MMIPO

Integrated in the Week of the Camellias, the exhibit "The camellias in the portraits of the benefactresses of Misericórdia do Porto" transports us to the feminine universe of Porto in the nineteenth century.

The presentation evokes four benefactresses of the Misericórdia do Porto, through their portraits where there are camellias: D. Ana Cândida Veloso de Azevedo Ferreira; D. Maria Emília Lopes; D. Francisca de Paula de Neiva e Silva; D. Laura da Conceição Teixeira de Oliveira. Along with the portraits are shown four dresses, from the last quarter of the nineteenth century, ceded by the Romantic Museum of Quinta da Macieirinha in Porto, and the Alberto de Sampaio Museum, in Guimarães.

A winter garden, characterized by elements in wrought iron and abundant vegetation, was recreated in the central space of the Benefactors Gallery. At Porto, during the nineteenth century, the camellias were a must in any park or garden, representing an authentic icon of the city. They were, and still are, a source of inspiration for many different artistic and cultural expressions.

A table decorated with crockery Samatra - Vista Alegre and a center table entitled "Japoneira Cidade do Porto", designed by goldsmith Miguel Vaz d'Almada, takes us back to a time when the attention given to every detail was appanage in certain homes.

The exhibit also includes parts of the collections of two prestigious jewellers from Porto: Luiz Ferreira & Filhos e Pedro Baptista, Lda.

Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto

Câmara Municipal do Porto

Joalharia Miguel Vaz d'Almada

Museu de Alberto Sampaio

Ourivesaria Luiz Ferreira & Filhos, Lda.

Pedro A. Baptista, Lda. Joalheiros

Perry Sampaio

Vista Alegre

She died on January 10th 1829, as confirmed by the inscription on her portrait, painted by João de Almeida Santos in 1863. The young woman portrayed appears on a writing pose with fashionable hair, much to the style of the seventeen hundreds, a dress and jewels where floral elements constitute a favourite motif. The quantity of jewels that D. Ana Cândida has reveals, according to art historian Gonçalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa, "?a provincial willingness to express her social prominence - or the desire to possess it?"

Born in the parish of Crestuma, Maria Emilia Lopes was the daughter of José Lopes Fontes and of Josefa Maria Angélica. She resided in Rua das Hortas, located in the parish of Vitoria in Porto. In her will and testament, approved by the notary Manuel Carneiro Pinto on February 9th 1842, she named Henriqueta Júlia Alves, her relative, as benefactor of her estate, to whom she left various properties that, when she (Henriqueta) died would pass to the Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto. She died on September 16th 1845, unmarried, at age 46, and was buried at Crestuma Church.

Her portrait was painted in the following year by João de Almeida Santos.

A native from the parish of Sé, D. Laura da Conceição Teixeira de Oliveira was married to Joaquim José Teixeira de Oliveira, landowner and commendator, who died on June 18th 1913, and was buried at the Prado do Repouso cemetery. From this marriage there were no descendants.

Joaquim José Teixeira de Oliveira, in his will, contemplated various institutions in the city of Porto. With regards to the Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto, he donated possessions to some establishments at its charge, as the Recolhimento de Órfãs de Nossa Senhora da Esperança and the Santo António Hospital. In the testamentary dispositions, concerning D. Laura, Joaquim José Teixeira de Oliveira ordered, perpetually on each 26th of April, two masses for her soul as well as placing her picture at the Benefactors Gallery. The painter Alfredo Nunes dos Santos was the author of this work.

Resident in the Rua do Bonjardim, in the parish of Santo Ildefonso, D. Francisca de Paula de Neiva e Silva wrote her will on the 14th August 1907. At the time she was a widow with two children: João, single, and D. Adelaide da Conceição Silva Pinheiro, who was married.

She established the Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto as heir to a third of her estate, regardless of its nature. She named as her executors José da Silva da Cerveira Montenegro de Bourbon, single, landowner, resident in his house, and Manuel de Sousa Cochofel Montenegro, married, landowner, living in Quinta da Granja, in the parish of S. Cristóvão de Nogueira, municipality Cinfães. She was buried in the Montenegro family mausoleum on same parish, and gave certain sums of money to her executors and to Maria José da Silva Azevedo, who lived with her, and Alice Leite de Almeida, her goddaughter.

Her portrait was painted by Joaquim Marinho in 1916/17.