AFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE,
LOPO SOARES DE ALBERGARIA
E NUNO ÁLVARES BOTELHO
1547 First Series
& 1584 Fourth Series
Overview
7th Governor and 9th in the ruling chronology
Nuno da Cunha’s government is marked by important milestones for the Portuguese Administration, namely the construction of Chale fortress in Calicut and the conquest of Vasai, Daman and later Diu, after which a peace treaty was signed with the King of Gujerat. It was during his tenure that the Official residence was transferred from Kochi to Goa, to Sabaio Palace.
Justification for the study
Just by visualizing this portrait by naked eye it is very clear the existence of outlines and textures from a former composition under the surface paint layer and in good preservation condition. It was also important to confirm if this portrait belonged to the 1st series of 13 portraits (from 1547) and which technical, material or iconographic elements could still be identified from this series.
Important conclusions from the study:
The imaging techniques revealed a few remains from the 1547 composition, but mostly the result from the interventions made in 1581, still in good condition and matching the reproduction from 1646. An interesting feature captured by the techniques was a closed eye. In fact, the sitter was depicted with a blind eye, which refers to a true episode where the governor lost his eye during a calvary game. This layer from 1581 is overlaped with repaints from the 19th century and a full overpaint from 1893. In total, the original compostion is covered by 3 paint layers.
The Biggining
Why was the famous portrait identified as Afonso de Albuquerque from the Viceroys gallery (currently at National Museum of Ancient Art – (MNAA, in Lisbon (Fig.01)) so diferent from the original reproduction made in 1548 (Fig.02)? This was the starting question which triggered the OGR project in 2011.
A complex restoration process and an unexpected discovery
The portrait identified as Afonso de Albuquerque was included in the six portraits of the collection that had been brought to Lisbon from Goa for restoration in 1953. The access to the restoration reports of the time, as well as the archival documentation of MNAA provided valuable information to answer our question. In fact, during the process of removal of the overpaint, the restorer’s team were faced with a puzzling situation since they found the depiction of governor Lopo Soares de Albergaria (identified by his coat of arms) but with an inscription related to Albuquerque.
The Biggining
Part 02
The portrait in 1954-55 during restoration. This image shows the process of removal of the repaints and the revelation of another face looking to the left, as well a coat of arms that didn’t belong to Afonso de Albuquerque, but to Lopo Soares de Albergaria.
Without access to the remaining collection, the option was to keep the inscription related to Albuquerque and repaint a new coat of arms with Albuquerque’s iconography on top of Albergaria’s coat of arms. A replica was made from this portrait (which is in exhibition in the Navy Museum), that testifies this interventions’s result, with a sitter with short dark beards.
When this portrait is first exhibited to the public, the minister of Education doesn’t accept a depiction of Albuquerque without the usual long white beards and orders the addition on new ones.
The restores’s team rejects to undertake such procedure without having first conducted the study of the remaninig series of 13. The government allows only the sending of the portrait identified as Lopo Soares de Albergaria, which arrives Lisbon in 1957. The coat of arms depicted in this portrait belonged to the Mascarenhas family and not the Albergaria family.
During the removal of the overpaint on Albergaria’s portrait, the depiction of Viceroy D. Francisco de Mascarenhas is revealed. The situation is confusing and the Government in Goa starts claiming for the portraits return and at that point there isn’t a portrait of Albergaria to return, since the overpaints were all removed . A copy of Albergaria’s depiction lost during the restoration is made.
It is then decided to add beards and ageing marks to Albergaria’s portrait to look more like Albuquerque. The portrait returns to Goa in 1960 for the celebration of the 450 years of the conquer of the city of Goa by this governor. A certificate of autentitcity is issued by the Government in Goa and sealed on the back of the painting.
The portrait of Lopo Soares de Albergaria in 1953 before restoration.
The portrait of Lopo Soares de Albergaria in 1955 after restoration
The portrait identified as Lopo Soares de Albergaria sent from Goa in 1957
The same portrait during the removal of repaints appearing the depiction of D. Francisco Mascarenhas. 1957
Searching for the true Afonso de Albuquerque
One of Old Goa Revelations expectations was the finding of Albuquerque’s true portrait. From the lessons learnt from the case-studies of MNAA paintings with erros in their coats of arms were selected for the study. The portrait identified as Nuno Álvares Botelho was one of them. The first stage was exposing the surface to raking light. This highlighted
the remains of a composition underneath, but with a clear detail of the cross of the militar order ofSantiago de Espada (Saint James of the sword).
Detail of the Cross of Santiago de Espada.
Exposure to X rays clearly revealed the shape of this cross. Governor Afonso de Albuquerque’ portrait was the only one depicted using such insignia.
X-Ray radiography of the portrait identified as Nuno Álvares Botelho (opcional: …, revealing the remains of the original portrait of Afonso de Albuquerque). Courtesy: ASI Museum.
XR Radiography vs Reproduction
Only by using this examination, the few remains of Albuquerque’s true portrait were revealed, with a long White beard, matching the compositions made from this sitter in 1548 and 1646. The reference to the cross only appears in the engraving of 1646. this suggests it was added in the renovation of 1581
Figure 1
Afondo de Albuquerque. Engraving by Pedro Barreto Resende, in Estado da India Oriental, 1646. @British Library
Figure 2
Afondo de Albuquerque. Drawing by Gaspar Correia in Lendas da India, 1548. @Pangim Central Library
2D XRF mapping of the same area: combined map of elements copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and gold (Au) – in this map one can observe the contrast between the pigments applied on the upper layer (zinc White) and the materials from the original composition (copper-based pigments and golden leaf).
Interpretation of the other elements
Radiography of the chest area.
map of element gold (Au).
map of element copper (Cu).
The results from X-rays were complemented with the results from the X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) 2D mapping of the surface, which identified the elements found in the pigments used for the original composition. The report of elements copper (Cu) and gold (Au) in the chest area suggests the use of copper-based pigments for the green area and gold leaf for the golden area. This corresponds to the colours used in the engraving from 1646. These maps also confirm this is the true Albuquerque, but the composition is reduced to a few remains.
The iconic knot of Albuquerque’s beard
Other important detail found in the radiography was the knot on the beard’s end, a very particular feature of Albuquerque’s iconography. The use of digital techniques can be very usefull to support interpretation of this complex case. The digital colouring of the areas detected by radiography, respecting the information collected from historical sources and from the analysis will provide an overal visual access to a layer not visible by naked eye.
Detail of the radiography on the chest area, highlighting the representation of the beard’s knot
Detail of the same area in the engraving from Albuquerque made by Pedro Barreto Resende. @British Library
Digital colouring of the original areas detected by radiography. This interpretation tool respects the information collected from historical sources and from the analysi, providing an overal visual access to a layer not visible by naked eye.
coat of arms
Other detail found in the radiography which undoubtedly identified Albuquerque was the remains of the coat of arms. Some of the symbols are still preserved.
Back to portrait identified as Albuquerque’s from MNAA. A similar coat of arms was painted on top of Albergaria’s coat of arms during the restoration. It was important to understand and proove if it still existed or had been removed during this process.
Detail of the coat of arms of the Albuquerque’s with the symbols of the fleur-de-lis, the Portuguese coat of arms “quinas” and the fortresses
Detail of the radiography of the coat of arms. One can identify some of the Albuquerque’s symbols, the fleur-de-lis and the Portuguese coat of arms.
The X-Rays also revealed the remains of the coat-of-arms with symbols such as the fleur-de-lis and the castles, matching Albuquerque’s heraldry.