Estimate

50.000 - 80.000

Session 3

16 October 2025

Hammer Price

Description

Oil on canvas
The Virgin Mary appears seated at the centre, holding the Christ Child on her lap and supporting Saint John the Baptist with her left hand, who in turn extends his arms towards the Child, holding the crucifix that He extends to him. To the left, Saint Elizabeth kneels in adoration, kissing the Child's right hand. Behind her, beside a table with a basket of fruit, are Saint Joseph and a female figure. To the right of the composition appears Saint Zacharias, depicted kneeling in an attitude of prayer and contemplation.

108,5x137,5 cm

Category

Paintings

Additional Information

Provenance:
Collection of Dr. Arnaldo Constantino Fernandes
With label on the reverse from the auction house Soares & Mendonça, dating from before 1954

This remarkable religious painting represents an important discovery in the corpus of Domingos António de Sequeira (1768-1837) - the most celebrated Portuguese painter of his time. Originally attributed to Francisco Vieira Lusitano, this work was recently recognised as a creation of the Portuguese master following the identification of a preparatory study by Dr Alexandra Reis Gomes Markl. A label on the reverse suggests that the work circulated in the Portuguese art market between 1937 and the early 1950s, possibly already bearing the identification plaque that erroneously related it to Vieira Lusitano.
The composition masterfully develops the theme of the Meeting of the Holy Families, an iconography of remarkable popularity in Portugal during the 18th century, which allowed artists to explore both the sacred dimension and family intimacy. Sequeira reveals here all his technical mastery, demonstrating the exemplary correctness of drawing, sophisticated command of light and harmonious chromatic compositions that characterise his finest creations.
The narrative unfolds in two complementary episodes: the central meeting where Zacharias and Saint Elizabeth, reverently kneeling, frame the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child and Saint John, in a composition of remarkable balance; and a second plane where Saint Joseph receives apples from a female figure - an episode possibly of allegorical character, which may symbolise the union and closeness between the holy families.
Particularly revealing is the aforementioned preparatory study, currently in the collection of the MNAA and published in the reference volume "Domingos António Sequeira, desenhos" by Maria Alice Mourisca Beaumont (ill. 491, p. 227). In this drawing the artist explores the complex intertwining of hands between Saint Elizabeth, the Virgin and the Child, as well as the delineation of the body and face of Saint Joseph as he would represent him in the final composition. The relationship of this study to the final composition not only unequivocally demonstrates the meditated creative process and care in elaborating the pictorial structure that Sequeira applied to his works, but also provides solid academic foundation to the present attribution.
Temporally this work appears to be situated in Sequeira's formative period, possibly during his transformative stay in Italy or in the first years after his return to Lisbon, illustrating a fascinating moment of the painter's stylistic transition. Here one can observe the synthesis between the classical teachings absorbed in Rome and the Portuguese sensibility that would define his unique style, reflecting the gradual emergence of the neoclassical languages that would characterise the renewal of Portuguese painting at the beginning of the 19th century.
The reattribution of this unpublished work to Domingos António de Sequeira significantly enriches our knowledge of his religious production and offers a rare opportunity to acquire a work by one of the most important painters of the Portuguese school, at a crucial moment in his artistic evolution.