ABSTRACT
In 1571, Francisco d'Hollanda wrote a small thesis titled "Lembranca ao muyto Sereníssimo e Christianssimo Rey Dom Sebastiam: De quato Serve a Sciencia do Desegno e Entendimento da Arte da Pintura, na Republica Christam Asi na Paz como na Guerra". This essay was part of an album addressed to the King, and included a list of essential construction works for the city of Lisbon called A Fabrica que Falece a Cidade de Lisboa. D'Hollanda won a royal "scholarship" to Italy, from 1537 to 1542, where he allegedly met Michelangelo and Sebastiano Serlio, among others, and examined the new Italian artistic and cultural production. D'Hollanda is often mentioned in Art History literature because of such conversations with the master of masters in Vittoria Collona's gardens in Rome. D'Hollanda expresses, in 1500s words and in the world's vision, the conviction that Desegno has the aggregation power of a practical science.
