The monument depicts an allegorical Fatherland crowning a helmeted soldier with a laurel. The figures are huge..probably 4 times larger than life-sized. On either side of the main figures are two other soldiers who appear to be dealing with the ravages of war..one seems to be twisted and in torment, the other appears to be bound and captured.
Google translates the Portuguese webpage (
visit link) for the monument thusly:
"Monument to the Fallen of the Great War , located on the Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon , Portugal celebrates the combatants in World War I . The April 9, 1920 , the anniversary of the Battle of La Lys , the idea to erect a monument to the heroes killed in the Great War .
History
We have established a National Commission for the purpose, headed by Magalhães Lima , and then successively by Generals Abel Hipolito and Roberto Baptista , the first stone laid by the President , Dr. António José de Almeida , 9 April 1923.
The monument is the project of the architects William Rebelo de Andrade and Carlos Rebelo de Andrade and sculptural piece is Maximian Alves and was opened on November 22, 1931 , attended by the President of the Republic , General Óscar Carmona , and Mayor Lisbon , general Vicente de Freitas .
The figure of the Fatherland , stone , crown the soldier cast in bronze. Laterally , two plastic figures support the Fatherland , a supreme effort . The monument has the caption " At the service of the motherland , the effort of Grei "
At the same site was designed , becoming the first stone thrown at January 22, 1888 , a monument to Antonio Maria Fontes Pereira de Melo."