Tomb of D. Maria I (Lisbon, Portugal)

D. Maria Francisca Isabel de Bragança, princess and heiress of the Portuguese throne, firstborn of D. José I, was born on the 17^th December 1734. On the 6^th June 1760 she married her uncle, Infante D. Pedro de Bragança, - later King D. Pedro III – and was proclaimed the Queen of Portugal in 1777.

Between 1786 and 1790, a series of dramatic events disturbed and unsettled the Queen’s health condition. She was eventually diagnosed with irreversible mental illness, causing Prince D. João (later D. João VI) to take over the kingdom’s affairs.

Pushed by the French Invasions of 1807, the Royal Family fled to Brazil, where the Queen would die on the 20^th March 1816. The Queen’s remains were transferred to the Basilica da Estrela on the 18^th March 1822.

The imposing Tomb of D. Maria I, attributed to Faustino José Rodrigues (1760-1829), is fully made of black and white marble. The upper section bears a medallion with the image of the sovereign among allegorical figures. The casket is supported by rose marble lions on a plinth with an inscription in the front.

References

• RODRIGUES, Francisco José, Comemorações – 11 de Fevereiro de 1829, in Revista Universal Lisbonense. Hemeroteca Digital, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, 1842-1843, Fevereiro Nº 21 (pp 256-258)
• ARAÚJO, Norberto de, Peregrinações em Lisboa, Vol. III, Livro XI, Parceria A. M. Pereira, Lisboa, s.d.;
• QUEIROZ, Mónica Ribas Marques Ribeiro, O Arquitecto Mateus Vicente de Oliveira (1706-1785), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Belas Artes, Lisboa, 2013