How Ricardo Espirito Santo Silva balanced banking and repatriating Portuguese art

Continuing the theme of renowned bankers from the past who have influenced and inspired me, in this piece, I talk about a Portuguese banking powerhouse who became known as the ‘Renaissance Prince’ — Ricardo Espirito Santo Silva.

Born into a banking family in 1900, Ricardo would grow up to become one of the most renowned bankers in Portugal. He would also become a patron of the arts and a philanthropist through the Ricardo Espirito Santo Silva Foundation (FRESS).

His legacy encompasses the preservation of Portuguese art that would otherwise have been lost, philanthropic causes and the Museum of Portuguese Decorative Arts, which trains and educates. Ricardo continues the tradition of bankers leaving behind a legacy often far greater than the sum of their businesses.

Balancing the world of banking with collecting works of art
Born on the cusp of the 20th century, Ricardo grew up in a time of significant changes in science, culture, business and more. He also, of course, lived through the disruption of the two World Wars.

By the time Ricardo was born, his father, Jose Espirito Santo Silva, had built up a reputation in the financial sector in Portugal. Following the footsteps of the well known private banking families from Great Britain and the United States, Jose was determined to give his sons a strict education to prepare them to take over the family business.

Ricardo was involved with the family bank from an early age, taking part in meetings from the tender age of eighteen. By 1932 he was installed as President of the Board of Directors of the Espirito Santo Bank (Banco Espirito Santo BES). Three years later, he gained his degree in Economic and Financial Sciences from the University of Lisbon.

While Ricardo was taking the financial world by storm, he was also being noted for much more. His lifelong quest for the beauty in life was reflected in the way he dressed — one journalist at the time remarked he looked like a model in tailor made suits from London — and with his love of the arts and culture.

Passion for Portuguese art grew alongside the family banking business.
Before getting married in 1918, Ricardo began to collect antiques to furnish his home with beautiful objet d’arts, even at such a young age. In an interview with Connaissance des Arts magazine in 1955 (the year of his death), he said about his first move into the art world: “My first intention was to buy objects and furniture to put in my future house. I was 17 years old. I have to say I became independent quite early, having lost my father when I was 15.”

His collection began with a 17th century Arraiolos carpet and a set of 18th century Portuguese silver. Ricardo was interested in rebuilding the artistic heritage of Portugal, which was reduced by successive Spanish and French invasions in the 17th and 19th centuries.

Ricardo was particularly focused on resurrecting the ancient artefacts of Portugal and preserving them for the future. He began collecting all kinds of ancient art, from paintings to glass and furniture to parchments and statues. This was pretty much unheard of in the 1920s, even among the elite. There was simply no recognition of the importance of this body of art — apart from by Ricardo himself.

Leading the bank through turbulent war years and beyond
While developing his art collection, Ricardo was also leading his business into a stronger future. In the latter half of the 1930s, he led a merger with another bank, a move that demonstrated his business acumen and maturity of the Espirito Santo bank itself.

Ricardo’s tenure over the family bank saw much restructuring, streamlining ad improvement to the efficiency of the bank and its staff. And not even World War II slowed down his quest for art and beauty. He continued collecting avidly and carefully, with a focus on decorative arts which he thought were: “the highest expression of civilisation and elegance, as they are a consequence of the collective development of taste.”

A year before he died in 1954, Ricardo donated his Foundation to the Portuguese Government. The Ricardo Espirito Santo Silva Foundation is located in the 18th century former palace and includes a vast amount of art. It also houses the Decorate Arts School Museum.

Before his early death, he also organised an exhibition in Paris and then Lisbon that included French and Portuguese silver from his private collection. According to contemporary commentators, the Lisbon show contained not just art but encompassed the higher aesthetic sense that Ricardo brought to the world.

A lasting legacy of art and business leadership
Today, the Decorative Arts Museum is still located in the Azurara Palace, which retains the work Ricardo commissioned to save the building during his lifetime. In fact, without his life’s passion, much of this Portuguese art would still be scattered around the world.

The Ricardo Espirito Santo Silva Foundation is a living testimony to the legacy he left for future generations. True philanthropy from a banker unique for his time in his country.

He wasn’t all about banking and art during his lifetime either. Ricardo was driven to help people in Portugal, dealing with its fragile social and economic condition as it made its way through the first half of the 20th century. In 1938, he funded an orphanage for boys that had been close to financial ruin. Through this, he saved hundreds of children and helped them live a better life.

A fine sportsman, a socially minded philanthropist, a father and an art collector during his lifetime, Ricardo used his wealth in many positive avenues that resonate today. He funded all kinds of artistic works, including the Dictionary of Portuguese Painters and Sculptors by Fernando de Pamplona and Masterpieces of Flemish Painting in Portugal.

In short, he was greater than the sum of his parts. While he could have stuck to making money and furthering the cause of the family bank, Ricardo spent his short life doing so much more. He died from a heart attack prematurely in 1955.