Name
Severo Portela Júnior
Lived between
1898 – 1985 (86 years old)
Nationality
Portuguese
Occupation
Painter and sculptor
Severo Portela Júnior, Painter and Sculptor was born in Coimbra, on 10-09-1898, and died in Lisbon, on 08-07-1985. He was the son of Severo Portela, Writer, and Miquelina Penalva Figueiredo Jardim Portela and grandson of the Viscounts of Monte São.
Although he took his first steps in the art of sculpture at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts, where he graduated at the age of 22, guided by Simões de Almeida (nephew), it was in the art of painting that he established himself, having developed a pictorialism influenced by Columbano, who was his master in the course of Painting.
He fell in love with a lady from Almodôvar and moved to the Alentejo. For 10 years he stayed totally away from painting and without any contact with the arts. Only in 1930 Portela Júnior would return to Lisbon.
In 1933, he received a scholarship from the National Board of Education, which enabled him to make study trips to France, Italy and Spain to improve painting techniques.
He participated, civically, as president of the Almodôvar Farm Guild. In recognition of its value and dedication to this town, for 30 years Almodôvar has consecrated the Severo Portela Municipal Museum to it.
For the Insurance, he contributed with two works:
He was the author of the emblem of A Pátria, Sociedade Alentejana de Seguros, 1915, with the following colour composition:
Inside a shield, an allegorical representation of the Homeland dressed in a coat of arms, with the cross of Christ on his chest, and holding a spear with his left hand. The right hand holds the shield of the city of Évora, complete the set of shields of Beja and Portalegre and the designation: “The Homeland”.
He is also the author of the engraving that represents Faca de Mato, the work of the chisel Rafael Zacarias da Costa who was “saved” by the insurance companies Fidelidade e Garantia. The publication that includes the engraving is entitled: “A Verdadeira e Sumária História da Faca de Mato”, 1929 edition, by António Henriques Alves de Azevedo.
