Jorge Afonso (1470-1540)
• Was a Portuguese painter.
• Jorge Afonso was nominated royal painter in 1508 by King Manuel I and again in 1529 by John III.
• He was mainly based in Lisbon, with a workshop near the Igreja de São Domingos.
• Many of Portuguese painters were educated in his workshop, including Cristóvão de Figueiredo, Garcia Fernandes, Gregório Lopes and Jorge Leal.
• The main painted altarpieces attributed to Jorge Afonso were commissioned by the old Queen Leonor, widow of King John II and sister of Manuel I.
• Between 1520 and 1530, Jorge Afonso painted the 14 panels of the main altarpiece of the Monastery of Jesus, in Setúbal, again sponsored by Queen Leonor.
• Jorge Afonso's workshop is also linked to the painted decoration of the walls of the Round Church of the Convent of Christ, in Tomar, executed in the 1530s.
