By Luciano Migliaccio
Portrait of Charles Stuart (1779-1845), English diplomat and politician sent to Madrid (1808) and to Lisbon (1810), where he was a member of the government of the kingdom during the absence of D. João VI, who had taken refuge in Brazil, and minister plenipotentiary of the king of Portugal in the negotiations for the recognition of Brazil’s independence. In 1825 he was in Rio de Janeiro wrapping up these agreements with the mediation of the his government. Upon his return to Portugal he personally delivered the magna carta approved by Pedro I (Pedro IV of Portugal) for the kingdom. He was appointed count of Machico in 1825, and marquis of Angra in the following year. England awarded him the title of baron of Rothesay. The painting belonged to Lady Abingdon who donated it to Masp. The quality of the portrait indicates that it is a copy of a work by a painter influenced by Thomas Lawrence, a portraitist much appreciated by the English aristocracy in the first decades of the 19th century. To judge by the age of the sitter and by the medals displayed we might assume a dating at about 1825.
— Luciano Migliaccio, 1998
