Standing alone in a striking position on the breakwater on the bank of the Tagus, in Lisbon the Monument to the Discoveries evokes the Portuguese overseas expansion, recalls the country’s glorious past and symbolizes the enormity of the work carried out by the Infante, the driving force behind the Discoveries. A stylized caravel seems to be setting out to sea, with Henry the Navigator in its prow. On the two lateral ramps ascending to the symbolic figure of the Prince are some of the significant characters of the Portuguese overseas expansion and cultural names from the age of the Discoveries, 32 in total, all portrayed with symbols that allude to their identity: navigators, cartographers, warriors, colonizers, missionaries, chroniclers and artists.
