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Lot Essay
This picture is after the original in the Camera Municipale in Lisbon.
Born in Lisbon in 1699, into a family of the petty nobility, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo began his life as a diplomat. Thanks to the support of his uncle, a canon of the Chapel Royal, he was sent first to London and then to Vienna. On the death of King João V of Portugal, his successor, King José I (reg. 1750-77) called Carvalho to power. The minister decided to improve the nation's finances, helping to found the Royal Bank, and to abolish slavery in Brazil. During his career, he sought to consolidate the absolute power of the monarch; he expelled the Jesuits in 1759, and reduced the power of the nobles. The great earthquake of 1 November 1755, that reduced Lisbon, to ashes gave him the opportunity to display his artistic talents, overseeing the reconstruction of the city.
In the present picture he holds a plan of Lisbon's finest square, the Praa do Comércio, known as the Terreiro do Paco (or to the English as Black Horse Square, because of the equestrian statue of José I), which was planned by Eugénio dos Santos as the central focal point of the new city; beyond him is a view of the Mosteiro dos Jeronimas, in Lisbon. Carvalho was created Count of Oeiras in 1759, and in 1769 Marquês de Pombal. In the course of his long career, he made a number of enemies, and as a result of their influence, following the death of the King in 1777 he was banished from Lisbon in 1781. He died in Pombal in 1782.
Born in Lisbon in 1699, into a family of the petty nobility, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo began his life as a diplomat. Thanks to the support of his uncle, a canon of the Chapel Royal, he was sent first to London and then to Vienna. On the death of King João V of Portugal, his successor, King José I (reg. 1750-77) called Carvalho to power. The minister decided to improve the nation's finances, helping to found the Royal Bank, and to abolish slavery in Brazil. During his career, he sought to consolidate the absolute power of the monarch; he expelled the Jesuits in 1759, and reduced the power of the nobles. The great earthquake of 1 November 1755, that reduced Lisbon, to ashes gave him the opportunity to display his artistic talents, overseeing the reconstruction of the city.
In the present picture he holds a plan of Lisbon's finest square, the Praa do Comércio, known as the Terreiro do Paco (or to the English as Black Horse Square, because of the equestrian statue of José I), which was planned by Eugénio dos Santos as the central focal point of the new city; beyond him is a view of the Mosteiro dos Jeronimas, in Lisbon. Carvalho was created Count of Oeiras in 1759, and in 1769 Marquês de Pombal. In the course of his long career, he made a number of enemies, and as a result of their influence, following the death of the King in 1777 he was banished from Lisbon in 1781. He died in Pombal in 1782.