The Museums and Monuments of Portugal proposed the classification as national treasure of the painting “Fons Vitae”, attributed to Coljin de Coter. The proposal is based on the assent of the National Council of Culture of 31 July 2026, and now there is a 30-day deadline for those interested in the case to comment.
© MMIPO – Museum and Church of Mercy of Porto
30/10/2026
by
Lusa
A public company Museums and Monuments of Portugal proposed classification as national treasure of the painting “Fons Vitae”, attributed to Coljin de Coter, of the Museum and Church of Mercy of Porto, was today published in Diário da República.
The proposal is based on the favourable opinion of the Museums, Conservation and Restoration Section and the Mobile Cultural Heritage of the National Council of Culture, of July 31, 2026, read in the document published in Diário da República, now having a period of 30 days for those interested in the process to pronounce themselves.
It was precisely a year ago published in Diário da República that the classification procedure was opened.
The classification of oil painting on oak wood “Fons Vitae” (“Source of Life”), dating from the first quarter of the sixteenth century, aims to protect and value “a cultural value of significance relevant to the nation”.
According to information available at the “site” of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto, the painting is a witness “of the strength of the city and its connections to the north of Europe in the 16th century”.
With authorship attributed to Colijn de Coter (c1440-c1522), it is a large picture (267×210 cm), painted in oil on oak wood.
The theme of the fountain, central to the painting, had great diffusion in the medieval era in the north and center of Europe, connecting to the “Final Judgment”, being also associated with the cult of “Holy Blood” and, from this, to many other variants that have reaped great devotional reception, such as the cult of “Holy Lenho and Vera Cruz”, says Santa Casa.
According to the Mercy of Porto, “two important iconographic themes converge in the ‘Fons Vitae’: on the ground, the royal iconography of D. Manuel I, possibly the only work in which the monarch is portrayed with the attributes inherent to his political ideology and spiritual framework, and on the celestial plane, the theme of the ‘Calvarium’ associated with that of the ‘Source of Life and ‘Pety’, and the Portuguese weapon shield included the cross of Christ and the five wounds”.
Given “the complexity of the theme” and its association with the royal ideology, the painting may have been commissioned in Flanders for the Mercy of Porto.
“ Certainly, the order was made by someone linked to Mercy who attended the monarch's inner circle ", supports the institution.