Situated in the LuÃs de Camões Square, The Camões monument in Lisbon celebrates the greatest Portuguese poet who ever lived and deeply shaped Portugal’s identity.
So important was his epic poem, The Lusiads, that Camões is even featured in the national holiday dedicated to Portugal and Portuguese communities worldwide, on June 10th, called the Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities.
One could say that Camões was for Portugal what Homer was for Ancient Greece or Virgil for Ancient Rome: Those who sang feats of heroism through the epic poems that defined the national identity of the lands they belonged to.
The monument, which shares the square’s name, replaced the palace devastated by the earthquake of 1755 called the Marquis of Marialva Palace (Palácio do Marquês de Marialva).
However, before the monument's construction, the remnants of the palace were used by the populace as stores and accommodations for the poor, which became known as the Loreto Hovels (Casebres do Loreto).Â
The prospect of remodelling the area was a popular theme since the beginning of the 19th century, which Victor Bastos (the sculptor), in 1859 saw as an opportunity to present his project of building a monument in honour of Camões. Such a proposal gained a lot of support.
After the acceptance for construction, the Loreto Hovels were demolished, with some of its examples of architecture and history now being exposed in the underground car park of the current square.
It took 5 years from the laying of the first stone by King LuÃs, on June 28th, 1862, to the official inauguration presided over by the same King on October 9th, 1867.
Moreover, the monument was also seen as honouring the upcoming tricentennial celebration of Camões' death, which would take place in 1880.
The statue made of bronze is about 4 meters tall (13 ft.), while the pedestal that supports it is around 7 meters tall (24 ft.) and made of lioz limestone.
Camões is seen carrying an unsheathed sword while standing triumphantly.
With his left hand, he packs The Lusiads firmly in his chest while wearing a laurel wreath, symbolising honour and heroism.
At his feet, a breastplate and a pile of books are laid: more references to his bravery and literary legacy.
Observing the base, eight figures of renown in Portuguese culture from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries are depicted.
These figures portray Fernão Lopes, Fernão Lopes de Castanhede, Francisco Sá de Menezes, Gomes Eanes de Azurara, Jerónimo Côrte-Real, João de Barros, Pedro Nunes, and Vasco Mouzinho de Quevedo.
On the pavement around the monument, we see representations of ships and nymphs.
The ships honour the feats of Portuguese maritime discoveries exalted by Camões.
The portrayals of nymphs can be interpreted as representing the Nymphs of the Tagus, of whom the poet asks for inspiration at the beginning of The Lusiads:
IV
And you, nymphs of the Tagus, who
First suckled my infant genius,
If ever in my rustic verses
I celebrated your companionable river,
Return me now a loftier tone,
A style both grand and contemporary;
Be to me Helicon. Let Apollo choose
Your water as the fountain of my muse.
V
Fire me now with mighty cadences,
Not a goatherd’s querulous piping
But the shouts of a battle trumpet,
Stirring the heart, steeling the countenance;
Give me a poem worthy of the exploits
Of the heroes so inspired by Mars,
To propagate their deeds through space and time
If poetry can rise to the sublime.
The Lusiads translated by Landeg White
Historical curiosity – In the 1890 British Ultimatum against Portugal, the statue was covered in black crêpe, expressing the mourning and humiliation felt by the Portuguese due to the obedient withdrawal of Portuguese troops from the African colonies claimed by the United Kingdom.