The triumphal coaches of D. João V’s for the 1716 embassy and the Portuguese Catholic empire

Abstract:

This paper studies D. João V’s extraordinary embassy to Rome (1716), led by the Marquis of Fontes, D. Rodrigo Annes de Sá Almeida e Meneses. Based on the political analysis of their iconographic program, the allegoric elements of the delegation’s coaches, currently exhibited in the National Coach Museum, in Portugal, are identified, compared with other visual sources, and connected to contemporary reports and passages of Camoes’ work. A perspective defending the sumptuousness of the Joanine period as a form of exaltation of the power of the Portuguese Crown, and the allegorical messages or meanings subjacent to the sculptural ensemble are also investigated.

Keywords:
Portuguese monarchy; Embassies; Political iconography