Like Nicolas' work at Sao Marcos the altar piece is full of exquisite
carving, more beautiful than in his older work. In the large central
niche, with its fringe of cusps, is the 'Entombment,' where Our Lord is
being laid by angels in a beautiful sarcophagus. Above this niche sit
the Virgin and Child, on the left are the Annunciation above and the
Birth at Bethlehem below, and on the right the Visit of the Magi and the
Flight into Egypt. Nothing can exceed the delicacy of these alabaster
carvings or of the beautiful little reliefs that form the pradella. Many
of the little columns too are beautifully wrought, with good capitals
and exquisitely worked drums, and yet, though the separate details may
be and are fine, the whole is even more unsatisfactory than is his
altar-piece at Sao Marcos, and one has to look closely and carefully to
see its beauties. As the one at Sao Marcos is spoiled by paint, this one
is spoiled by the use of different-coloured marble; besides, the
different parts are even worse put together. There is no repose
anywhere, for the little columns are all different, and the bad effect
is increased by the way the different entablatures are broken out over
the many projections.

[Sidenote: Sao Marcos.]

Interesting and even beautiful as are the tombs on the north side of the
chancel of Sao Marcos, the chapel dos Reis Magos is even more important
historically. This chapel, as stated above, was built by Dona Antonia de
Vilhena in 1556 as a monument to her husband. Dona Antonia was in her
time noted for her devotion to her husband's memory, and for her
patriotism in that she sent her six sons to fight in Morocco, from
whence three never returned. Her brother-in-law, Lourenco da Silva,
also, who lies on the east side of the same chapel, fell in Africa in
the fatal battle of Alcacer-Quebir in 1578, where Portugal lost her king
and soon after her independence.

The chapel is entered from the nave by a large arch enriched in front
with beautiful cherubs' heads and wreaths of flowers, and on the under
side with coffered panels. This arch springs from a beautifully modelled
entablature borne on either side by a Corinthian pilaster, panelled and
carved, and by a column fluted above, and wreathed with hanging fruits
and flowers below, while similar arches form recesses on the three
remaining sides of the chapel, one--to the north--containing the altar,
and the other two the tombs of Diogo and of Lourenco da Silv