O Império à mesa. Uma retórica da monarquia portuguesa nas artes da mesa (1756-1775)

Abstract

The royal table was a privileged setting for the construction of the royal figure, the transmission of the official and laudatory enhancing of monarchy. Table’s crafts – such as the iconographic narratives heading over the ornamentation of stately silverware and the short-lasting decorations set up for banquets -were a part of these staging’s of power. Making use of two particular examples, that mark the beginning and the end of Dom José I’s reign (1750‑1777), Iwill examine the allegoric configuration of the Portuguese monarchy and that of its Empire. Iwill put in evidence the relationship between metropolis and colonial space, at critical period, that of the 1755 Earthquake and the reconstruction of Lisbon.