Bom Jesus de Matosinhos - Twelve Prophets

Twelve prophets

The twelve highly expressive figures of prophets, created between 1800 and 1805, which stand at different levels on the terrace leading up to the church form a powerful and dynamic ensemble with their varying attitudes and gestures. They have been seen by some experts as expressing a mute protest, while others see in these figures with their Latin scrolls an allusion to the rebels of the Inconfidància. At the foot of the terrace are Isaiah and Jeremiah; above them are Baruch and Ezekiel; on the upper terrace are Daniel, Hosea, Jonah and Joel; at the corners of the wall are Obadiah and Habakkuk; at the far ends are Amos and Nahum. The statues of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel (the four major prophets) are