The Confraternity and Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte, at São Pedro Church, Funchal (1646-1846) – Organization, Activities and Heritage

Abstract

The Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte (Our Lady of Good Death) chapel, located on the left side of São Pedro church, in Funchal, was founded in the 30s or 40s of the 17^th century (before 1646), by Manuel Soares, and it’s where he was buried in November, 1651. Manuel Soares left, in his last will and testament, an income to repair the chapel and a pension for masses on behalf of his and his wife’s souls.
In 1646, in the chapel, the confraternity of Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte was established, considered «h?a luzida Irmandade» («a grand brotherhood»), by Henrique Henriques de Noronha, in 1722. The confraternity accepted members of all social status and had as main goals the salvation of the soul and the worship of God and Nossa Senhora (Our Lady).
The confraternity subsisted through legacies, alms of new members, annual donations, alms in threshing floors and mills, the renting of farms and houses and, mainly, from the interests of borrowed money. The profits were used in current expenses with the worship, such as in masses, religious services, wax, festivities, procession and in the construction works of the chapel.
In the 70s of the 18^th century, the confraternity of Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte remodelled the chapel by building a new altarpiece, in Rococo style, with the guidance of the Canary painter João António Villavicêncio, master of royal works in Madeira between 1781 and 1796. The most requested masters in Madeira during this period worked in the chapel.
The confraternity reached its peak in the 60s, 70s and 80s of the 18^th century, having declined in the following decade, as a result of political, economic, social and religious factors, which led to its extinction in 1846.
In this article we analyse the organizational structure of the confraternity of Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte, the religious, social and economic actions developed, the construction and maintenance of the chapel and of its religious and artistic heritage, much of it, still today, visible to worshipers and visitors.souls.

Keywords

Confraternity; Painting; Altarpiece; Gilded Wood; Rococo; João António Villavicêncio; Julião Francisco Ferreira; Nicolau Ferreira; São Pedro Parish; Funchal.