Bust ‘Manuel Maria Bordalo Pinheiro’

Posthumous portrait of Manuel Maria Bordalo Pinheiro (1815-1880), a multi-faceted artist, and Rafael’s father. He is depicted intimately, wearing elegant clothes, but with his cap and spectacles on, as if he were at home. There is a sensitive focus on the expressive face, both austere and paternal. Enjoying the plasticity of the material, the artist’s naturalistic treatment throughout the modelling extends to the different representations of texture. Although it was carried out from a photograph and in recollection of the portrait drawn by Rafael Bordalo on his father’s death, published in the periodical O Occidente, this unique piece is one of his greatest works. It was presented to the museum by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro’s nephews, Dinis and Pedro, in 1926.