The Metropolitan and the conquest of Freedom
Metropolitana, by Mário Linhares, is a mural with around a thousand tiles, hand-painted at the Viúva Lamego factory, which respects the history and tradition of Portuguese tiles.
The work, which embodies the conquest of freedom and local power, was commissioned by the Lisbon Metropolitan Area from the artist Mário Linhares, as part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of April 25.
The piece represents the 18 municipalities of the AML: on one side are the nine municipalities to the north of the Tagus (Amadora, Cascais, Lisboa, Loures, Mafra, Odivelas, Oeiras, Sintra and Vila Franca de Xira), while on the other side are the nine to the south of the river (Alcochete, Almada, Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, Palmela, Seixal, Sesimbra and Setúbal).
At the center of the work is a female figure, A Metropolitana, who is, like the figure of the Republic, a real person, whose female portrait "alludes to life and the humanization of the territory, emerging from the built and inhabited landscape, a totally emancipated person as the daughter of the freedom won on 25 April".
The tile mural, which is part of the Mascarenhas Palace and has the Tagus River as its backdrop, can be visited at the headquarters of the Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (AML), in the viewpoint of the Mascarenhas Palace, number 23, Rua Cruz de Santa Apolónia, from Monday to Friday, between 8h00 and 20h00.
About the work
Designed by artist Mário Linhares, A Metropolitana is a large-scale tile mural, executed in accordance with the history and tradition of Portuguese tilework, which shows the 18 municipalities of the AML, on one side, the nine municipalities north of the Tagus, and on the other, the nine municipalities south of the Tagus, and a female figure in the center.
The female figure alludes to life and the humanization of the territory, emerging from the built and inhabited landscape as A Metropolitana, a totally emancipated person as the daughter of the freedom won on April 25.
As she grows and develops, her earrings carry the lightness of the April carnations marking 50 years of freedom. The yellow of the dress refers to the color of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, and reminds us how valuable the territory we inhabit is, letting the design of the municipalities live on it, like tattoos on an urban fabric that surrounds and protects us.
For Mário Linhares, the look and the face symbolize "a territory worth living in and worth building our livesaround".
At the Viúva Lamego factory, watercolor drawings are transformed into paintings and glazes using the traditional Portuguese tile technique.
In the first sketch for the panel, the Metropolitana emerges from the views of the various municipalities.
The Lisbon Metropolitan Area is inhabited by people, represented here by an independent, confident, fearless and life-giving woman, the Metropolitana.
The municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area mark the landscape and are drawn in ultramarine blue in a game between breaking old rules and creating new ones.
April's carnations continue to remind us how fragile freedom is and how it is constantly under construction. If treated like a flower, freedom gives us the lightness to swing through the charm of life.
The Metropolitan | Production
Realization, with reference to the creative process, of the mural "A Metropolitana", by Mário Linhares.
The Metropolitan | Inauguration
Metropolitana, by Mário Linhares, was inaugurated on November 29, 2024. It can be visited at the headquarters of the Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (AML), on the terrace of Palacete Mascarenhas, number 23 Rua Cruz de Santa Apolónia, from Monday to Friday, between 8:00 and 20:00.
The Metropolitana gives a face to the people, to the conquest of freedom and democratic local power, which we are celebrating on the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974 - the Carnation Revolution.
Let no one close "the doors that April opened".