Five artists in Sintra

Exhibited at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1855, this work appears to be a tribute to the Portuguese Master Anunciação and to the comradeship shared by the Romantic generation, influenced by Liberal ideas, and as such is considered an emblematic piece in Portuguese Romanticism for its introduction of the various themes developed during this period: portraiture, landscape and the depiction of social mores.
This first production of a portrait of a group of artists in Portuguese painting took place in Sintra, where the view of the mist-obscured Palácio da Pena appears like a scene from an opera and the symbol of an artistically appropriate natural setting. The figures stand out from the scenographic landscape, sketched on location but finished in the studio, contrasting with a towering rock face. Anunciação and Metrass, both teachers at the Academia de Belas-Artes, can be seen in the centre of the composition. Behind them can be seen the writer Vítor Bastos, in playful pose, José Rodrigues, leafing through an album, and Cristino himself, making a quick sketch to capture aspects of the landscape.