ogee hood-mould
is enriched with huge wonderfully undercut curly crockets, all Gothic,
but the band between the two mouldings of the arch is carved with
renaissance arabesques. The tomb of Ayres himself and that of his father
Joao are much more elaborate. Each, lying like Dona Brites on an
altar-tomb, is clad in full armour. In front are semi-classic mouldings
at the top and bottom, and between them a tablet held by cherubs, that
on Dom Joao's bearing a long inscription, while Dom Ayres' has been left
blank. The arches over the recumbent figures are slightly elliptical,
and like that of the foundress's tomb each is enriched by a band of
renaissance carving, but with classic mouldings outside, instead of a
simple round, and with a rich fringe of leafy cusps within. At the ends
and between the tombs are square buttresses or pilasters ornamented on
each face with renaissance corbels and canopies. The background of each
recess is covered with delicate flowing leaves in very slight relief,
and has in the centre a niche, with rustic shafts and elaborate Gothic
base and canopy under which stands a figure of Our Lord holding an orb
in His left hand and blessing with His right. The buttresses, on which
stand curious vase-shaped finials, are joined by a straight moulded
cornice, above which rises a rounded pediment floriated on the outer
side. From the pediment there stands out a helmet whose mantling
entirely covers the flat surface, and below it hangs a shield, charged
with the da Silva arms, a lion rampant. (Fig. 78.)

Here, as in the royal tombs at Coimbra, Manoelino and renaissance forms
have been used together, but here the renaissance largely predominates,
for even the cusping is not Gothic, although, as is but natural, the
general design still is after the older style. Though very elaborate,
these tombs cannot be called quite satisfactory. The figure sculpture is
poor, and it is only the arabesques which show skill in execution.
Probably then it was the work not of one of the well-known Frenchmen,
but of one of their pupils.[143]

Raczynski[144] thought that here in Sao Marcos he had found some works
of Sansovino: a battlepiece in relief, a statue of St. Mark, and the
reredos. The first two are gone, but if they were as unlike Italian work
as is the reredos, one may be sure that they were not by him. A
recently found document[145] confirms what its appearance suggests,
namely, that it is French. It was in fact the work