Diogo de Torralva is one of the key figures in the Convent of Christ and the history of art in Portugal. He was a sculptor and an architect, and his exact provenance is not known, with Piemonte and Castile being the most likely.
We do not know exactly how he arrived in Portugal, his first documented work being the design for the tomb of Dom Luís da Silveira, in Góis, in 1529, which was carried out by Diogo de Castilho.
Five years later, in 1534, he married the daughter of Francisco de Arruda, the architect of the Tower of Belém, and worked with his brother, Gonçalo de Torralva, in Tomar, Miranda do Douro, and Guarda.
In the same year, he became master of the royal works, and was in charge of the construction of the Our Lady of Grace (Nossa Senhora da Graça) Church, in Évora. Another of the works entrusted to him was the main chapel of the church of the Jerónimos Monastery, where he worked between 1550 and 1551.
He also took on the role of master builder of the Paços de Évora, extending his mission to the whole of Alentejo, due to the death of his father-in-law, Francisco de Arruda, who carried out that mission.
Between 1554 and 1562, he was in charge of the reform King John III intended to carry out at the Convent of Christ in Tomar, where he was responsible for rebuilding its main cloister. Designed in 1557 in the Italian cinquecento style, this work is considered to be the first expression of Mannerist language in Portugal.
The project for the cloister of the Convent of Christ was negotiated over two years with King John III himself, who died before it was awarded.
In addition to the Convent of Christ, he participated in works in the African city of Mazagão in 1541 and also designed the Bom Jesus de Valverde Church in Évora. He also designed the Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Our Lady of the Conception), in Tomar, and the Madre de Deus Convent, in Lisbon.
Considered the introducer of Mannerism in Portugal, Diogo de Torralva died in 1566.