In this thesis I analyse the travels of D. Pedro V, King of Portugal (1837-1861) from the prism of a 19th century visual culture. His travel diaries mirror the inseparability of image and word in a century that was so eager to fill the encyclopaedia entries with visual examples. Before acceding to the throne, the young prince undertook two Grand Tours in Europe. The first one, in 1854, found him in England most of the time, while his second tour, in 1855, had France and the Exposition Universelle, held in Paris, as its major destiny. This event well illustrates what his interests were: the sight of objects from all over the world was made possible; contemporary ideas of instruction through amusement, progress and civilisation were experienced; technologies of display from other institutions were employed; an all-encompassing visual experience, in a reduced space and in a limited amount of time was provided - while also needing the written word to make sense of the visible. All these aspects are intrinsic to the journeys of a prince who had instruction as his main objective. However, even if inscribed in the traditional educational aims of the Grand Tour model, these travels have many different ways of achieving them. D. Pedro is mostly interested in the urban centres of those countries where the future was already visible. Be it through industrial and engineering developments or railways, be it in the many public spaces of exhibition created by the 19th century to classify and display the world. If collections are a major part of his travelling programme, collecting is the word that better describes its aims: collecting sights and knowledge; collecting the journeys through writing them; and collecting by acquiring natural history specimens for his museum. Abroad was to be taken Home.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:393669 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Vicente, Filipa |
| Publisher | Goldsmiths College (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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