Alfredo Keil

Alfredo Cristiano Keil (3 July 1850 – 4 October 1907) was a Portuguese composer, painter, poet, archaeologist and art collector. Keil is best known as the composer of the Portuguese national anthem, A Portuguesa. Life Keil was born in Lisbon, the son of the tailor of the court, Johann Christian Keil (later João Cristiano Keil) and his wife Maria Josefina Stellflug, both of German origin. The boy developed an interest in both painting and music; at the age of 12 he composed the work Pensée Musicale and dedicated it to his mother. After studying painting in Munich and Nuremberg with the German romantic painters Wilhelm von Kaulbach and August von Kreling, he returned to Portugal in 1870, due to the Franco-Prussian War. Back home, he developed into a sought-after romantic painter. Painter At the time, the art world was moving towards Realism and Naturalist generation, but Keil still gained success with his melancholic intimate scenes and landscapes. Despite never becoming a full-time painter – also developing interests in poetry and musical composition – he continued painting and exhibiting throughout his life, and left hundreds of works. Predominantly a landscape painter, he also pai