Os painéis do Mosteiro de S. Vicente

Published in 1931 by the Instituto Português de Heráldica, this scholarly work by Affonso de Dornellas was produced during a period of intense academic interest in the identity of the figures depicted in the Panels of Saint Vincent. Dornellas, a noted heraldist and genealogist, approached the panels as historical documents, attempting to decode the complex iconography and coats of arms present in the polyptych to definitively identify the historical figures depicted.

The book reflects the mid-20th-century Portuguese endeavor to contextualize national treasures through the lens of heraldry and archival research. By analyzing the symbols found within the paintings attributed to Nuno Gonçalves, Dornellas contributed to a long-standing scholarly debate that has spanned decades. The work is regarded as a foundational, albeit debated, effort to provide a systematic, academic interpretation of the visual clues embedded in what remains one of Portugal's most significant cultural artifacts.