António Teixeira Lopes was a Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

 sculptor.

Teixeira Lopes was the son of sculptor José Joaquim Teixeira Lopes and started learning his art in his father's workshop. In 1882 he entered the Academy of Fine Arts (Escola de Belas Artes) in Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

, where he continued his education with celebrated artists like sculptor António Soares dos Reis

António Soares dos Reis

António Soares dos Reis was a Portuguese sculptor.-Studies:He first studied at the Portuense Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated in sculpture in 1867. He studied at the Fine Arts Imperial School of Paris, from 1867 to 1870, where he achieved several prizes, and in Rome...

 and painter João Marques de Oliveira. In 1885 he left for Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, where he entered the École des Beaux-Arts

École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts

The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...

 and became a distinguished student.

Around 1895, together with his brother, architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 José Teixeira Lopes, he built his atelier in Vila Nova de Gaia, which nowadays houses a museum (the Casa-Museu Teixeira Lopes) dedicated to his work. He was professor of the School of Fine Arts of Porto for many years.

Teixeira Lopes dealt mostly with allegoric

Allegory

Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...

, historical and religious themes, using clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

, marble

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...

 and bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

as materials. His vast work dots public spaces, palaces and churches in Portugal.

External links

• The childhood of Cain, by Teixeira Lopes, 1890 Museu Nacional de Soares