The book launch yesterday was amazingly surprising, it was very dear to me to get such wonderful and dedicated audience that words can hardly explain. Professor Vitor Serrão, from Artis Institute in UNL, made a very welcoming and positive presentation and Paulo Simões Rodrigues, director of CHAIA, exalted the importance of Art History research, like this now published, to help focus on the role of investigation in the research centre.

My former PhD advisor and co-author of the book, made the necessary insight to the importance of retable art of Goa, detached of Lisbon and more closer to Italy then previously thought, thanks to the extensive inventory that I’ve gathered since 2007, of almost 1000 altarpieces.

Among a crowded room, specialists like Hélder Carita, José Meco, Ângelo da Silveira, Luis Cabral de Oliveira, Cláudia Pereira, Hilda Frias, José Pestana, André Varela Remígio, Jason Keith Fernandes, just to name a few, surely powered the debate around the importance of conservation politics in India to help preserve important works of art, altarpieces included. Also, I can’t put to words the importantce of the support of family and friends that showed at the venue and also those that couldn’t come but sent wonderful messages.

The book is now out for sale. It can be found in Museu Oriente in Lisbon, CHAIA in Évora and also in the collection website Colecção Promontória Monográfica História da Arte.