In this article we tried to reach two main goals. On one hand, to establish the family connections
between three well renowned Portuguese doctors of Hebrew ascent of xvi and xvii centuries, whose
careers took place in the Flemish city of Antwerp: Luís Nunes the eldest, his son Álvaro Nunes and
and his grandson Luís Nunes, whose portrait was painted by Rubens and is now at London’s National
Gallery. By the other hand, we present here the latin originals and Portuguese translations of some
samples of the litteray legacy of the homonymous grandfather and grandson (Luís Nunes), and two
letters by Justus Lipsius, that give evidence of the admiration and friendship of this prestigious
Flemish author towards Álvaro Nunes and his son Luís.
Pretendo neste artigo estabelecer, em primeiro lugar, a relação familiar, desatendida até hoje,
que une três nomes ilustres na medicina dos séculos xvi e xvii, estabelecidos em Antuérpia, conquanto
de confessa e orgulhosa origem portuguesa, e, em segundo lugar, cingindo-me ao viés
literário, que é o que sobretudo me interessa, coligir e publicar alguns textos latinos do avô e
neto homónimos (Luís Nunes) e duas peças epistolares de Justo Lípsio, que evidenciam a boa conta
em que Álvaro Nunes e seu filho Luís eram tidos pelo prestigiado e bem conhecido polígrafo
flamengo.