Short Portuguese Phrase on Back of Old Portrait

[jmw]

Hi, I have an old painting -- a portrait -- that has some writing on the back that appears to be in Portuguese.

One short phrase.

It's very, very faint, but I've tried to enhance the letters everywhere that I see ink, and will post an image. Can anyone decipher it?

goes2.jpg

[jmw]

As faint as it is, I think I've cracked it.

Except for what could be a letter or two, or a remnant of a letter of two, at the beginning.

"Para ao Illmo Snr Julio Goés."

"To the Honorable Julio Goés."

"Illmo" is an abbreviation for "Illustrissímo." It's used for people like public officials, consuls, high leaders in the Catholic Church.

Now if I could figure out whether it comes from Portugal, or Brazil.

The accent over the e seems to be pretty unheard of in Portugal, implying a Brazilian origin.

On the other hand, it looks like the abbreviation is Snr, not Sr. That would imply that it's from Portugal.

In any event, it seems like the main mystery is solved.

The writing really is very faint. I had to use very bright light to discern where there are and are not lines.