Vasco Fernandes

Vasco Fernandes, known in Portugal as Grão Vasco, painted altarpieces full of rich fabrics, solid figures and dark, glowing colour. His early work shows a strong Flemish influence, and his later pictures absorb Italian ideas of space and form.

He was born around 1475 in Viseu and spent most of his career there, with work for churches in Lamego and Coimbra. Major works include Saint Peter (c. 1529) and Pentecost (1535). The Grão Vasco National Museum in Viseu, named after him, holds his best known paintings, and others are in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon. He died around 1542.

His Saint Peter, enthroned in papal robes, shows his love of heavy brocade and gold detail.