Almada Route

In 1956, Almada Negreiros decorated this school with two wall panels. Inspired by the theme of education, both are located inside the building. On the wall of the steps leading to the fourth floor is a panel depicting a group of pupils in a geography lesson. Near the gym is another fresco with boys in gym clothes doing exercise. Far from merely figurative, these artworks mirror man’s multifaceted nature, a quality the artist always praised.

Lisbon Classical University’s Faculty of Law building, the first of a series of three designed by architect Pardal Monteiro’s studio, dates from 1957. Asked to decorate its facades, Almada Negreiros chose the technique of incised drawing. On the wall to the left, he makes an allusion to the philosophy of law and the state, from the Code of Hammurabi to Plato, St. Augustine and Roman Law. The wall to the right he reserved for the history of Portuguese law, where he depicts a score of Portuguese legal consultants from various eras.

This is the second of a complex of three buildings to which Almada Negreiros contributed. Using the same technique applied to the Faculty of Law – incised drawing – the artist paid homage to various figures from Portuguese and world literature, from Camões to Cervantes. Like a comic strip, major figures of the Renaissance, Rationalism and Experimental Science parade across the building’s facade. On the right can be seen a space dedicated to Portuguese history and culture.

Along with 32 other artists, Almada Negreiros was invited to design three tapestries, sgrafitto on marble, and a tile panel to clad the north facade of this building, inaugurated in 1959. The tapestries and sgraffito are on the 1st floor, at ground floor level, where a grand hall is located. But the stone panel, incised with gold, has the greatest impact of this impressive set of artworks.

On the third floor of the three buildings comprising the Cidade Universitária in Lisbon, completed in 1961, Almada Negreiros persisted with the technique of incised drawing and in that way used the symbols associated with the oceans, the stars and the world, an eternal mystery to be unveiled. He extols the Portuguese maritime discoveries, the audacity of a people with a roving spirit and a source of pride and inspiration.