Italian, 17th Century

Possibly acquired by Dom Luís de Sousa (1637-1690), archbishop of Braga, Portuguese ambassador in Rome (1675-1682)

Paço do Calhariz, Sesimbra, Duques de Palmela Collection, until inherited by;

Dom Alexandre de Sousa e Holstein Beck, Visconde de Lançada (1931-2014);

Thence by descent to the present owner.

RELATED LITERATURE

Maria Holstein Campilho, Maria Antonia Pinto de Matos (ed.), Uma Família de Coleccionadores: Poder e Cultura, Antiga Colecção Palmela (exh. cat.); Lisbon, Casa-Museu Anastácio Gonçalves, 2001.

The present bust was once part of the Palmela Collection at the Paço de Calhariz, built by Dom Luís de Sousa, archbishop of Braga and Portuguese ambassador to Rome where he remained for six years,. There he met the artist Bernini and negotiated a commission from him for the powerful Conde da Ericeira in Lisbon. He bought many paintings and works of art, and was particularly interested in marbles and hardstones having acquired pietre dure tables and enquired about scagliola techniques, which he then use extensively in his architectural projects in Portugal, a novelty in the country, including in the chapel at Calhariz. His inventory of 1683 lists amongst other sculptures, a set of twelve polychrome busts of Emperors and another group of four emperors, all destined for the Paço do Calhariz (Arquivo Palmela, Estromento de Instituhição de Morgado vincolo e anexação pelo Primaz das Espanhas, D. Luiz de Souza, 22 June 1683, Cx. 30, mç. 1, verm., apud Campilho and Matos, p. 180). Four of the Palmela polychrome busts were sold in Lisbon in 2012.