The Ambassador's Coach

Triumphal car, part of a set of five thematic coaches and ten accompaniment coaches included in the Embassy procession to Pope Clemente XI, sent to Rome by King João V in 1716. This was the coach used by Rodrigo Anes de Sá Menezes, Marquis of Fontes, to make his solemn entrance before the Holy See.

The open body in "Roman" style is covered in a gold canvas. The interior is also upholstered in gold canvas and the flooring is inlaid with ivory.

The front set od wheels displays the image of Silenus with Minerva and Hope on either side. Thetis, the goddness of "Navigation", appears in the rear panel drawing routes on a globe while a triton emerges from the water holding a mariner's compass.

On the other side, there is the image of Bellona, goddness of War, holding a shield with the Coat of Arms of the Ambassador's family, wich portrays Conquest commanding a lion, symbol of royality attacking the infidel. In the centre, the image of a sea monster, the Adamastor, recalls the dangers through which the Portuguese had been through.