The previous chapters of this volume have examined sculptures primarily from the regions of Auvergne, Burgundy, and Lyonnais, a selection that could be criticized for manifesting a Francophilism that continues to characterize much pedagogy and scholarship in Romanesque sculpture in the Anglo-American orbit. The present chapter breaks with this trend by turning to Portugal, home to more than 200 Romanesque sites that are virtually unknown, much less studied, outside that nation's borders.1 Within the context of a study on monsters, which often occupy the physical or conceptual margins of works of art, there is perhaps something appropriate in mining the significance of sculptures in a region that has been marginalized in scholarship. But my motivations are more than reactionary, for monsters constitute a salient aspect of the decoration of Portuguese Romanesque monuments, perhaps more so than in any other region of Europe. Scores upon scores of imaginary creatures appear on capitals, corbels, and other surfaces of this kingdom's churches. This trend even holds true for the region's tympana, on which animals and monsters frequently appear, typically to the exclusion of human figures. The western portal of Nossa Senhora de Orada, for example, features a lion and harpy to either side of a palm tree. With no other details articulated within this sculptural field, the viewer's attention focuses largely on two beasts.

Portuguese scholars have long recognized the abundance of carvings of animals, both real and imaginary, among their nation's monuments, and have offered various interpretations. Manuel Real construed the many and varied creatures in carvings as manifesting the national character of Portuguese art. José Mattoso detected a Benedictine imprint in, for example, the prevalence of the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) iconography, which he attributed to the influence of La-Charité-sur-Loire, a Burgundian institution that participated heavily in the reform of Portuguese monastic institutions during the twelfth century. This imagery enjoyed particular favor in the region, with examples at Águias, Coimbra, Travanca, and other sites.