Retrato de Dom Bernardo Rodrigues Nogueira, 1º Bispo de São Paulo

This portrait of the first bishop of São Paulo in an affirmation of ecclesiastical power. It is most likely a copy of a portrait of the same cleric found today in the Museu de Arte Sacra de São Paulo, located just a few meters away from the Pinacoteca. Dom Bernardo Rodrigues born in Santa Marinha in 1695. He attended the Universidade de Coimbra and before being named Bishop of São Paulo served as an archdeacon, purveyor, and vicar-general of the Diocese of Funchal. In São Paulo, where he officially made his entrance in December 1746, Dom Bernardo encouraged the construction of the city's first cathedral and gained a reputation as a serious and careful bishop. His bishopric was brief, lasting only four years. He died when preparing to make a visit to the territories of his vaste diocese in 1748.