Fresco House

One of Bom Jesus’ exquisite jewels and a treat of historical architecture. It is located in one of the paths of the park, in symbiosis with nature, in a higher plane and at the rear of the temple, also called Baroque cave.

It was a fountain where the freshness was sought, once belonging to the garden of the former palace of D. José de Bragança. The work was created by André Soares in 1751 and brought to Bom Jesus in 1919. The exuberant decoration, with an excess of asymmetrical shells planted in the ground, confirms the excellence of the rococo style.

It has a canopy cover. Its integration with the surrounding nature gives it a particular monumentality, where art, faith and nature merge into a difficult link to repeat.

It is a feast of floral and shells motifs covering almost the entire surface of the columns, cornice and cover.

Together with the church of S. Maria Madalena in Falperra, it is the maximum example, as the masterpiece of the brilliant Bracaran artist.

This work has in its interior the fountain and the statue of Hercules.

This fountain is allegorized by the rough figure of a man of less than average stature, with his right arm raised in action to discharge heavy mass, and on horseback from a hydra that throws water through the mouth and ears, as described by Forjaz de Sampaio Pimentel.

Hercules symbolizes the victory and difficulty of the supremacy of the human soul over its weaknesses. The hydra that Hercules – identified with the resurrected Christ – dominates and kills, completes this symbolism, since it is the animal that is represented as a symbol of all sins.