Our second day in Lisbon, we visited the Monument of the Discoveries.
I had some feelings about this, having learned a fair amount of distressing information about Prince Henry the Navigator over the past several years (short version: Maybe he invented the idea of enslaving Black people?).
It’s an undeniably cool giant statue, though. It’s shaped like the prow of a ship, and has figures representing famous explorers, priests, writers, and warriors on both sides. There’s only one woman—Queen Phillippa, Prince Henry’s mother.
The style is very 1940s, while also feeling kind of medieval. The figures are each specific, and their expressions are evocative.
The statue is on the Tagus River, in a giant plaza with other art around it. There was a huge map of the globe, including an ornate compass rose and some sea monsters, created in the paving.
I’m glad that we went to see it; it truly is an astounding work of art, and we had some interesting and challenging conversations about the doctrine of discovery and the long-ranging impacts of these people’s decision to leave home and go out across the wide oceans.
Be First to Comment