ANTONIO MANUEL DA FONSECA | The Artist Giuseppe (José) Cinatti with his wife Maria Anastasia Sara Rivolto and their eldest children, Adelaide and Cleofe

By direct descent within the Cinatti family.

Antonio Manuel da Fonseca studied under his father João Tomás da Fonseca, who was a painter and sculptor, and subsequently at the Academy of Life Drawing and History that had been founded by Joaquim Manuel da Rocha. Fonseca benefited from the patronage of King João VI and his wife Carlota Joaquina and one of his first major commissions was for Joaquim Pedro Quintela, for a series of frescos at the Palácio de Quintela of historical Roman subjects, campagna views and mythological subjects. His royal patronage continued with João’s son, Pedro IV who together with Quintela enabled Fonseca to travel to Rome in 1825 and complete his artistic studies with Vincenzo Camuccini and Andrea Pozzi. He also visited London and Paris. On his return to Lisbon in 1836 he was swiftly approved as Professor of History Painting at the Academia de Belas-Artes. He later successfully turned his hand to stage designs, costume design and illustration, working with the playwright Almeida Garrett, the opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer and the author Antonio Felciano da Castilho. His frequent exhibitions culminated in a major retrospective in 1880 at the Palácio de Cristal de Porto. His royal connections had strengthened during his life and he taught drawing to the future King Carlos and his brother Alfonso. As a result, he received many honours, not least the Order of Christ and the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa.

Giuseppe (José) Cinatti (Siena 1808–1879 Lisbon) was a painter, decorator of interior schemes and set designer who became well known for his modernisation of theatre in Portugal. It is presumably through this that he met Fonseca and painted him. Together with his wife Maria he had 7 children: Adelaide, Beatriz, Cleofe, Octávio, Celeste, Demértrio and Cleyde-Maria-Margarita. 

A copy of this family portrait, of the same dimensions, painted by V.C.B. Reis, was in the same family collection until sold at Henry Adams Auctions, Chichester, West Sussex, 11 July 2018, lot 649.