Manuel de Almeida / Lusa
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, during the presentation of his official portrait as President of the Republic, at the Belém Palace. Authored by Alexandre Farto, Vhils
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that choosing Vhils to make his official portrait was “the craziest idea” he had as President, it marks a turning point and symbolizes “the triumph of democracy”.
This Wednesday, at the Palácio de Belém, in Lisbon, the official portrait of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as President of the Republic.
The work of Alexandre Farto, who signs as Vhilswas presented in a short ceremony, at the Museum of the Presidency of the Republic, with the presence of the artist, five days before Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa ceased his duties as head of state.
The artist used layers of newspaper clippings from 2016 to 2026 (the time when Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa led the Portuguese State), superimposed and sculpted, to form the image of the politician’s smiling face – just the face, in large dimensions, and not the entire body.
10 years of Marcelo, from fireworks to pandemic
“Seen up close, it’s completely different. Anyone who has patience can see there the portrait of someone who was prime minister with me [António Costa]there problems two fireworksali problemas da pandemicit’s there, below”, pointed out the President of the Republic, in statements to journalists.
Manuel de Almeida / Lusa
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, accompanied by artist Alexandre Farto, also known as Vhils, during the presentation of his official portrait as President of the Republic
“It was the craziest idea I had”
When asked if he was satisfied with the work, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied: “I was very satisfied – not satisfied, very satisfied – and at the same time telling myself that It was the craziest idea I had in my 10 years in office.“.
“I am considered very original. This was my greatest originality. I mean, I had a lot of originalities, but this was by far the biggest”, he added.
According to the head of state, anyone who calmly visits the gallery of portraits of presidents will see that this marks a turning point: “I often said that after 50 years of democracy, a cycle turned around. And here it was Vhils who turned the cycle around, it was him.”
His idea, he explained, “was to have here a representation of a historical period” in which he had the responsibility of heading the Portuguese State – “like Pomar had represented a different time and like Paula Rêgo had represented a different time”, in the portraits of Mário Soares and Jorge Sampaio.
“I liked it a lot. Very, very, very. That’s what mattersbecause it corresponds to what I wanted it to represent”, he reinforced.
Marcelo highlighted that Vhils came from urban artof “a situation of struggle for affirmation” and described it as “a triumphant consistent with his ideals”. In this sense, he considered that the work presented “is a portrait of an open society” and symbolizes “the triumph of democracy”.
Here are the portraits of the last Presidents
