Breaks and Continuities: The Absence of the Monumental

We learn from Luís de Moura Sobral that in order to legitimize his rule, John IV initiated “an immense propaganda campaign using all available means and media”—an assessment that arguably is somewhat exaggerated. The principle media used were printed texts and images. Much of this material was printed in Paris, or else in London, as was the Lusitania Liberata of 1645, whose engravings rendered it the most ambitious work promulgating the Restoration in iconographical terms. About how the new power structures were visualized in Lisbon, we know relatively little. Has much been lost during the 1755 earthquake and fire of the city? Or can we assume that this branch of the “propaganda campaign” received relatively little attention by the king and his advisors? This is hinted at in a treatise of 1652 entitled Arte de furtar (Art of stealing). In an entirely nonironic way, the text with this great title is dedicated to King John IV and is committed to furthering his memory. The author, presumably the Jesuit Manuel da Costa, recommends that the king, among other things, place statues on Lisbon's rossios and squares. This had, then, apparently not been done twelve years after the revolt. In the years after 1640 hardly any use was in fact made of Lisbon's space to visualize the Restoration. The monument we see today on the Praça dos Restauradores, consisting of an obelisk flanked by the personifications of Independence and Victory, was dedicated in 1886.