Portuguese family of artists.
The son of a humble fisherman, Sequeira changed his surname in 1785 for unknown reasons. From 1781 to 1786 he studied at the Aula R?gia de Desenho, where he was first a pupil of Manuel da Rocha and later studied decorative arts under Francisco de Set?bal (d 1792). With both the patronage of J. A. Pinto da Silva, the Keeper of the Crown Jewels to Mary I (reg 1777-1816), and a Casa Pia scholarship, he went to Rome, where he studied at the Academia Portuguesa under Antonio Cavallucci and then under Domenico Corvi. He was awarded prizes for drawing and composition at the Accademia di S Luca, to which he presented his painting the Beheading of St John the Baptist (1793; Rome, Accad. N. S Luca). In 1793 he was elected honorary academician there. The Conversion of Saul (c. 1793; Alpiar?a, Casa Mus. Relvas) shows Sequeira's use of a Baroque composition and lighting. He also copied Domenichino's frescoes (1609-10) in the chapel of S Nilo at S Maria, Grottaferrata, and absorbed Roman Neo-classicism, as is evident in the composition of Allegory of the Foundation of the Casa Pia (1792-4; Lisbon, Mus. N. A. Ant.) executed for Pina Manique, the founder of the official orphanage, chief of police under Mary I and a patron of the arts, who is portrayed in the painting. An important oil sketch for this work is in the Mus?e du Louvre in Paris. At the same time Sequeira executed a royal commission, the Apparition of Christ to Alfonso I (or Miracle of Ourique, 1791-4; Eu, Mus. Louis-Philippe), a vast canvas (2.7*4.5 m) painted in Rome for Mary I in which, recalling the similar legendary vision of Constantine, the Cross of the Order of Christ here appears to the first Portuguese king. This important early work by Sequeira disappeared in Brazil, where it had followed the royal family into exile in 1807, but was rediscovered in France in 1986. Here Sequeira's more academic Roman Neo-classicism opens out into a freer rendering in the grand manner of history painting. In expression the work is already pre-Romantic, while the sense of movement and use of dramatic light are Baroque. During his stay in Italy Sequeira visited Florence, Bologna, Parma, Milan and Venice and studied local schools of painting.
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