The Gulbenkian Collection of tiles was the starting point from which the exhibition’s curators, Alfonso Pleguezuelo and João Castel-Branco Pereira, developed the underlying theme of The Splendour of Cities. The Route of the Tile, reclaiming for the tile’s role as a means of disseminating ideas and forms in a world which quickly became globalised through cultural and commercial exchanges. The catalogue that accompanies the exhibition, to which a great number of specialists have contributed, shall undoubtedly serve as enduring witness to the importance of this project as a subject of widespread interest.