Portrait of Dr. Fernando Mendes
Among Catherine da Costa’s surviving paintings is the full-length portrait of her father, Dr. Fernando Mendes (1647–1724). Mendes was a prominent Jewish physician, who attended both King Charles II and his wife, Catherine of Braganza. He and his family were Portuguese crypto-Jews. He was brought to England by Queen Catherine from Portugal when she married into the English royal family.
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Credits
With permission of the Trustees of the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi Community of London, photo by Smilynne Joukovski.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
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Related Guide
Early Modern Visual and Material Culture
1500–1750
Early modern Jewish visual culture flourished, with illuminated manuscripts, ornate synagogues, and portraiture alongside increasing non-Jewish interest in Jewish customs and greater Jewish self-representation.
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