The aesthetics of heritage: aesthetic thought, nationalism and heritage formation in Coimbra, 1880s - 1930s

This article explores the influence of aesthetic thought on the relationship between cultural heritage and the construction of national identities. To this end, it focuses on the context of Portugal between the 1880s and 1930s. This period was marked by the decline of the monarchy, the establishment of the republic, and the foundation of the dictatorship. The instrumentalisation of heritage to build national identities compatible with these successive regimes continuously supported nationalism in Portugal, despite cultural and institutional metamorphoses. This trend is demonstrated by the restoration conducted on three architectural monuments in the city of Coimbra. Undertaken during the monarchy, republic, and dictatorship, all these restorations were directed by or counted with the opinion of one man, António Augusto Gonçalves. Considering Gonçalves’ continuity and the ideological discontinuity of the three regimes, the political changes and aesthetic thought on heritage are analysed to assess the complex interactions among aesthetics, heritage, and national identity, such as how the belief in the evolutionary nature of art led nationalist heritage decision-makers to promote monuments as the pinnacles of the nation’s historical evolution.