“The Pavillion of the Sea”: the Nau Portugal at the Portuguese World Exhibition (1940) or the woodcarving at the service of political scenography

Abstract

Built to integrate the Portuguese World Exhibition of 1940, the Nau Portugal was conceived to simulate a Portuguese galleon of India’s career, keeping with the spirit of national exultation that permeated the exhibition. The grandeur of the ship and its faustous interior decoration, obtained mainly with the use of woodcarving from extinct convents, would be a business card from Portugal on the trips that it was destined to do. However its destiny was very different. Unsuitable for navigation, due to mistakes made in its projection, it adorned on the day of its inauguration. Limited to being anchored on the dock in Belém, after its function, the vessel suffered irreparable damages with the cyclone of 1941, finishing its days like barge of transport in the Tagus River.
With the present text we intend to trace the history of this vessel in the context of the option for the woodcarving as decorative element of its interiors.