Focus on Allegory of the Good and Bad Judge and discuss the History.
The old Town Hall and Courthouse (the medieval domus municipalis) of the town of Monsaraz was first built around the second quarter of the 14th century, at some time during the reigns of King Dinis and Afonso IV. It was built after the village was granted its first Charter in 1276 and had begun to expand and develop. Until it was built, public acts had been conducted in the churchyard of the Gothic Church of Santa Maria da Lagoa (demolished and later rebuilt in the 16th century).The old Town Hall seems to have been rebuilt several times since its initial construction, although several original medieval elements can still be identified, such as the pointed arch on the entrance, the twinned arch windows, and the ribbed vaults. In the late 15th or early 16th century, the structure was also modified to hold a public gaol, in accordance with the instructions of King John II. The fresco shows signs of having been mutilated, but it is unclear when.  Some scholars suggest that it took place sometime during the reign of King Manuel I (r. 1495–1521), coinciding with the construction of a new dome, but more recent critics find it unlikely that the figures of Jesus Christ and of the heraldic achievement of the powerful House of Braganza (which counted Monsaraz among its many dominions) would be deliberately defaced during the 16th century. Instead, it has since been proposed that the mutilation was caused by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which is known to have damaged the building.When the town hall was rebuilt, what was left of the fresco (because it is possibly the remaining fraction of a larger composition) was safeguarded behind a new wall constructed for this purpose. It remained hidden and forgotten until it was fortuitously discovered in the week of 6 to 11 October 1958 while the building, then the seat of the town's parish council, underwent repair and expansion. From that date until 1997, the fresco was subject to a number of restoration interventions for the consolidation of the mortar and paint layers, cleaning, and removal of overpainting.In 1991, Lima de Freitas painted a modern version of The Good and the Bad Judge, for the Montemor-o-Novo Courthouse. This modern painting is both a visual homage to the medieval work and is inscribed with the words "An Homage to the Unknown Painter who, in 15th-century Monsaraz, painted the Good and the Bad Judge".The building was converted to a museum, the "Museum of the Fresco" (Museu do Fresco), with The Good and the Bad Judge as its main attraction on 13 July 2012.
Jesus 1755 Lisbon earthquake King Manuel I Lima de Freitas Christ parish council King John II fresco public gaol overpainting Montemor-o-Novo Charter King Dinis Fresco Church of Santa Maria da Lagoa pointed arch gaol ribbed vaults House of Braganza left Afonso IV Monsaraz Gothic