author
Cirilo Volkmar Machado
1748–1823
A lively figure in Portuguese art, this painter, sculptor, architect, and writer helped shape how Portugal remembered its own artistic past. He is often described as the country’s first historian of art, as well as an energetic champion of drawing and classical taste.
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About the author
Born in Lisbon in 1748, he trained with his uncle João Pedro Volkmar and later studied in Rome, an experience that left a lasting mark on his style. After returning to Lisbon in 1777, he worked across several fields, decorating churches, palaces, and noble houses and building a reputation that stretched beyond painting alone.
He is remembered not only for his art but also for his ideas. Sources describe him as an early promoter of formal artistic training in Lisbon, including an attempt to establish an academy focused on drawing from the nude model. That mix of practical work, teaching ambition, and writing made him an unusual and important cultural figure in late 18th- and early 19th-century Portugal.
Today, he is especially noted for his writings on Portuguese artists and artistic life, which is why he is often called the first historian of Portuguese art. He died in 1823, leaving behind a career that joined making art with documenting it.