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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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 />
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