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Podcast: EMPIRE LINES
Episode: Bengali Colcha with Triumphal Arch of the Flemish (Mid 17th Century)
Description: Dr. Laura Fernández-González explores the circulation of visual trends between imperial Lisbon and India, through the design for the Bengali Colcha with Triumphal Arch of the Flemish.
Numerous Indian colchas, or wall hangings, were made for the orientalist markets of imperial Portugal. But this unique Bengali Colcha depicts a triumphal arch – the same temporary arch designed and erected in Lisbon by a foreign community of Flemish merchants, to welcome the Spanish king Philip II of Portugal (and III of Spain) into the capital in 1619. The mesmerizing architecture, figures, and flora depicted speak of several coeval arti...