Estatua de António Nobre (Statue of António Nobre), Porto

The Statue of António Nobre in Porto is a testament to the enduring legacy of the poet António Nobre. Inaugurated on March 26, 1927, more than 25 years after Nobre’s untimely death, the statue is located in the João Chagas Garden in Cordoaria, where it continues to stand today.

António Nobre, born in Porto in 1867, studied law at the University of Coimbra but soon became disillusioned with academia. He moved to Paris in 1890, studying at the Free School of Political Sciences and the Sorbonne, where he published his only lifetime work, "Só," in 1892. Surrounded by literary figures like Mallarmé, Verlaine, and Rimbaud, Nobre's later years were marked by a struggle with tuberculosis, leading him to seek treatment in places like Switzerland, Madeira, New York, Estoril, and Belas. He passed away on March 18, 1900, near the mouth of the Douro River.

The monument in Porto realized through the patronage of the city and Nobre’s family, features a bronze bust on a marble pedestal atop a granite base with three steps. The bust, an expansion of an original model created in Paris by sculptor Tomás Costa, was completed by the Sá Lemos house in Vila Nova de Gaia and set by the Porto-based "Industrial Marmorista" company. The monument's design was overseen by architect António Correia da Silva. The bust captures António Nobre's unique smile, described by Sant'Anna Dionísio in the "Guia de Portugal" as a mix of "slightly contemptuous and transcendent sadness."