Still in January, the club organised a guided tour of the Museum of Lisbon, especially of the recently opened rooms. Through models, engravings, paintings, photographs, furniture, ceramics and tiles, many presented for the first time, the city’s history is told from the 17th century to the end of the 20th century.
The 1755 earthquake, Lisbon in the time of Queen Maria I, the New State and Expo’98 are some of the themes represented in the new exhibition rooms.
The visit ended with an explanation of the painting depicting the city of Lisbon electing its first republican city council, commissioned from the painter José Veloso Salgado on 24 June 1912 by the Lisbon City Council and completed in 1913.
A large crowd of people stands in the square, raising the flags and banners of the republican centres, with a number of prominent republican figures in the foreground, symbolising their status as leaders of the victorious republican movement. A female figure emerges in a white tunic, with the Lisbon coat of arms on her chest, a green shawl tied around her waist and a flowing red cloak, holding a roll with the inscription ‘To the ballot box for the Republican list 1908’.