Quem faz o quê: a produção de Azulejos na Época Moderna (séculos XVI a XVIII)

In this paper we aim to define the master potters’, tilers’ (ladrilhadores) and painters’ main performance areas in the Modern Age trying to understand their work dynamics and the relationships established with each other. We tried to understand the changes in the potters’ activity throughout time, the type of azulejos they produced – whether patterned or figurative – and to provide a context for these artisans’ place in Portuguese society, analysing the social recognition they enjoyed. In what concerns the tiler (ladrilhador), who in some documents is also referred to as azulejador, we explore the relationships established with those who commissioned their work as well as, primarily, with potteries, painters and architects. Finally, it is not easy to precisely define the scope of azulejo painters’ action, as it is an activity that is shared amongst the knowledge of the ceramic technological process, an up-to-date ornamental culture and models of an educated figurative culture.