Nicolas-Antoine Taunay (1755, Paris-1830, Paris) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, c. 1816 Oil on canvas 64 x 58 cm
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Title: António Pio, Prince of Beira
Long Description: The first heir and descendent to the future João VI was born in the Palace of Queluz on 21st March 1795 and died on 11th June 1801, a victim of smallpox aged just six with his younger brother Pedro thus becoming heir to the throne.
The baptism of António Pio was probably the last major commemoration interrelated with the Bragança dynasty at the Palace of Queluz. Taking place in 1795, the event was endowed with great ostentation, with adaptations carried out specifically for the ceremonies and celebrations according to the detailed descriptions from this period.
This portrait, subsequent to the death of the prince, was painted at a time when a series of portraits of his sisters and their mother Carlota Joaquina was under way. These works are attributed to Taunay based on the stylistic and compositional similarities with other works signed by this painter such as the portrait of the Marquise of Belas (1816) belonging to the collection of the São Paulo State Pinacoteca.
The painter Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, a member of the Fourth Fine Arts Class of the Royal Institute of France, joined the French Artistic Mission that arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1816, following the fall of the Napoleonic Empire. Recipient of a stipend from the Kingdom of Brazil, the artist returned to Paris at the beginning of 1821.