ports a statue of the Virgin and Child within a setting of carved trunks of the evergreen oak, and two elegant pilasters, and surrounded by no less than ten other statues in richly manipulated niches.
The west façade is considered the most symbolic expression of the apogee of Portugal's glory. The wealth of the sculptured decoration of the celebrated window is indescribable. "The artist has engraved there an epic poem of our history," writes J. M. Sousa, the historian. "It is the epic of a great people. Camões wrote it in verse, the artist traced it on the hard stone in striking and regular lines, in symbolic figures expressive of sublime, elevated thought; the one with the pen, the other with the sculptor's tools, were inspired by the identical sentiment and idea of showing to a future generation the glories of his epoch." From the figure of a man, whose bending shoulders appear to support the weight of the stupendous decoration, mount up on each side of the window trunks and foliage of the tree of life, stems of palm trees, coral, seaweed and shells from the newly discovered worlds, cables rings and anchors of ships, all in amalgamation, yet clearly defined masses, right up to the Cross of Christ at the apex, with the spheres of D. Manuel on either side. This allegorical poem in sculptured stone is crowned by a lovely rose window, with a deep-sunk setting of carved sails, lightly inflated by ropes, suggesting the galleons of Vasco da Gama. The tower-like buttresses with their high pinnacles seeming to frame the picture are similarly decorated, and bear on their face four statues whose escutcheons declare them to be Aflfonso Henriques, Gualdim Paes, D. Diniz and D. Manuel. A gigantic stone cable is slung round the left tower, while the right is clasped by a broad band and buckle, probably a symbol of the Order of the Garter, possessed by D. Manuel.
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