page_title: Vieira Lusitano
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Vieira Lusitano / Biography
caption_attribution_description: Vieira Lusitano invento e fez.
context_page_description: Francisco de Matos Vieira, better known as Vieira Lusitano was a Portuguese court painter, illustrator and engraver.
context_section_description: His father was a maker of socks and stockings. He was originally meant to pursue an ecclesiastical career, but when he displayed an aptitude for art, his parents changed their plans. Word of his talents reached Carnide, where some gentlemen who operated a literary academy asked to meet him. During his presentation to them, he met a girl named Inês Helena de Lima e Melo, who would become his lifelong passion.  
  Meanwhile, he had begun his studies, probably with André Gonçalves. His work came to the attention of Don Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, the Marquis of Abrantes, who had recently been appointed Ambassador to Rome. The Marquis offered to take Vieira with him, so he could continue his studies there, and his family accepted the offer.
  Once there, aged only thirteen, he was apprenticed to Benedetto Luti, who immediately set him to studying and copying the frescoes in the Farnese Gallery. Meanwhile, the Marquis directed him to paint religious ceremonies, ornaments at the Basilica of Saint Peter, fixtures at the Portuguese Embassy and even the Marquis' own carriage. When it came time for the Marquis to return home, he wanted to take Vieira with him, but relented when Vieira begged to remain. He was allowed to stay for two more years and studied with Francesco Trevisani.
caption: The Three Fates (late 1720s)
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