Portrait of King Manuel II
Author: José Nunes Ribeiro Júnior
Origin: Portugal
Dating: 1909
Material: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions (cm): 141 x 186
Inv. no.: 15-A / MNAC147 / PD1204dep
Manuel II, in a half-body portrait, wearing a military gala uniform that display golden epaulettes of the Navy Marshal General and several commendations, one of which is the Military Order of the Tower and Sword. In his left hand, he holds white gloves and a sheathed sword.
Manuel was born in Lisbon on November 15, 1889, son of King Carlos and Amélia. He was the last Portuguese King.
He took the throne at the age of 18, following the assassination of his father and brother – Luís Filipe, the crown prince – in 1908.
As king, he remained loyal to the Constitutional Charter. Nevertheless, in 1910, after two years of rule and as a result of the establishment of the Republic in Portugal, Manuel II was deposed and went into exile in England until his death.
He took part in World War I, integrating and subsidizing the International Red Cross and aiding the war wounded.
Manuel II had a special taste for the arts in general, and history, literature and music in particular. While in exile, he collected a valuable library, devoting himself to the study of 15th and 16th century Portuguese works.
He died in England, in 1932, at the age of 43. He was buried in the Royal Pantheon of the Bragança Dynasty on the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora (Lisboa).
