Maximiano Alves (1888 – 1954)
Maximiano Alves studied with Simões de Almeida (uncle) at the Sociedade
Nacional de Belas–Artes.
His early works were full of convulsing and highly tense forms inspired by baroque
aesthetics, as can be seen in the Monumento aos Mortos da Grande Guerra de
1914–1918, in the Avenida da Liberdade, in Lisbon, and the soldier on the Mausoléu
dos Combatentes da Grande Guerra, at the Cemitério do Alto de São João.
In his more mature work the artist adopted a style of greater formal simplicity, as
may be seen in the busts of Youth (in the Camões Library in Santarém) and of
Marechal Carmona (Lisbon City Hall), as well as in the works executed for the São
Bento Palace (busts of Hintze Ribeiro and António Cândido and the allegorical
statue of Diplomacy) and for the chancel of the Basilica of Cova da Íria (Fátima).
His final works were characterised by a greater sense of compositional balance and
formal harmony. These included the statue honouring Afonso de Albuquerque, in
Nova Goa, and the Apostolado on the façade of the Cathedral of Nova Lisboa, in
Angola.