The Palacio Fronteira was an interesting stop on a lazy day. We are not usually guided tour fans. (We prefer a self paced visit.) So with some hesitation, we joined the guided group and entered the house of a man who was raised to nobility due his service to the king on the battlefield.

The Marquis of Fronteira clearly had a common sense of humor and did not take life too seriously. Throughout the house and grounds there are hidden messages that make fun of the nobility and upper classes. Apparently you can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.

The house was beautiful, but full of unusual and whimsical elements. The formal dining room was tiled as expected of a wealthy aristocrat, but instead of usual formal tile work, the Marquis employed less skilled artisans to do the work in a more populist style. The room is decorated in a 360 degree panorama depicting the battle that made him a marquis. Intermingled in the scenes of battle are jokes. A man riding a horse in no pants. A man running away from the battle, another relieving himself. Apparently the Marquis thought it was hilarious, and so did we. We amused ourselves by walking around the room and trying to find the hidden jests.

Even the gardens were not immune to the Marquis’s keen wit. Mermen and mermaids engage in overtly amorous embrace. Greek gods and goddesses line the terraces. Kings of Portugal have busts along the garden pavilion, (except for the Spanish kings of Portugal who are noticeably absent). The Marquis clearly did not approve of Spanish rule.

Most interesting were the animal tiles. Dressed as nobility, baboons and other animals engaged in pastimes of the wealthy. The Marquis clearly was conveying a message of what he thought about the behavior of the idle rich. Monkeys dressed as clergy. Fat cats in elaborate robes. A baboon giving himself a smoke enema (apparently a supposed cure for constipation). The satirical tiles were never ending in the expansive gardens.

The Marquis apparently knew what a lot of people forget even now. Class is something you must cultivate. Wealth is not a free pass for bad behavior. Entitled behavior is often humorous. Life is too short to take to seriously. Pretension is over rated. And finally, when you help save the life of the King, you can get away with most anything.