The Ministry of Culture has released the list of works acquired in 2023 by the Commission for the Acquisition of Works of Art for National Museums and Palaces, including the Self-portrait of the Marquis of Montebelo with his children Francisco and Bernarda, which is already at the painting collection of Soares dos Reis National Museum.
With an annual allocation of 2 million euros, the Commission for the Acquisition of Works of Art for National Museums and Palaces has indicated, for 2023, a total of 9 works of exceptional heritage relevance considered fundamental to the collections of national museums and palaces.
This painting, dated 1643 (?), may be one of the first Portuguese self-portraits and has enriched the Soares dos Reis National Museum’s painting collection, which includes a vast number of self-portraits from other periods and artistic trends.
Félix Machado da Silva e Castro de Vasconcelos, Marquis of Montebelo, was born in Casa de Tora, in the parish of Vale, in Amares. He was the first Marquis of Montebelo in Italy, lord of the Lands of Entre Homem and Cavado and of the town of Amares, and a Commander of St John of Coucieiro in the Order of Christ. Despite so many land titles, he died poor, living the last years of his life on the art of painting.