Lisbon

Produced by Portalegre Tapestry Manufacture from a cartoon by Carlos Botelho (1899-1982), this piece shows a view of the city of Lisbon.

This handwoven piece is composed of a decorative weft in wool, with the warp and another fine weft in cotton. The mark of the producer, usually woven into one of the lower corners on the front of the tapestry, shows the initials MTP (Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre) and the monogram of its director, which has changed over time. Like most of the tapestries in the collection from this firm, this piece was produced under the direction of Guy Fino, who was involved in the firm’s establishment in 1946. It is worth noting that the tapestry’s identification label (bolduc) does not bear the signature of the creator of the cartoon, as is usual, but that of his wife, Beatriz Santos Botelho, due to the fact that in 1985, when the tapestry was made, the painter had already passed away.

Carlos Botelho began his artistic career as a caricaturist and illustrator of comic strips.  A key figure in Portuguese Modernism, it was as a painter of Lisbon that he made his name. Decorated and honoured on several occasions during his lifetime, his career inspired the creation of a prize in his name, awarded by Lisbon City Council. He began working with Portalegre Tapestry Manufacture in 1955.