Bento Coelho in São Cristóvão

Take a look at the walls around you. These 12 paintings by Bento Coelho da Silveira are among the rarest survivors of the 1755 earthquake that leveled this entire area. When the ground shook on November 1, 1755, São Cristóvão Church was one of the few structures left standing. The disaster destroyed over 85% of buildings here, killed between 30,000 and 60,000 people, and erased centuries of Portuguese art.

Most of Bento Coelho's work vanished that day, but these canvases endured. Bento Coelho da Silveira served as royal painter to King Pedro II in the late 1600s. He was Portugal's leading baroque artist, creating over 200 paintings during his career. His style mixed Italian dramatic lighting with Portuguese religious devotion, and he worked until his death in 1708. The altarpieces you see depict scenes from the life of Saint Christopher.

For decades after the earthquake, several paintings remained hidden behind damaged altarpieces, some nearly destroyed by time and neglect. Restoration work in recent years brought them back, revealing gold leaf details and the vibrant colors Bento Coelho achieved using techniques he learned from studying Flemish and Italian masters. This church holds one of the largest collections of his surviving work in its original location.