The Duke of Wellington appreciated the talent of Domingos Sequeira. Portugal gave the British commander a grandiose silver service created by the artist in honour of his defeat of Napoleonic forces in the Peninsular War. One of the most important examples of neoclassical silver ever made in Europe, its centrepiece is now the largest precious metal object in any of the V&A’s collections.
Portugal, however, has been slow to value Sequeira’s work. An angry row has broken out after it emerged that one of his masterpieces has been allowed to leave the country and is for sale in Madrid.
Questions are being asked of the government after it gave permission for the export of Sequeira’s painting Descent from the Cross, which he created in
