918, Júlio Henriques jubila-se. A profunda<br />
marca <strong>de</strong>ixada no estabelecimento<br />
que dirigiu durante mais <strong>de</strong> quatro décadas<br />
ser-lhe-ia reconhecida. A alameda paralela<br />
à entrada principal do <strong>Jardim</strong> receberia o<br />
seu nome nesse mesmo ano e, em Abril <strong>de</strong><br />
1925, por proposta apresentada pela Faculda<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> Ciências ao Governo, é publicado<br />
um <strong>de</strong>creto <strong>de</strong>terminando que o <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> e seus anexos – herbários,<br />
museu, biblioteca e laboratórios –<br />
passassem a <strong>de</strong>nominar-se Instituto <strong>Botânico</strong><br />
Dr. Júlio Henriques.<br />
A gerência do <strong>Jardim</strong> passaria, em 1918, para<br />
as mãos <strong>de</strong> Luiz Wittnich Carrisso. Cabia-lhe<br />
uma profunda tarefa <strong>de</strong> renovação. Impunha-se<br />
a regeneração do corpo docente, da<br />
Socieda<strong>de</strong> Broteriana, da biblioteca, do herbário<br />
e do <strong>Jardim</strong>. A estas somava-se a preocupação<br />
com as instalações no antigo edifício<br />
beneditino, dado que parte <strong>de</strong>ste fora<br />
<strong>entre</strong>gue ao Liceu José Falcão, forçando a<br />
reinstalação <strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>pendências e a gestão da<br />
falta <strong>de</strong> espaço com imaginação.<br />
No que concerne ao <strong>Jardim</strong>, Luiz Carrisso<br />
soube conciliar a exigência científica com os<br />
preceitos paisagísticos. A atenção concedida<br />
ao visitante, em progressão ao longo da<br />
história do horto botânico, <strong>de</strong>u com o novo<br />
director mais um passo, sinal da própria<br />
evolução da concepção <strong>de</strong>ste espaço,<br />
agora não apenas pensado para «estudo <strong>de</strong><br />
rapazes», mas também para a educação e<br />
a usufruição <strong>de</strong> um público cada vez mais<br />
vasto. Além <strong>de</strong> se aumentar a área visitável,<br />
proce<strong>de</strong>u-se, nesta altura, ao cultivo <strong>de</strong><br />
numerosas plantas ornamentais; criaram-se<br />
viveiros; procurou-se que as várias Escolas<br />
estivessem completas e <strong>de</strong>vidamente<br />
classificadas; ajardinou-se parte da mata<br />
e numa das suas encostas estabeleceuse,<br />
em novos mol<strong>de</strong>s, a Escola das<br />
numerous ornamental plants; the creation<br />
of nurseries; the completion and proper<br />
classification of the various sections; and<br />
the landscaping of part of the mata, with<br />
the establishment of a new-format monocotyledon<br />
bed on one of its slopes. The<br />
greenhouses were also radically improved<br />
[10], particularly as regards structure, heating<br />
and flora cultivated, and the famous<br />
Victoria amazonica was introduced into<br />
the small greenhouse.<br />
However, it was in the area of “scientific colonization”<br />
that Luiz Carrisso ma<strong>de</strong> the biggest<br />
mark, continuing and extending the<br />
work begun by his master. Un<strong>de</strong>r his guidance,<br />
the Institute’s activities were largely<br />
oriented towards the botanical exploitation<br />
of the colonies, justified as a tool of socioeconomic<br />
progress and political legitimation,<br />
but in practice exceeding all these purposes.<br />
In fact, the three expeditions to Angola (the<br />
botanical mission of 1927, the aca<strong>de</strong>mic<br />
mission of 1929 and the botanical mission<br />
of 1937) resulted not only in the collection<br />
of species that can still be seen today in the<br />
museum, herbarium and gar<strong>de</strong>n, and in the<br />
study and divulgation of Angolan plant life,<br />
but also in the production of audiovisual,<br />
written and photographic documents that<br />
are invaluable not only to botany, but also<br />
to anthropology, history and sociology.<br />
Luiz Carrisso lost his life in the Mocame<strong>de</strong>s<br />
<strong>de</strong>sert on 14th June 1937. His premature<br />
<strong>de</strong>ath left a vacuum in the running of the<br />
Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n, for the Faculty of Science<br />
regulations stipulated that the post had<br />
to be filled by a full professor. Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s,<br />
a discipline of Carrisso and at that<br />
time assistant lecturer, performed the functions<br />
indirectly, while management was formally<br />
attributed to Rui Couceiro da Costa<br />
(chemistry) and José Custódio Morais (mineralogy<br />
and geology). Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s only<br />
took over as curator of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n in 1942,<br />
after being appointed to the chair of botany;<br />
he occupied the post until 1974.<br />
Thus we move into what has been really the<br />
55
Monocotiledóneas. As estufas receberam<br />
também profundos melhoramentos [10],<br />
nomeadamente ao nível da estrutura, do<br />
aquecimento e da flora cultivada, tendose<br />
introduzido na estufa pequena a famosa<br />
Victoria amazonica.<br />
Contudo, foi no âmbito da «colonização<br />
científica» que Luiz Carrisso <strong>de</strong>ixou o cunho<br />
mais forte da sua acção e personalida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
prolongando e ampliando o testemunho<br />
do seu mestre. Gran<strong>de</strong> parte da activida<strong>de</strong><br />
do Instituto foi, sob a sua orientação,<br />
direccionada para a exploração botânica das<br />
colónias, justificada como instrumento <strong>de</strong><br />
progresso socio-económico e legitimação<br />
política, e posta em prática extravasando<br />
todos estes os propósitos. Com efeito, as três<br />
expedições organizadas rumo a Angola –<br />
missão botânica <strong>de</strong> 1927, missão académica<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1929 e missão botânica <strong>de</strong> 1937 – não se<br />
saldaram apenas pela recolha <strong>de</strong> espécies<br />
56<br />
last phase of the construction of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
that we know today. This was a period of<br />
great change as regards town planning<br />
and architecture un<strong>de</strong>r the Estado Novo.<br />
From the beginning of the 1940s, plans<br />
were drawn up for the high part of <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
involving the transformation of existing<br />
spaces and construction of new buildings<br />
from scratch; no mention was ma<strong>de</strong> of<br />
the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n in the general plan for<br />
the university campus, and <strong>de</strong>spite the fact<br />
that it formally excee<strong>de</strong>d the remit of the<br />
Administrative Committee for the Works<br />
Planning of <strong>Coimbra</strong> University Campus<br />
(CAPOCUC), the possibility of improving it<br />
was broached early on.<br />
The first studies in this regard were un<strong>de</strong>rtaken<br />
in the aca<strong>de</strong>mic year of 1943-44 and<br />
quickly won the support of the Botanical<br />
Institute, which invested in CAPOCUC<br />
its hopes of finally obtaining the financial
hoje passíveis <strong>de</strong> serem observadas no<br />
museu, herbário e <strong>Jardim</strong>, ou pelo estudo<br />
e divulgação da fitodiversida<strong>de</strong> angolana.<br />
Delas resultaram, também, documentos<br />
audiovisuais, escritos e fotográficos <strong>de</strong><br />
enorme valor, não apenas ao nível da<br />
botânica, mas também da antropologia, da<br />
história e da sociologia.<br />
Em pleno <strong>de</strong>serto <strong>de</strong> Moçâme<strong>de</strong>s, Luiz Carrisso<br />
per<strong>de</strong> a vida a 14 <strong>de</strong> Junho <strong>de</strong> 1937. A<br />
sua morte prematura <strong>de</strong>ixava um vazio na<br />
direcção do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>. Este cargo, <strong>de</strong><br />
acordo com o regulamento da Faculda<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
Ciências, tinha <strong>de</strong> ser <strong>de</strong>sempenhado por<br />
um professor catedrático. Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s,<br />
discípulo <strong>de</strong> Carrisso e então docente<br />
auxiliar, <strong>de</strong>sempenharia tal função indirectamente,<br />
sendo formalmente a gerência<br />
atribuída a Rui Couceiro da Costa (química)<br />
e José Custódio Morais (mineralogia<br />
e geologia). Seria apenas em 1942 que, realizadas<br />
as provas e nomeado catedrático do<br />
grupo <strong>de</strong> botânica, Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s encabeçaria<br />
a direcção do <strong>Jardim</strong>, a qual ocuparia<br />
até 1974.<br />
Entramos, assim, naquele que foi, verda<strong>de</strong>iramente,<br />
o último período construtivo do<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> que hoje conhecemos. Esta etapa<br />
inscreve-se na profunda intervenção urbanística<br />
e arquitectónica levada a cabo pelo<br />
Estado Novo a partir do início da década <strong>de</strong><br />
quarenta na Alta <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, a qual contemplou,<br />
a par <strong>de</strong> edificações <strong>de</strong> raiz, transformações<br />
nos espaços existentes. Embora<br />
não constando do plano geral da cida<strong>de</strong><br />
universitária e formalmente ultrapassar as<br />
atribuições da Comissão Administrativa do<br />
Plano <strong>de</strong> Obras da Cida<strong>de</strong> Universitária <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> (CAPOCUC), a possibilida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
efectuar melhoramentos no <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong><br />
irrompeu <strong>de</strong>s<strong>de</strong> cedo.<br />
Os primeiros estudos arrancaram no ano<br />
lectivo <strong>de</strong> 1943-44 e <strong>de</strong>pressa granjearam<br />
o apoio do Instituto <strong>Botânico</strong> que <strong>de</strong>positou<br />
na CAPOCUC as esperanças <strong>de</strong> vir a<br />
obter, finalmente, os meios financeiros para<br />
empreen<strong>de</strong>r as reformas <strong>de</strong> que o <strong>Jardim</strong> e<br />
means to implement the reforms that were<br />
so nee<strong>de</strong>d in the gar<strong>de</strong>n and facilities of the<br />
former St Bento College. Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s’<br />
negotiating skills and above all, the relationship<br />
of trust which he seemed to have<br />
established with the director-<strong>de</strong>legate of<br />
the Committee, the engineer Manuel <strong>de</strong> Sá<br />
e Mello, smoothed the way for his requests<br />
and suggestions.<br />
The “works of refurbishment and embellishment”,<br />
as they were <strong>de</strong>fined by the CAPO-<br />
CUC, were carried out mostly between<br />
1944 and 1950 22 . They began with the<br />
installation of central heating in the tropical<br />
plant greenhouses, the arborization of the<br />
mata and the opening up of roadways. Also<br />
in 1944, Cottinelli Telmo, head architect of<br />
the Committee between 1941 and 1948,<br />
<strong>de</strong>signed stone benches for the Gar<strong>de</strong>n and<br />
planned how they would be positioned.<br />
Six backless double benches were arranged<br />
around the statue of Brotero and twenty<br />
eight simple ones were distributed around<br />
the rest of the gar<strong>de</strong>n. An or<strong>de</strong>r was also<br />
ma<strong>de</strong> for fifty woo<strong>de</strong>n benches and, in<br />
1951, a further twelve stone ones, i<strong>de</strong>ntical<br />
to those already in existence, were or<strong>de</strong>red.<br />
The year 1945 was dominated by the launch<br />
of two important projects: the remo<strong>de</strong>lling<br />
of the central quadrangle and the construction<br />
of the cold greenhouse. The former,<br />
<strong>de</strong>signed by Cottinelli Telmo and Armand<br />
Van Bellinghen, gar<strong>de</strong>ner of the Lisbon<br />
City Council hired in 1944, was justified by<br />
the fact that, according to the authors, the<br />
gar<strong>de</strong>n “has a beautiful geometric shape,<br />
but it is flat, without relief (…) and being<br />
largely <strong>de</strong>corated with seasonal flowers,<br />
cannot permanently retain a <strong>de</strong>sirable <strong>de</strong>corative<br />
appearance, which also brings problems<br />
and costs for conservation”.<br />
The solution proposed [11] consisted<br />
firstly in “surrounding all beds with boxwood<br />
hedges, <strong>de</strong>scending in height from<br />
the c<strong>entre</strong>”; these, being easy to look after,<br />
would give “the gar<strong>de</strong>n a dignity appropriate<br />
to its gran<strong>de</strong>ur and broad vistas”. With<br />
57
as instalações no antigo Colégio <strong>de</strong> S. Bento<br />
careciam. A capacida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> negociação <strong>de</strong><br />
Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s com os técnicos responsáveis<br />
e, sobretudo, a confiança que parece<br />
ter estabelecido com Manuel <strong>de</strong> Sá e Mello,<br />
engenheiro director-<strong>de</strong>legado da Comissão,<br />
facilitaram o acolhimento dos seus pedidos<br />
e sugestões.<br />
“Obras <strong>de</strong> arranjo e aformoseamento”,<br />
como as <strong>de</strong>finiu a CAPOCUC, centraramse,<br />
essencialmente, no que diz respeito ao<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong>, <strong>entre</strong> 1944 e 1950 22 . Principiaram<br />
com a instalação <strong>de</strong> aquecimento central<br />
nas estufas <strong>de</strong> plantas tropicais, a arborização<br />
da mata e a abertura <strong>de</strong> arruamentos.<br />
Ainda no ano <strong>de</strong> 1944, Cottinelli Telmo,<br />
arquitecto-chefe da Comissão <strong>entre</strong> 1941 e<br />
1948, se <strong>de</strong>teve a <strong>de</strong>senhar bancos <strong>de</strong> pedra<br />
para o <strong>Jardim</strong> e a planear o seu posicionamento.<br />
Foram dispostos seis duplos sem<br />
costas ao redor da estátua <strong>de</strong> Brotero e<br />
vinte e oito simples pelo restante <strong>Jardim</strong>. A<br />
este número se juntou uma encomenda <strong>de</strong><br />
cinquenta bancos com réguas <strong>de</strong> ma<strong>de</strong>ira<br />
e, em 1951, o fornecimento <strong>de</strong> mais doze<br />
bancos <strong>de</strong> pedra iguais aos existentes.<br />
O ano <strong>de</strong> 1945 surge dominado pelo arranque<br />
<strong>de</strong> duas obras fundamentais: a remo<strong>de</strong>lação<br />
do quadrado central e a construção<br />
da estufa fria. A primeira, i<strong>de</strong>alizada por<br />
Cottinelli Telmo e por Armand Van Bellinghen,<br />
jardineiro da Câmara Municipal <strong>de</strong><br />
Lisboa contratado em 1944, justificavase,<br />
no enten<strong>de</strong>r dos autores, “porque é um<br />
jardim com um belo traçado geométrico,<br />
sim, mas que se apresenta chato, sem relevo<br />
(…) e porque sendo na sua maior parte<br />
guarnecido por flores <strong>de</strong> estação não po<strong>de</strong><br />
manter permanentemente aquele aspecto<br />
<strong>de</strong>corativo que seria <strong>de</strong>sejar, acarretando a<br />
sua conservação, ao mesmo tempo, dificulda<strong>de</strong>s<br />
e <strong>de</strong>spesas”.<br />
A solução proposta [11] consistia em, primeiramente,<br />
“ro<strong>de</strong>ar todos os canteiros<br />
com sebes <strong>de</strong> buxo, <strong>de</strong> altura <strong>de</strong>crescente<br />
a partir do centro”, que, sendo <strong>de</strong> fácil conservação,<br />
dariam “ao jardim uma dignida<strong>de</strong><br />
58<br />
this layout, “an observer standing near the<br />
lake would, without losing his overview of<br />
the whole, find himself in a more intimate<br />
first zone, limited by higher hedges and<br />
boxwood pyramids instead of a flat open<br />
space, <strong>de</strong>corated with flowering shrubs and<br />
bushes in accordance with the flavour of<br />
the occasion and fantasy of gar<strong>de</strong>ners – and<br />
when standing at the edge, he would have<br />
a view of the amphitheatre of hedges that<br />
would soften the negative effects of the<br />
digging un<strong>de</strong>rtaken to replace the species”.<br />
Secondly, they would create “large areas of<br />
lawn and bright flowers”. Thirdly, they would<br />
place “a statue, with its respective pe<strong>de</strong>stal,<br />
in the lake in the c<strong>entre</strong>”. Finally, they would<br />
lower the height of the bor<strong>de</strong>r around the<br />
beds and create “a curtain of climbing roses”<br />
to “give interest to the periphery” 23 .<br />
The project, which was approved by the<br />
director of the Botanical Institute in the<br />
same year, was only completely implemented<br />
in April 1949 with the construction<br />
of the monumental fountain, in Outil stone,<br />
on the existing tank. The fountain [12] was,<br />
we believe, <strong>de</strong>signed by the architect Álvaro<br />
da Fonseca, since he had been commissioned<br />
for the task and the sketch seems to<br />
show his monogram (the letters A, V and F<br />
entwined) in the bottom right hand corner.<br />
The cold greenhouse was planned by Cottinelli<br />
Telmo in the shape of a trapezium,<br />
with a series of pillars and beams in reinforced<br />
concrete forming “the skeleton of<br />
a box, with the walls and roof covered in<br />
woo<strong>de</strong>n latticework through which the air<br />
could circulate and the sunlight filter in”. To<br />
implement it “in accordance with the Curator’s<br />
wishes”, they chose “an almost treeless<br />
area of thicket near the support wall<br />
of the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n opposite the main<br />
entrance, in the wall that serves the back of<br />
the Greenhouse”. As regards the aesthetic<br />
appearance of the exterior, the architect<br />
favoured a “picturesque” approach in tune<br />
with the place, reflected particularly in the<br />
materials used. As well as the wood that
em relação com a sua gran<strong>de</strong>za e com o seu<br />
rasgado traçado”. Com esta disposição, “o<br />
observador colocado junto do lago encontrar-se-ia,<br />
sem per<strong>de</strong>r o abrangimento visual<br />
do conjunto, numa primeira zona mais<br />
íntima, limitada pelas sebes mais altas e respectivas<br />
pirâmi<strong>de</strong>s talhadas no buxo, em<br />
vez <strong>de</strong> ter diante <strong>de</strong> si um campo raso, guarnecido<br />
<strong>de</strong> maciços <strong>de</strong> flores e arbustos ao<br />
sabor da ocasião e da fantasia dos jardineiros<br />
– e, quando colocado na periferia – teria<br />
a visão do anfiteatro <strong>de</strong> sebes que atenuaria<br />
o mau efeito das cavas para substituição<br />
<strong>de</strong> espécies”. Em segundo lugar, criar-se-iam<br />
“gran<strong>de</strong>s zonas <strong>de</strong> relva e flores vivazes”. Em<br />
terceiro lugar, colocar-se-ia “uma estátua –<br />
lined the “box”, they also ad<strong>de</strong>d “irregular<br />
slabs of stone, with roughly hewn surfaces”<br />
used for the sills, steps and walls 24 .<br />
The contracts were awar<strong>de</strong>d in 1945 and<br />
must have been near conclusion by the end<br />
of the following year since, in June 1946, an<br />
invitation to ten<strong>de</strong>r was issued for a complementary<br />
construction, namely the bridge<br />
connecting the gar<strong>de</strong>n with the mata. The<br />
project, which was also signed by Cottinelli,<br />
involved rebuilding in a new style the old<br />
bridge that connected the western si<strong>de</strong> of<br />
the central quadrangle to the arboretum,<br />
while also improving the spot by “‘disciplining’<br />
what is presently no more than a plot of<br />
land with haphazard relief and a few foot-
e respectivo pe<strong>de</strong>stal – no lago do centro”.<br />
Finalmente, reduzir-se-ia a altura excessiva<br />
do lancil que contorna os canteiros e “uma<br />
cortina <strong>de</strong> roseiras trepa<strong>de</strong>iras contribuiria<br />
para dar interesse à parte periférica” 23 .<br />
Aprovado no mesmo ano pelo director do<br />
Instituto <strong>Botânico</strong>, o projecto só seria totalmente<br />
concretizado em Abril <strong>de</strong> 1949, com<br />
a colocação da fonte monumental, em<br />
pedra <strong>de</strong> Outil, sobre o tanque já existente.<br />
O <strong>de</strong>senho da fonte [12] foi, julgamos, elaborado<br />
por Álvaro da Fonseca, pois sabe-se<br />
que este arquitecto fora encarregado <strong>de</strong> a<br />
riscar e o próprio <strong>de</strong>buxo parece apresentar<br />
o seu monograma (<strong>entre</strong>laçamento das<br />
letras A, V e F) no canto inferior direito.<br />
A estufa fria foi projectada por Cottinelli<br />
Telmo como um trapézio composto por<br />
uma série <strong>de</strong> pilares e vigas <strong>de</strong> betão armado<br />
que constituíam “o esqueleto <strong>de</strong> uma caixa<br />
cujas pare<strong>de</strong>s e cobertura são fechados por<br />
ripado <strong>de</strong> ma<strong>de</strong>ira por on<strong>de</strong> circula o ar e a<br />
luz do sol entra coada pelos intervalos <strong>entre</strong><br />
as ripas”. Para a sua implantação, escolheuse,<br />
“<strong>de</strong> acordo com o Exmo. Director”, “uma<br />
zona <strong>de</strong> terreno da mata, quase sem árvores,<br />
junto do muro <strong>de</strong> suporte do <strong>Jardim</strong> Botâ-<br />
60<br />
paths”.<br />
“So that the work planned is not simply<br />
utilitarian but also takes account of aesthetics,<br />
without losing sight of the economic<br />
aspect”, the architect <strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d to<br />
embellish the reinforced concrete structure<br />
with ashlar masonry, trying to make<br />
the new construction tone in with the gateway<br />
into the Gar<strong>de</strong>n. He also used rough<br />
coursed masonry in the coping of the walls<br />
and balustra<strong>de</strong>s of the staircase and steps.<br />
The whole thing was finished in September<br />
1948 with the fitting of the bridge railings 25 .<br />
In 1949, the finishing touches were put on<br />
six brick turrets with reinforced concrete<br />
roofs and woo<strong>de</strong>n doors <strong>de</strong>signed for provi<strong>de</strong><br />
shelter for the guards of the mata, and<br />
also on the head gar<strong>de</strong>ner’s house, which<br />
had been altered to reflect the mo<strong>de</strong>l of<br />
the “Portuguese house” using a collage of<br />
formal and <strong>de</strong>corative elements characteristic<br />
of traditionalist eclecticism. In addition,<br />
other smaller buildings were scattered<br />
around the gar<strong>de</strong>n and wood: public toilets,<br />
staff outhouses, tanks for fertilizer, toolhouses,<br />
greenhouses and cold frames.<br />
As regards <strong>de</strong>coration, CAPOCUC applied<br />
the same policy here as in the much larger<br />
buildings constructed on the University<br />
hill. Sculpture was used to dignify the space<br />
and indoctrinate visitors, both as a tribute<br />
to notable figures and as allegory of knowledge.<br />
The first statue to be planned for the<br />
gar<strong>de</strong>n was of Júlio Henriques. The contract<br />
for its execution was celebrated in August<br />
1944 with Salvador Barata Feyo, although<br />
it was only actually installed in 1950, opposite<br />
the eastern faça<strong>de</strong> of the old Benedictine<br />
college.<br />
In July 1946, the sculptor Joaquim Martins<br />
Correia was contracted to make an<br />
allegorical statue to botany in plaster. This<br />
was finished in 1948 but was only transferred<br />
into stone in 1949, the year when<br />
discussions were held as to where to put it,<br />
eventually opting for the cold greenhouse.<br />
Finally, between April and September 1948,
nico que se opõe à entrada principal <strong>de</strong>ste,<br />
muro que serve <strong>de</strong> fundo à Estufa”. Relativamente<br />
à linguagem estética do exterior,<br />
o arquitecto procurou favorecer, em consonância<br />
com o local, “o aspecto pitoresco”,<br />
traduzindo-o sobretudo ao nível dos materiais.<br />
À ma<strong>de</strong>ira que forrava a “caixa”, acresciam<br />
as “lajes irregulares, <strong>de</strong> superfícies <strong>de</strong>sbastadas<br />
grosseiramente” empregues nas<br />
soleiras, <strong>de</strong>graus, muretes e muros 24 .<br />
Adjudicados os trabalhos em 1945, <strong>de</strong>veriam<br />
estar perto da conclusão no fim do<br />
ano seguinte pois, em Junho <strong>de</strong> 1946, era<br />
aberto o concurso para uma construção<br />
complementar a esta: a ponte <strong>de</strong> ligação<br />
do <strong>Jardim</strong> com a mata. O projecto, assinado<br />
igualmente por Cottinelli, visava reconstituir,<br />
em novos mol<strong>de</strong>s, a antiga ponte que<br />
ligava o lado oeste do quadrado central<br />
ao arboreto, melhorando-se, simultaneamente,<br />
este local, “«disciplinando» aquilo<br />
que actualmente não é senão um terreno<br />
com uma orografia <strong>de</strong> acaso e com caminhos<br />
<strong>de</strong> pé posto”.<br />
“Para que a obra projectada se não resumisse<br />
à sua função utilitária mas «juntasse»<br />
a utilida<strong>de</strong> à estética, sem per<strong>de</strong>r <strong>de</strong> vista<br />
o aspecto económico”, o autor optou por<br />
enobrecer a estrutura <strong>de</strong> betão armado com<br />
a utilização <strong>de</strong> cantaria aparelhada, procurando<br />
assim que a nova construção não<br />
<strong>de</strong>stoasse da própria moldura do portal do<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong>, e com o emprego <strong>de</strong> pedra <strong>de</strong> aparelho<br />
grosseiro no capeamento dos muretes,<br />
guardas <strong>de</strong> escada e <strong>de</strong>graus. O conjunto foi<br />
terminado em Setembro <strong>de</strong> 1948 com a instalação<br />
do gra<strong>de</strong>amento da ponte 25 .<br />
Em 1949 foram finalizadas a edificação<br />
<strong>de</strong> seis guaritas em tijolo com cobertura<br />
<strong>de</strong> betão armado e porta <strong>de</strong> ma<strong>de</strong>ira para<br />
abrigo dos guardas da mata, bem como a<br />
reforma da casa do chefe dos jardineiros,<br />
on<strong>de</strong> se afirmou o mo<strong>de</strong>lo da «casa portuguesa»<br />
através <strong>de</strong> uma «colagem» <strong>de</strong> elementos<br />
formais e <strong>de</strong>corativos característicos<br />
do eclectismo tradicionalista. Além<br />
<strong>de</strong>stas, outras construções <strong>de</strong> menor enver-<br />
the sculptor José Pereira dos Santos ma<strong>de</strong><br />
a bronze medallion with a portrait of Luiz<br />
Carrisso to crown the corner opposite the<br />
D. Maria gateway, which had a small tank<br />
where we can still see today a number of<br />
<strong>de</strong>signed pieces, though unsigned and<br />
undated.<br />
Other miscellaneous improvements completed<br />
the general effect that was <strong>de</strong>sired<br />
for the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n and got rid of the<br />
blemishes left by time “so that the whole<br />
thing would be more harmonious” 26 . The<br />
stone steps of the main staircase of the<br />
gar<strong>de</strong>n were replaced, and the railings,<br />
gates and masonry of the steps of the central<br />
quadrangle were restored; a wall was<br />
built alongsi<strong>de</strong> the Arch of Betrayal; name<br />
plates were attributed to plants in the different<br />
areas, and consi<strong>de</strong>ration was given to<br />
the suggestion of installing grandiose lighting<br />
in the mata.<br />
As regards the flora, as well as replacing and<br />
fertilizing the earth in the flowerbeds, new<br />
species were introduced which till then had<br />
not existed in the collections. While it is not<br />
surprising that examples should have come<br />
from the colonies and Brazil, it is interesting<br />
to note the naturalness with which CAPO-<br />
CUC also managed to establish contacts<br />
with horticulturalists and botanical gar<strong>de</strong>ns<br />
throughout Europe, with a view to acquiring<br />
plants for <strong>Coimbra</strong>, at a time when the<br />
old continent was embroiled in the Second<br />
World War.<br />
The irrigation system in the Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n was one of the aspects that most<br />
motivated Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s to continue<br />
his appeal for state support. By 1944, it had<br />
been generally acknowledged that the existing<br />
plumbing was ina<strong>de</strong>quate and in a poor<br />
state of repair, and some improvements<br />
were ma<strong>de</strong> to the water system. However,<br />
the situation continued to worsen, as the<br />
curator of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n informed the presi<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
of CAPOCUC on 20th June 1945,<br />
owing to the expansion of the planted<br />
area, frequent drought and, particularly,<br />
61
gadura pontuaram o <strong>Jardim</strong> e a mata: instalações<br />
sanitárias, <strong>de</strong>pendências para o pessoal,<br />
<strong>de</strong>pósitos para adubos e arrecadação<br />
<strong>de</strong> ferramentas, estufas e estufins.<br />
Ao nível do programa <strong>de</strong>corativo, a CAPO-<br />
CUC não <strong>de</strong>ixou <strong>de</strong> aplicar aqui a mesma<br />
política que seguira nos gran<strong>de</strong>s volumes<br />
erguidos na Alta universitária. À escultura<br />
reservou-se o papel <strong>de</strong> enobrecer o<br />
espaço e «doutrinar» os seus utilizadores,<br />
ora enquanto tributo a «figuras notáveis»,<br />
ora enquanto alegoria do saber. A primeira<br />
estátua pensada para o <strong>Jardim</strong> foi a <strong>de</strong> Júlio<br />
Henriques. O contrato para a sua execução<br />
foi celebrado em Agosto <strong>de</strong> 1944 com Salvador<br />
Barata Feyo; porém, só em 1950 seria<br />
assente em frente à fachada Este do antigo<br />
Colégio beneditino.<br />
Em Julho <strong>de</strong> 1946, ajustou-se, com o escultor<br />
Joaquim Martins Correia, a execução em<br />
gesso <strong>de</strong> uma estátua alegórica à botânica<br />
que, concluída em 1948, só seria passada à<br />
pedra em 1949, altura em que se proce<strong>de</strong>u<br />
enfim ao estudo do sítio da sua colocação,<br />
optando-se por remetê-la para a estufa fria.<br />
Por último, <strong>entre</strong> Abril e Setembro <strong>de</strong> 1948,<br />
o escultor José Pereira dos Santos executou<br />
um medalhão em bronze com o retrato <strong>de</strong><br />
Luiz Carrisso, <strong>de</strong>stinado a coroar o recanto<br />
em frente do portal <strong>de</strong> D. Maria, dotado<br />
<strong>de</strong> um pequeno tanque, <strong>de</strong> que subsistem<br />
peças <strong>de</strong>senhadas, embora não assinadas<br />
nem datadas.<br />
Outros melhoramentos pontuais completaram<br />
o efeito geral que se pretendida conferir<br />
ao <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>, apagando as «mazelas»<br />
que o tempo lhe havia impresso “para<br />
o conjunto ficar mais harmonioso” 26 . Substituíram-se<br />
os <strong>de</strong>graus em pedra da escadaria<br />
principal do <strong>Jardim</strong>, restaurou-se a gradaria,<br />
os portões e as cantarias das escadas<br />
do quadrado central, edificou-se o muro<br />
do lado do Arco da Traição, distribuíram-se<br />
placas i<strong>de</strong>ntificativas <strong>de</strong> plantas por diversas<br />
zonas e chegou ainda a pon<strong>de</strong>rar-se uma<br />
iluminação grandiosa da mata.<br />
No que diz respeito à flora, para além da<br />
62<br />
the obstruction of the un<strong>de</strong>rground water<br />
channels, which reduced the Gar<strong>de</strong>n’s water<br />
resources to the increasingly restricted<br />
Municipal supply.<br />
Despite odd improvements, in 1949 the situation<br />
became unsustainable as a result of<br />
the threat to cut off the water supply by the<br />
municipal services. Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s managed<br />
to resist a <strong>de</strong>finitive cut, but the continuation<br />
of the drought in 1950 ultimately<br />
led him to make a new appeal to the presi<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
of CAPOCUC, urging the construction<br />
of a tank near the statue of Avelar<br />
Brotero, un<strong>de</strong>r the avenue running parallel<br />
to Avenue Júlio Henriques. The site was<br />
consi<strong>de</strong>red the most suitable for four reasons:<br />
it was the entry point for the waters<br />
from the un<strong>de</strong>rground springs; its relative<br />
height meant that it could supply most of<br />
the Gar<strong>de</strong>n; it would be simple to connect<br />
the tank to the pipes, and it could be supplied<br />
by autotanks, if there were a shortage<br />
of water from the springs.<br />
In February of the same year, the project<br />
was approved. However, the invitation to<br />
ten<strong>de</strong>r was only issued in September 1960.<br />
The tank was to be buried, as planned,<br />
between the statue of the former scholar<br />
and the main gate. This “concealment”, justified<br />
for “technical reasons”, also overcame<br />
“an architectural problem that was difficult<br />
to solve”, as <strong>de</strong>scribed in the specifications<br />
27 .<br />
The part of the former College of St Bento<br />
that housed the Botanical Institute also<br />
received attention from CAPOCUC. After<br />
consi<strong>de</strong>ring various possibilities, it was<br />
<strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d to reserve it for the Institutes<br />
of Botany and Anthropology. The work<br />
nee<strong>de</strong>d to adapt the space and divi<strong>de</strong> it<br />
between the two institutions progressed<br />
slowly with frequent interruptions, and was<br />
only properly finished in the 1970s.<br />
As regards the Botanical Institute, there was<br />
an exchange of correspon<strong>de</strong>nce in 1944 and<br />
1945 between Manuel <strong>de</strong> Sá e Mello and the<br />
Consul of Great Britain in or<strong>de</strong>r to obtain
substituição e respectiva adubação da terra<br />
dos canteiros, introduziram-se novas espécies<br />
até aí inexistentes nas colecções. Se o<br />
plantio <strong>de</strong> exemplares das várias colónias ou<br />
do Brasil não nos causa surpresa, é, porém,<br />
interessante constatar a naturalida<strong>de</strong> com<br />
que a CAPOCUC estabeleceu contactos<br />
com horticultores e vários jardins botânicos<br />
europeus com vista à aquisição <strong>de</strong> plantas<br />
para <strong>Coimbra</strong>, numa altura em que o velho<br />
continente se encontrava a braços com a<br />
Segunda Guerra Mundial.<br />
O sistema <strong>de</strong> rega do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> constituiu<br />
um dos aspectos que mais motivou<br />
Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s a continuamente apelar<br />
à intervenção estatal. Já em 1944, o reconhecimento<br />
da insuficiência e <strong>de</strong>terioração<br />
da canalização existente incentivara alguns<br />
progressos na re<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> distribuição <strong>de</strong> água.<br />
Contudo, como relatava o director do<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> ao presi<strong>de</strong>nte da CAPOCUC em 20<br />
<strong>de</strong> Junho <strong>de</strong> 1945, a situação não <strong>de</strong>ixou <strong>de</strong><br />
se agravar, em consequência do aumento da<br />
área plantada, da ocorrência <strong>de</strong> frequentes<br />
períodos <strong>de</strong> seca e, sobretudo, da obstrução<br />
das minas <strong>de</strong> água em vários pontos, o que<br />
reduzia os recursos hídricos do <strong>Jardim</strong> ao<br />
abastecimento facultado, cada vez <strong>de</strong> forma<br />
mais restrita, pela Câmara Municipal.<br />
Apesar das melhorias pontuais, em 1949 a<br />
situação tornou-se insustentável em virtu<strong>de</strong><br />
da ameaça <strong>de</strong> suspensão da rega por<br />
parte dos Serviços Municipalizados. Abílio<br />
Fernan<strong>de</strong>s conseguiu suster o corte <strong>de</strong>finitivo,<br />
mas a prevalência da estiagem no<br />
ano <strong>de</strong> 1950 acabaria por conduzir o director<br />
a fazer uma nova exposição ao presi<strong>de</strong>nte<br />
da CAPOCUC, sugerindo a construção<br />
urgente <strong>de</strong> um <strong>de</strong>pósito junto à estátua<br />
<strong>de</strong> Avelar Brotero, <strong>de</strong>baixo da alameda que<br />
corre paralela à Avenida Júlio Henriques. O<br />
local era apontado como o mais indicado<br />
por quatro motivos: era o ponto <strong>de</strong> entrada<br />
das águas das minas; po<strong>de</strong>ria, pela sua elevação,<br />
abastecer a maior parte do <strong>Jardim</strong>; a<br />
ligação do <strong>de</strong>pósito à canalização seria simples<br />
e aquele po<strong>de</strong>ria ser abastecido por<br />
information about the facilities and organization<br />
of the Kew Botanical Institute “to<br />
be taken into consi<strong>de</strong>ration at the <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
Botanical Institute”. Communication problems<br />
resulting from the war that was still<br />
in progress meant that contacts between<br />
CAPOCUC and London had to be ma<strong>de</strong> via<br />
the Portuguese consul in London. Through<br />
this intermediary, the curator of the Royal<br />
Botanic Gar<strong>de</strong>ns at Kew respon<strong>de</strong>d to<br />
Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s’ questions and requests<br />
about the facilities in the Gar<strong>de</strong>n, its greenhouses,<br />
and the structure and disinfecting<br />
of its herbariums 28 . It is not unreasonable<br />
to suppose, then, that the refurbishment<br />
of the <strong>Coimbra</strong> Botanical gar<strong>de</strong>n was once<br />
again subject to English influence, on the<br />
scientific level.<br />
As well as a large lecture hall and offices for<br />
lecturers and researchers, two big laboratories<br />
were created for the general courses and<br />
two smaller ones for the special courses. The<br />
library, museum and herbariums were given<br />
better premises. Insi<strong>de</strong> the building, CAPO-<br />
CUC tried to recreate an old atmosphere,<br />
or<strong>de</strong>ring for the purpose some reproductions<br />
of 17th century tiles showing flowers<br />
and birds, similar to those in the Machado<br />
<strong>de</strong> Castro National Museum, which were<br />
used to line the corridors, lobbies, hall and<br />
stairs of the Institute.<br />
However, it was in the area adjacent to the<br />
Benedictine complex and the St Sebastian<br />
aqueduct that the monumentalism of<br />
the Estado Novo was most felt. Although<br />
insi<strong>de</strong> the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>ns the neoclassical<br />
gigantism of the new buildings was<br />
restrained, using instead of the traditionalist<br />
Portuguese suave (“smooth Portuguese”)<br />
style, the exterior clearly reveals the taste<br />
for gran<strong>de</strong>ur, with the glorification of the<br />
monument’s individuality and the “purging”<br />
of all animate or inanimate “excrescences”<br />
that could reduce it.<br />
In September 1958, the minister for Public<br />
Works, Eduardo <strong>de</strong> Arantes e Oliveira,<br />
<strong>de</strong>clared the urgent need to expropriate<br />
63
auto-tanques, no caso <strong>de</strong> a água das minas<br />
se tornar insuficiente.<br />
Em Fevereiro <strong>de</strong>sse mesmo ano era aprovada<br />
a organização do respectivo projecto<br />
para ser cumprido. Todavia, só em Setembro<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1960 se abriu o concurso para a sua<br />
arrematação. Ficaria enterrado, como previsto,<br />
<strong>entre</strong> a estátua do antigo lente e o<br />
portal principal. Esta “ocultação”, justificada<br />
por “razões técnicas”, <strong>de</strong>ixou também,<br />
como se lê na memória <strong>de</strong>scritiva, “<strong>de</strong> criar<br />
um problema <strong>de</strong> or<strong>de</strong>m arquitectónica <strong>de</strong><br />
ingrata solução” 27 .<br />
O antigo Colégio <strong>de</strong> S. Bento, em parte do<br />
qual se encontrava já o Instituto <strong>Botânico</strong>,<br />
recebeu igualmente a atenção da CAPO-<br />
CUC que, <strong>de</strong>pois da pon<strong>de</strong>ração <strong>de</strong> várias<br />
hipóteses, acabou por o reservar para os Institutos<br />
<strong>de</strong> Botânica e Antropologia. As obras<br />
<strong>de</strong> adaptação e <strong>de</strong> repartição do espaço por<br />
ambos os estabelecimentos foram lentas<br />
e por inúmeras vezes interrompidas, atingindo<br />
o seu termo já na década <strong>de</strong> sessenta.<br />
No que concerne ao Instituto <strong>de</strong> Botânica, a<br />
documentação consultada revela a troca <strong>de</strong><br />
correspondência, nos anos <strong>de</strong> 1944 e 1945,<br />
<strong>entre</strong> Manuel <strong>de</strong> Sá e Mello e o Cônsul da<br />
Grã-Bretanha, com vista a obter referências<br />
acerca das instalações e organização do Instituto<br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong> Kew “para serem tomadas<br />
em consi<strong>de</strong>ração no Instituto <strong>Botânico</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>”. As dificulda<strong>de</strong>s <strong>de</strong> comunicação,<br />
oriundas do confronto bélico em<br />
<strong>de</strong>curso, acabaram por <strong>de</strong>terminar que os<br />
contactos <strong>entre</strong> a CAPOCUC e Londres<br />
se fizessem através do Cônsul <strong>de</strong> Portugal<br />
nessa cida<strong>de</strong>. Por intermédio <strong>de</strong>ste, o director<br />
do Royal Botanic Gar<strong>de</strong>ns <strong>de</strong> Kew aten<strong>de</strong>u<br />
às solicitações <strong>de</strong> Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s,<br />
interessado em receber informações sobre<br />
as instalações daquele <strong>Jardim</strong>, das suas estufas<br />
e da estruturação dos seus herbários e<br />
respectiva <strong>de</strong>sinfecção 28 . Consequentemente,<br />
torna-se plausível pressupor a influência<br />
inglesa, ao nível científico, na remo<strong>de</strong>lação<br />
do Instituto <strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
Além <strong>de</strong> um anfiteatro e <strong>de</strong> gabinetes para<br />
64<br />
a series of buildings backing onto the St<br />
Sebastian aqueduct as part of the project<br />
to provi<strong>de</strong> access areas to the University<br />
campus, approved in August of that year.<br />
The <strong>de</strong>molition of the houses built into the<br />
arches began at the end of 1959. The <strong>de</strong>sire<br />
to clear away the space in front of the College<br />
and aqueduct to isolate them and display<br />
them in all their “purity” also led to the<br />
felling of the trees that obstructed their<br />
view. Ironically, this also coinci<strong>de</strong>d with the<br />
<strong>de</strong>molition in 1959 of the last arch of the<br />
aqueduct, which had for <strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong>s been consi<strong>de</strong>red<br />
a national monument, in or<strong>de</strong>r to<br />
link Martim <strong>de</strong> Freitas Street with the road<br />
that went around the Faculty of Science<br />
buildings.<br />
After the completion of the improvements<br />
to the Botanical Institute and the extinction<br />
of CAPOCUC in 1969, the Gar<strong>de</strong>n did not<br />
un<strong>de</strong>rgo any further serous intervention<br />
until the end of Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s’ period<br />
as curator, in 1974, the year of the “carnation<br />
revolution”. The <strong>de</strong>mocratization of<br />
Portuguese society and of the University as<br />
an institution will also have had an impact<br />
upon the strategies and objectives of the<br />
establishment. Today, as always, the conservation<br />
and rehabilitation of the cultural and<br />
natural heritage <strong>de</strong>pend upon political and<br />
i<strong>de</strong>ological <strong>de</strong>cisions, the financial resources<br />
available and social pressures. <strong>Coimbra</strong>’s<br />
Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n has not escaped this web<br />
of influences, nor will it in future; thus it<br />
constitutes a space par excellence for the<br />
confrontation and conciliation of the various<br />
synergies that affect our heritage.<br />
This survey of the Gar<strong>de</strong>n’s evolution reveals<br />
that it has <strong>de</strong>veloped out of a counterpoint<br />
between Art and Science and represents a<br />
compromise between what was dreamt and<br />
what was achievable, what was <strong>de</strong>sired and<br />
what was possible. It bears traces of the Italian<br />
and English influences that characterized<br />
Portugal in the Pombaline era, the economic<br />
and political vicissitu<strong>de</strong>s of the 19 th<br />
century, and the various nationalisms that
professores e investigadores, criaram-se<br />
dois gran<strong>de</strong>s laboratórios para os cursos<br />
gerais e dois mais pequenos para os cursos<br />
especiais. Instalaram-se, por seu turno, condignamente,<br />
a biblioteca, o museu e os herbários.<br />
No interior do edifício, a CAPOCUC<br />
procurou recriar uma ambiência antiga,<br />
encomendando, nesse sentido, a reprodução<br />
<strong>de</strong> azulejos seiscentistas com flores e<br />
pássaros, semelhantes aos existentes no<br />
Museu Nacional <strong>de</strong> Machado <strong>de</strong> Castro,<br />
que passaram a cobrir os corredores, vestíbulos,<br />
átrios e escadas do Instituto.<br />
Contudo, foi na zona adjacente ao complexo<br />
beneditino e ao aqueduto <strong>de</strong> S. Sebastião<br />
que a acção monumentalizadora do<br />
Estado Novo mais se fez sentir. Se no interior<br />
do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> se refreou o gigantismo<br />
neoclássico patente nas novos imóveis<br />
erguidos, optando-se antes por um<br />
«português suave» <strong>de</strong> cunho tradicionalista;<br />
no exterior, afirmou-se, claramente, a<br />
busca <strong>de</strong> uma perspectiva grandiosa, exaltadora<br />
da individualida<strong>de</strong> do monumento<br />
e, por conseguinte, «expurgadora» <strong>de</strong> todas<br />
as «excrescências» animadas ou inanimadas<br />
que a pu<strong>de</strong>ssem diminuir.<br />
Em Setembro <strong>de</strong> 1958, o ministro das Obras<br />
Públicas, Eduardo <strong>de</strong> Arantes e Oliveira,<br />
<strong>de</strong>clarava a urgência em expropriar uma<br />
série <strong>de</strong> prédios adossados ao aqueduto <strong>de</strong><br />
S. Sebastião, <strong>de</strong> acordo com o projecto das<br />
zonas <strong>de</strong> acesso à cida<strong>de</strong> universitária <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, aprovado em Agosto <strong>de</strong>sse ano.<br />
A <strong>de</strong>molição do casario «incrustado» nos<br />
arcos iniciou-se em finais <strong>de</strong> 1959. O intuito<br />
<strong>de</strong> «<strong>de</strong>safrontar» o Colégio e o aqueduto,<br />
isolando-os e exibindo-os na sua «pureza»,<br />
ditou também o corte do arvoredo que<br />
«obstruía» a sua vista. Ironicamente, a<br />
assepsia instaurada coexistiu com a <strong>de</strong>molição,<br />
em 1958, do último arco do aqueduto,<br />
há décadas consi<strong>de</strong>rado monumento<br />
nacional, em prol da conciliação topográfica<br />
<strong>entre</strong> as Ruas Martim <strong>de</strong> Freitas e a<br />
que circunda os edifícios da Faculda<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
Ciências.<br />
marked the 20 th . As a living witness to all<br />
that, it can best be appreciated, as always,<br />
with knowledge of the circumstances that<br />
contributed to making it what it is today.<br />
1 Fernando Taveira da Fonseca, “O <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> no contexto da Reforma Pombalina<br />
da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> (1772)”, paper presented<br />
at the conference O Século das Luzes:<br />
Portugal, Brasil e região do Rio Prata, (Berlin,<br />
19th to 24th May 2003).<br />
2 Estatutos da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> (1772),<br />
vol. III, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong> University, 1972, p.<br />
266-267.<br />
3 Manuel Lopes <strong>de</strong> Almeida, Documentos da<br />
reforma pombalina, [Doc. XXXIV. 7th November<br />
1772. Letter from the Marquis of Pombal to<br />
D. Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos], vol. I, 1771-1782, <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> University, 1937, p. 52-53.<br />
4 Letter from Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos to the Marquis<br />
of Pombal, dated 3rd February 1773. Quoted by<br />
Teófilo Braga, Historia da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
nas suas relações com a instrucção publica<br />
portugueza, vol. III, 1700-1800, Lisbon, Royal<br />
Aca<strong>de</strong>my of Sciences, 1898, p. 470.<br />
5 Manuel Lopes <strong>de</strong> Almeida, Documentos da<br />
reforma pombalina, [Doc. XLIV. 12th February<br />
1773. On the arrival of the machines and instruments<br />
for Physics and the <strong>de</strong>marcation of the<br />
Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n], vol. I, 1771-1782, p. 69.<br />
6 Letter from Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos to the Marquis<br />
of Pombal, dated 3rd February 1773. Quoted by<br />
Teófilo Braga, Historia da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
nas suas relações com a instrucção publica<br />
portugueza, vol. III, 1700-1800, p. 479-480.<br />
7 Teófilo Braga, Historia da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> nas suas relações com a instrucção<br />
publica portugueza, vol. III, 1700-1800, p. 477.<br />
8 Teófilo Braga, Historia da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> nas suas relações com a instrucção<br />
publica portugueza, vol. III, 1700-1800, p. 476.<br />
9 Manuel Lopes <strong>de</strong> Almeida, Documentos da<br />
reforma pombalina, [Doc. LXV. 5th October<br />
1773. Document about the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n],<br />
vol. I, 1771-1782, p. 104.<br />
10 Manuel Lopes <strong>de</strong> Almeida, Documentos da<br />
reforma pombalina, [Doc. LXV. 5th October<br />
1773. Document on the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n], vol.<br />
I, 1771-1782, p. 105.<br />
65
Realizada a campanha <strong>de</strong> melhoramentos<br />
no Instituto <strong>Botânico</strong> e extinta a CAPO-<br />
CUC em 1969, o <strong>Jardim</strong> não voltou a ser<br />
objecto <strong>de</strong> uma séria intervenção até ao<br />
fim da direcção <strong>de</strong> Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s, a qual<br />
culminou, precisamente, no mesmo ano da<br />
«revolução dos cravos». A <strong>de</strong>mocratização<br />
da socieda<strong>de</strong> portuguesa e, por conseguinte,<br />
da instituição universitária conimbricense,<br />
não <strong>de</strong>ixou, julgamos, <strong>de</strong> ter um<br />
impacto no campo das estratégias e objectivos<br />
<strong>de</strong>ste estabelecimento. Hoje, tal como<br />
<strong>de</strong>s<strong>de</strong> sempre, a salvaguarda e a requalificação<br />
da herança cultural e natural <strong>de</strong>senvolvem-se<br />
a reboque das opções políticas e<br />
i<strong>de</strong>ológicas, das disponibilida<strong>de</strong>s financeiras<br />
e das pressões sociais. O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> não escapou, nem escapa, a esta<br />
teia <strong>de</strong> cumplicida<strong>de</strong>s, constituindo, por<br />
excelência, um espaço <strong>de</strong> confronto e conciliação<br />
das sinergias que concorrem para a<br />
mo<strong>de</strong>lagem do património.<br />
Do caminho percorrido resulta a consciência<br />
<strong>de</strong> que este <strong>Jardim</strong> se talhou no <strong>contraponto</strong><br />
<strong>entre</strong> a <strong>Arte</strong> e a Ciência, no equilíbrio<br />
<strong>entre</strong> o sonhado e o alcançado, <strong>entre</strong><br />
o <strong>de</strong>sejado e o possível. Correm-lhe, nas<br />
veias, as influências italianas e inglesas que<br />
marcaram o Portugal pombalino, as vicissitu<strong>de</strong>s<br />
económicas e políticas que acompanharam<br />
o século XIX, bem como os diferentes<br />
nacionalismos que percorreram o século<br />
XX. De todos constitui um testemunho<br />
vivo, cuja valorização <strong>de</strong>pen<strong>de</strong>, como invariavelmente<br />
acontece, do grau <strong>de</strong> conhecimento<br />
a seu respeito.<br />
1 Sobre este assunto, veja-se Fernando Taveira<br />
da Fonseca, “O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> no contexto da<br />
Reforma Pombalina da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong><br />
(1772)”, em O Século das Luzes: Portugal,<br />
Brasil e região do Rio Prata. Actas do Congresso<br />
realizado em Berlim <strong>de</strong> 19 a 24 <strong>de</strong> Maio <strong>de</strong> 2003,<br />
(no prelo).<br />
2 Estatutos da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> (1772),<br />
vol. III, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
66<br />
11 Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos, Relação Geral do Estado<br />
da Universida<strong>de</strong> (1777), <strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong> University,<br />
1980, p. 132.<br />
12 Júlio Henriques, “O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. II (1792-1810)”, O Instituto,<br />
2nd series, vol. XXIII, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, University<br />
Press, July/December 1876, p. 19, 55.<br />
13 Lur<strong>de</strong>s Craveiro, “A arquitectura da ciência”,<br />
in Laboratório do Mundo. Idéias e saberes do<br />
século XVIII, São Paulo/Lisbon, Pinacoteca/Imprensa<br />
Oficial, 2004, [Catalogue], p. 99.<br />
14 Júlio Henriques, “O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. II (1792-1810)”, p. 58-59.<br />
15 Duquesa <strong>de</strong> Abrantes, Portugal a principios<br />
<strong>de</strong>l siglo XIX. Recuerdos <strong>de</strong> una embajadora, 2nd<br />
ed., Madrid, Editorial Espasa-Calpe, 1968, p. 113.<br />
16 Júlio Henriques, “O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. V (1855-1873)”, O Instituto,<br />
2nd series, vol. XXIII, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, University<br />
Press, July/December 1876, p. 158.<br />
17 Júlio Henriques, “O museu botanico da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
e as collecções <strong>de</strong> productos <strong>de</strong><br />
Macau e Timor”, O Instituto, 2nd series, vol. 30,<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, 1883, p. 60.<br />
18 Júlio Henriques, “Relatorio do professor da<br />
ca<strong>de</strong>ira <strong>de</strong> botanica relativo ao anno lectivo<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1887 a 1888”, Annuario da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, University Press, 1889, p.<br />
313.<br />
19 “Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. O museu botanico”,<br />
[Júlio Henriques], Annuario da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, University Press,<br />
1888, p. V-VI.<br />
20 Júlio Henriques, “Relatorio do professor da<br />
ca<strong>de</strong>ira <strong>de</strong> botanica relativo ao anno lectivo<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1881 a 1882”, Annuario da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, University Press, 1882, p.<br />
245; Júlio Henriques, “A cultura das plantas que<br />
dão a quina nas possessões portuguezas”, O<br />
Instituto, 2nd series, vol. 22, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, 1876, p.<br />
189.<br />
21 Júlio Henriques, “Oração <strong>de</strong> sapiencia recitada<br />
na Sala dos Actos Gran<strong>de</strong>s da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> no dia 16 <strong>de</strong> Outubro <strong>de</strong> 1894”,<br />
Annuario da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
University Press, 1895, p. XXIII.<br />
22 CAPOCUC Files consulted: 114, 114A, 114B,<br />
114C, 148, 167, 169, 172, 180, 198, 197, 198, 199,<br />
200, 210, 219, 243, 548, 613, 622 e 699 da CAPO-<br />
CUC. <strong>Coimbra</strong> University Archive.<br />
23 CAPOCUC File 198 – Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n<br />
(Project for alterations). <strong>Coimbra</strong> University
1972, p. 266-267.<br />
3 Manuel Lopes <strong>de</strong> Almeida, Documentos da<br />
reforma pombalina, [Doc. XXXIV. 7 <strong>de</strong> Novembro<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1772. Carta do Marquês para D. Francisco<br />
<strong>de</strong> Lemos], vol. I, 1771-1782, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, 1937, p. 52-53.<br />
4 Carta <strong>de</strong> Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos, enviada ao marquês<br />
<strong>de</strong> Pombal com data <strong>de</strong> 3 <strong>de</strong> Fevereiro <strong>de</strong><br />
1773. Citado por Teófilo Braga, Historia da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> nas suas relações com a<br />
instrucção publica portugueza, tomo III, 1700 a<br />
1800, Lisboa, Aca<strong>de</strong>mia Real das Sciencias, 1898,<br />
p. 470.<br />
5 Manuel Lopes <strong>de</strong> Almeida, Documentos da<br />
reforma pombalina, [Doc. XLIV. 12 <strong>de</strong> Fevereiro<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1773. Sobre a chegada das máquinas e instrumentos<br />
<strong>de</strong> Física e <strong>de</strong>lineamento do Horto<br />
<strong>Botânico</strong>], vol. I, 1771-1782, p. 69.<br />
6 Carta <strong>de</strong> Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos, enviada ao marquês<br />
<strong>de</strong> Pombal com data <strong>de</strong> 22 <strong>de</strong> Fevereiro <strong>de</strong><br />
1773. Citado por Teófilo Braga, Historia da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> nas suas relações com a<br />
instrucção publica portugueza, tomo III, 1700 a<br />
1800, p. 479-480.<br />
7 Teófilo Braga, Historia da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> nas suas relações com a instrucção<br />
publica portugueza, tomo III, 1700 a 1800, p.<br />
477.<br />
8 Teófilo Braga, Historia da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> nas suas relações com a instrucção<br />
publica portugueza, tomo III, 1700 a 1800, p.<br />
476.<br />
9 Manuel Lopes <strong>de</strong> Almeida, Documentos da<br />
reforma pombalina, [Doc. LXV. 5 <strong>de</strong> Outubro<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1773. Ofício sobre o <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>], vol. I,<br />
1771-1782, p. 104.<br />
10 Manuel Lopes <strong>de</strong> Almeida, Documentos da<br />
reforma pombalina, [Doc. LXV. 5 <strong>de</strong> Outubro<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1773. Ofício sobre o <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>], vol. I,<br />
1771-1782, p. 105.<br />
11 Francisco <strong>de</strong> Lemos, Relação Geral do Estado<br />
da Universida<strong>de</strong> (1777), <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, 1980, p. 132.<br />
12 Júlio Henriques, “O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. II (1792-1810)”, O Instituto,<br />
2.ª série, vol. XXIII, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Imprensa da<br />
Universida<strong>de</strong>, Julho/Dezembro <strong>de</strong> 1876, p. 19,<br />
55.<br />
13 Lur<strong>de</strong>s Craveiro, “A arquitectura da ciência”,<br />
em Laboratório do Mundo. Idéias e saberes<br />
do século XVIII, São Paulo/Lisboa, Pinacoteca e<br />
Imprensa Oficial, 2004, [Catálogo], p. 99.<br />
Archive.<br />
24 CAPOCUC File 199 – Cold greenhouse.<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> University Archive.<br />
25 CAPOCUC File 210 – Bridge and alterations<br />
to the connection between the Botanical<br />
Gar<strong>de</strong>n and the thicket <strong>Coimbra</strong> University<br />
Archive.<br />
26 CAPOCUC File 114A – Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> University Archive.<br />
27 CAPOCUC File 548 – Adaptation of the St<br />
Bento building into the Botanical Institute.<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> University Archive.<br />
28 CAPOCUC File 114 – Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong> University Archive.<br />
67
14 Júlio Henriques, “O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. II (1792-1810)”, p. 58-59.<br />
15 Duquesa <strong>de</strong> Abrantes, Portugal a principios<br />
<strong>de</strong>l siglo XIX. Recuerdos <strong>de</strong> una embajadora, 2.ª<br />
ed., Madrid, Editorial Espasa-Calpe, 1968, p. 113.<br />
16 Júlio Henriques, “O <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. V (1855-1873)”, O Instituto,<br />
2.ª série, vol. XXIII, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Imprensa da<br />
Universida<strong>de</strong>, Julho/Dezembro <strong>de</strong> 1876, p. 158.<br />
17 Júlio Henriques, “O museu botanico da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
e as collecções <strong>de</strong> productos <strong>de</strong><br />
Macau e Timor”, O Instituto, 2.ª série, vol. 30,<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, 1883, p. 60.<br />
18 Júlio Henriques, “Relatorio do professor da<br />
ca<strong>de</strong>ira <strong>de</strong> botanica relativo ao anno lectivo<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1887 a 1888”, Annuario da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Imprensa da Universida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
1889, p. 313.<br />
19 “Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. O museu botanico”,<br />
[Júlio Henriques], Annuario da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Imprensa da Universida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
1888, p. V-VI.<br />
20 Júlio Henriques, “Relatorio do professor da<br />
ca<strong>de</strong>ira <strong>de</strong> botanica relativo ao anno lectivo<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1881 a 1882”, Annuario da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Imprensa da Universida<strong>de</strong>,<br />
1882, p. 245; Júlio Henriques, “A cultura das<br />
plantas que dão a quina nas possessões portuguezas”,<br />
O Instituto, 2.ª série, vol. 22, <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
1876, p. 189.<br />
21 Júlio Henriques, “Oração <strong>de</strong> sapiencia recitada<br />
na Sala dos Actos Gran<strong>de</strong>s da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong> no dia 16 <strong>de</strong> Outubro <strong>de</strong> 1894”,<br />
Annuario da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
Imprensa da Universida<strong>de</strong>, 1895, p. XXIII.<br />
22 Para o estudo da intervenção da CAPOCUC<br />
no <strong>Jardim</strong> foram consultados os processos 114,<br />
114A, 114B, 114C, 148, 167, 169, 172, 180, 198,<br />
197, 198, 199, 200, 210, 219, 243, 548, 613, 622 e<br />
699 da CAPOCUC. Arquivo da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
23 Processo 198 da CAPOCUC – <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong><br />
(Projecto <strong>de</strong> remo<strong>de</strong>lação). Arquivo da<br />
Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
24 Processo 199 da CAPOCUC – Estufa fria.<br />
Arquivo da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
25 Processo 210 da CAPOCUC – Ponte e arranjo<br />
da ligação do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> com a mata.<br />
Arquivo da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
26 Processo 114A da CAPOCUC – <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>.<br />
Arquivo da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
27 Processo 548 da CAPOCUC – Adaptação<br />
68
do edifício <strong>de</strong> S. Bento a Instituto <strong>Botânico</strong>.<br />
Arquivo da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
28 Processo 114 da CAPOCUC – <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>.<br />
Arquivo da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
Imagens<br />
Fig. 1 Planta para um Horto <strong>Botânico</strong> i<strong>de</strong>alizada<br />
pelo arquitecto E. Oakley e executada por<br />
B. Cole. Peça <strong>de</strong>senhada <strong>de</strong>dicada por Jacob <strong>de</strong><br />
Castro Sarmento em 1731 ao reitor da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, D. Francisco Carneiro <strong>de</strong><br />
Figueiroa. Biblioteca Geral da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, Ms. 3377/75.<br />
Fig. 2 Planta para o <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. Sem autor. 1773 (?). Biblioteca<br />
do Departamento <strong>de</strong> Botânica da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Sala E.<br />
Fig. 3 Risco do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> para a Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. Júlio Mattiazzi. Sem data.<br />
Reprodução <strong>de</strong> Riscos das obras da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Museu Nacional <strong>de</strong><br />
Machado <strong>de</strong> Castro, 1983, p. 55. [Álbum original<br />
pertencente à família Santos Simões]<br />
Fig. 4 Risco das estufas do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da<br />
Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. Sem autor. Sem data.<br />
Reprodução <strong>de</strong> Riscos das obras da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Museu Nacional <strong>de</strong><br />
Machado <strong>de</strong> Castro, 1983, p. 56. [Álbum original<br />
pertencente à família Santos Simões]<br />
Fig. 5 Risco das estufas do Real <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong><br />
da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. Sem autor. Sem<br />
data (século XVIII). Biblioteca do Departamento<br />
<strong>de</strong> Botânica da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>,<br />
Sala E.<br />
Fig. 6 Mapa do terreno que ocupa o <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. Manuel<br />
Alves Macomboa. 1795. Biblioteca Geral da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Ms. 3380.<br />
Fig. 7 Planta do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong><br />
<strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, com a indicação das partes<br />
essenciais e secundárias, segundo Félix Avelar<br />
Brotero. Reprodução <strong>de</strong> Júlio Henriques, “O<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
II (1792-1810)”, O Instituto, 2.ª série, vol. XXIII,<br />
<strong>Coimbra</strong>, Imprensa da Universida<strong>de</strong>, Julho/<br />
Dezembro <strong>de</strong> 1876, s/p.<br />
Fig. 8 Primeiro orçamento fundamental do<br />
risco do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>. [José do] Couto. Outubro<br />
<strong>de</strong> 1807. Biblioteca do Departamento <strong>de</strong><br />
Botânica da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>, Sala E.<br />
Fig. 9 Projecto para o portal principal do <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. José do<br />
Couto dos Santos Leal. 1818. Museu Nacional<br />
<strong>de</strong> Machado <strong>de</strong> Castro. MNMC 2898; DA 37.<br />
Fig. 10 Obras na estufa pequena, Luiz Carrisso,<br />
1934. Colecção do Departamento <strong>de</strong> Botânica<br />
da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
Fig. 11 Projecto <strong>de</strong> remo<strong>de</strong>lação do <strong>Jardim</strong><br />
<strong>Botânico</strong> da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. Cottinelli<br />
Telmo e Armand Van Bellinghen. 1945 (?).<br />
Arquivo da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>. Processo<br />
198 da CAPOCUC – <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> (Projecto<br />
<strong>de</strong> remo<strong>de</strong>lação).<br />
Fig. 12 Desenho da fonte monumental para o<br />
quadrado central do <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>. Álvaro da<br />
Fonseca (?). Sem data. Na margem direita lê-se<br />
“Falta para o <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>”. Processo<br />
114B da CAPOCUC – <strong>Jardim</strong> <strong>Botânico</strong>.<br />
Arquivo da Universida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Coimbra</strong>.<br />
69