Portrait of Queen Maria I
Author: Manuel Maria Bordalo Pinheiro (?)
Origin: Portugal (?)
Dating: 19th century
Material: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions (cm): 84,5 x 105
Inv. no.: 14-A / PD1202dep
Queen Maria was the first woman wielding the sceptre in Portugal. She ascended to the throne in 1777 and initiated a period known as “Viradeira” during which the Marquis of Pombal resigned and was exiled.
Her religiousness earned her the epithet of “The Pious”. During her reign, political prisoners were freed; the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Casa Pia were created; the Estrela Basilica and the S. Carlos Theatre in Lisbon were built and, in Porto, the Santo António Hospital and the Theatre of S. João.
A lottery was also created in order to fund social missions, namely the Santa Casa da Misericórdia. She was later on deemed mentally insane and died in Brazil in 1816.
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