A small bronze monument with the statue of Queen Mary I of Portugal
Cast bronze model on a black and white marble base. Inscribed on the left side of the plinth "Domenico.Pieri.Fecit". H 27.5 cm, with base H 49.2, W 15.2, D 16.5 cm.
Domenico Pieri after João Jose de Aguiar (1769-1841)
This bronze sculpture depicts Queen Mary I of Portugal. It is a copy, reduced to table size, of the large marble figure in front of the National Palace of Queluz. The monument with four assistantance figures, the allegories of the four continents, on a monumental plinth was created around 1794 by the sculptor João Jose de Aguiar in Rome, but only came to Portugal in 1802.
Mary I, Queen of Portugal, was born Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana de Bragança in Lisbon in 1734 and became the first woman to assume the Portuguese throne in 1777. She fled with her family to Brazil during the Napoleonic era, but later regained her kingdom thanks to the military intervention of the English and the Duke of Wellington, although she never set foot in Portugal again. After nine years in exile, she died as Queen of Portugal and Brazil in Rio de Janeiro in 1816. She never lived to see her monument be unveiled.
It is likely that the small bronze statue was produced by a Roman foundry while João Jose de Aguiar was still working in Canova's studio or before the monument was sent to Lisbon. Unfortunately, we know nothing about the founder, Domenico Pieri.