Galeria breve : memória de Vieira Portuense (1810-ca.1865)

Abstract

Francisco Vieira Junior (1765-1805) was a painter, and also an academic teacher, who became a fundamental pivot of the arrival of Neoclassicism to Portugal. Its progressive and selected training path, internationally determined (Italy, Germany, England), was soon followed by a large and applauded professional practice. Versatile in many genres, he devoted himself more to the study of Nature and History, cultivating scholarship and creativity. Very balanced in its technical qualities and aesthetic options, Vieira synthesized a stylish and sentimental eclecticism. His attitude was always methodical but open and friendly. When he died, forty years old only, some major institutional projects were frustrated. But the uniqueness and consistency of his life and work, in the national context, explain why a rapidly growing devotion was formed around his image.