The "Ode" of Sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro

The laudatory Ode was composed by the Portuguese sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro to commemorate the unveiling of his masterpiece, the equestrian statue of King D. José I (1775, Lisbon). Although Machado de Castro remains a prominent and even iconic figure in the history of Portuguese art, this text has been largely overlooked by scholars. This article analyzes the Ode as both a performative utterance and a form of ekphrasis, intended to guide the reader through different layers of "hidden meaning" embedded in the royal monument through its verbal description.