Museum opening hours: 10:00 - 18:00

14-A

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.

Objeto museológico (PDB) -