MuseoMag: MuseoMag 2015_03

MuseoMag 2015_03

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Title:: MuseoMag

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Title:: MuseoMag 2015_03

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Title:: Vienna / Lisbon / Luxembourg - Travels of a treaty: A 'jewel' at the exhibition "The borders of independence. Luxembourg between 1815 and 1839"

6 museomag 03 ‘ 2015 The visit of “The Borders of Independence” at the M3E begins with an impressive and valuable exhibit: one of the originals of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna, signed in 1815 by Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, France, Sweden-Norway, and Portugal, later ratified by Spain in 1817. With 2015 marking the bi- centennial of the treaty that tried for the first time to establish a cooperative order in Europe, the various original copies of the Final Act held by the signatory countries were in high demand. The curators of “The Borders of Independence” remembered that Portugal had signed the Final Act as well. Despite its location at the periphery of Europe, the country had suffered three destructive Napoleonic campaigns fended off by both popular uprising and a helping hand from the country’s oldest ally, Great Britain. Silvestre Lacerda is the director of the Portuguese National Archive, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, where many other precious documents are deposited, such as the 1500 letter of Pêro Vaz de Caminha the King of Portugal upon the discovery of Brasil, or the Tordesillas Treaty, signed between Portugal and Spain, both UNESCO World Memory Registers. With an area of 55.000 m2 the documents kept in its vaults add up to 100 km of shelve space, with the oldest document dating from 882. Silvestre Lacerda is the 59th custodian of the memory and identity of the Portuguese, in a lineage that goes back to 1387 and includes the illustrious 15th and 16th century chroniclers, Fernão Lopes and Damião de Góis. While the document is undergoing preservation and restoration work for its incredible journey to Luxembourg, we talked to the man who authorized this very unusual and precious loan. CAN YOU TELL US HOW THE FINAL ACT TURNED UP IN THE TORRE DO TOMBO? The document had been kept at the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that signed treaties on behalf of the Portuguese Crown. Towards the end of the 19th century it was incorporated in the National Archives. VIENNA / LISBON / LUXEMBOURG – TRAVELS OF A TREATY A ‘JEWEL’ AT THE EXHIBITION “THE BORDERS OF INDEPENDENCE. LUXEMBOURG BETWEEN 1815 AND 1839“ Silvestre Lacerda: „This document never left our vaults to travel abroad, and it will be gone for much longer than our usual three-month-loans.” © éric chenal

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