On this applauded manner, is famous, and notorious the happy marriage, of so enlightened royalties: [Desta maneyra aplaudidos, saõ celebres, & notórios, tam felices Despozorios, de Reys tam esclarecidos] - The detailed description and important participation of the architect Luís Nunes Tinoco in the royal wedding of D. Pedro II with Maria Sofia de Neuburg (1687)

In the second half of the 17th century, more than in any other period of the Portuguese History, royal weddings were an expression of regal power and a reference in the imaginary of the time. Playing an important role as political propaganda vehicles in the consolidation of the Braganza dynasty, they were also a privileged stage to present artistic solutions in a city that, due to its geographical characteristics, is itself a stage of a strong scenography.
Of the marriages then celebrated took special importance the one of D. Afonso VI with Maria Francisca Isabel de Sabóia (1666) and in particular the one of D. Pedro II with Maria Sofia de Neuburgo (1687). In a decorative exuberance that invoked both national heroes and those of the other nations involved (along with the exaltation of the virtues of Lisbon), their ephemeral architectures, inspired by engravings and architectural treatises, were also potential models of inspiration for the architects themselves. Although the feasts of these marriages have already been approached by some authors, continuing our PhD research and the work we have been developing since then, we now intend to highlight some aspects of the participation of the architect Luís Nunes Tinoco (1642/3-1719) in the realization of the royal wedding celebrated in 1697, as architect, illustrator and writer. Describing in a detailed and unusual report the construction and decorative techniques of the arches and other ornaments, among the other texts he composed about these feasts are particularly relevant those he elaborated on the specific characteristics of the Arts, especially on Architecture, which in relation with other texts of his vast work are an essay for an architectural theory, similar to the essays he had written about Painting, already well known to us.