Retrato da Marquesa de Belas [Portrait of the Marchioness of Belas]

This is a portrait of Dona Constança Manuel de Meneses, the second Marchioness of Belas, as clearly established by an inscription on the back of the canvas. Chubby and smiling, the Marchioness is portrayed in mourning for the death of Queen Dona Maria I (of whom she was a lady-in-waiting) and wearing an insignia of the Royal Order of Santa Isabel, an order bestowed on her by Dona Carlota Joaquina in the same year this painting was made. Dona Constança was the daughter of the fourth Marquis of Marialva and became the Marchioness of Belas through her marriag, in 1804, to Dom Antônio Maria Castelo Branco Correia e Cunha de Vasconcelos e Souza. The two accompanied the Royal Family to Brazil in 1808 and lived in Rio de Janeiro until 1821, when they turn back to Portugal.