The restoration works of a captain in 1894 – The portraits of the viceroys of India (Archaeological Museum of Goa) and the artistic side of Gomes da Costa

Abstract

In 1547, D. João de Castro, viceroy of India, commissioned Gaspar Correia to execute the painting portraits of the rulers who preceded him in the task of represent the Portuguese sovereignty in that part of the world. Over the centuries, this painting gallery increased and, currently, is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Goa. In 1894, Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa, Captain for the Overseas and Aid de Camp of the General-Governor of India, intervened in some of the viceroys portraits, carrying out, thus, restorations works clearly questionable at the level of the introduced changes. Gomes da Costa's interventions, later extinguished by the restoration works carried out following the mission performed by the Study Squad for the Monuments of the Portuguese India in 1951, are of the greatest importance once they demonstrate, simultaneously, the poorly known artistic side of an individual that, in 1926, was President of the Republic, and one of the restoration trends of late 19th century.

Keywords

• Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa
• Portraits of the Viceroys of India
• Study Squad for the Monuments of the Portuguese India
• Painting restoration during the 19th Century