Lisbon Sketchbook

For a long while, Lisbon was a sleeping beauty. From its heyday in the 15th and 16th centuries, rooted in the Age of Discovery, to the end of Salazar’s dictatorial regime in 1974, the city lived at a slower pace than the rest of Europe. With its nomination as European Cultural Capital in 1994, it suddenly found itself in the spotlight.

Lisbon sits on the north bank of the Tagus, not far from the mouth of the river, and straddles the undulating terrain formed by seven hills. Thanks to fortunes amassed during the Age of Discovery, and in spite of the terrible earthquake of 1755, the Portuguese capital has a rich and varied architectural heritage. Every hilltop bears a castle or church, its slopes criss-crossed with networks of steep alleyways bordered with small colourful houses, while the slightest expanse of flat ground allows Baroque and Classical edifices to prosper. Even the banks of the Tagus are now home to world class contemporary architecture.

At a time when Lisbon’s population and socio-economic fabric is undergoing major transformations, Gonçalo Tavares and Fabrice Moireau have captured the city’s atmosphere and essence, restoring its timeless magic, its unfailing charm and its unrestrained modernity.

Born in Blois in 1962, Fabrice Moireau is a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts appliqués et des métiers in Paris. His sketchbooks are authentic cultural and ethnographic records of his frequent travels. A great lover of architecture and gardens, he strives in his watercolours to convey the subtle play of light, the atmosphere of a city or landscape. He has illustrated many publications, including New York Sketchbook, Paris Sketchbook and Rome Sketchbook, also published by Editions Didier Millet.

Gonçalo Manuel Tavares, a Portuguese writer born, 1970 in Luanda, Angola. His books have been published in more than 30 countries. His novel Jerusalem, awarded by of one of the most prestigious Portuguese literary prices and winner of a famous and popular French literary price, has been included in the European edition of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die – a guide of the most important novels of all time.