The Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N) announced that the mural aims to be “a visual and collective interpretation of 13 of the most striking works of the writer.”
The mural is curated by Frederico Draw and features contributions from artists such as Daniel Africano, Sphiza, Mots, Daniel Eime, Ana Torrie, Godmess, Mesk, Virus, Leonor Violeta, Ana Seixas, Francis.co, Mariana Malhão, and Ruído.
“This mural will be a Camilo-like provocation—provocative, extravagant, dramatic, and romantic—to the somnambulant passersby in the city and a source of beauty and wonder for drivers amidst Porto’s traffic. We hope it will also win over new readers,” stated Jorge Sobrado, vice-president of CCDR-N and originator of the idea, as quoted in the text.
Throughout the year, various initiatives and literary editions will multiply to mark the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birth.
Camilo Castelo Branco was born on March 16, 1825, on Rua da Rosa in Lisbon. He lost his mother at the age of 2 and his father at 10, moving to live with an aunt in Vila Real. Over an extensive journalistic and literary career, he authored works that became major books in Portuguese literature, from “Amor de Perdição” to “Doze Casamentos Felizes,” among many others.
A man of varied interests, both professional and romantic, he was imprisoned in the Cadeia da Relação in Porto alongside Ana Plácido, accused of adultery due to Plácido’s marriage to merchant Manuel Pinheiro Alves. Both were acquitted.
Already blind due to syphilis, he committed suicide on June 1, 1890, in the house where he lived in São Miguel de Seide, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão.
