Until the mid-16th century the Portuguese continued to rely on foreign imports, mostly from Spain, such as the "Annunciation" by Francisco Niculoso in Évora, but also on a smaller scale from Antwerp (Flanders), such as the panels by Jan Bogaerts in the Paço Ducal of Vila Viçosa (Alentejo).
Niso bile uporabljene le kot okras v umetnosti, ampak so imele tudi posebno sposobnost, kot je nadzor temperature v domovih.