In our last posts, as we stated, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Google digitalized (and studied) Monserrate uma nova história*.
The words were counted and for instance the expression «Palácio de Monserrate» was repeated at least 25 times.
The name of «Horace Walpole» we mentioned it 67 times. But his father’s name - Sir Robert Walpole, and his cousin, also called Robert Walpole (the British Envoy to Portugal since 1772, someone Madame Du Déffand has wanted to «change» and influence**); in spite of the important connections between Portugal and England in that time, and their roles in History, we only talk about them some few 14 times.
But other expressions we introduced in our thesis - associated to the new themes we found - are kept ignored, and worse of it, they are being hidden or silent in University… Some of them, such as Gothic Survival, or words like Ideograms and Organograms, were used much less.
One of those words is «Theology» that by the end of our searches we began to understand this subject was strongly (and directly) connected with architecture: the word is found seven times.
And for example Gothic Survival - as we realized what are the main differences between Gothic Revival and Gothic Survival – this expression is much more frequent: 22 times.
This is a significant point, one of the reasons to say that Monserrate Palace is a repository of Architectural History
A theme that is «routine» and unexciting to several schools, faculties or even to the University of Lisbon.
Contributions to the History of Monserrate. Image: west façade by James Knowles (c. 1858)
Conferences held from 2007 to June 2009. Published by Friends of Monserrate, Lisbon 2009.
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*See: http://primaluce.blogs.sapo.pt/134276.html; http://books.google.pt/books?id=AnYvAQAAMAAJ&hl=pt-PT&source=gbs_ViewAPI&redir_esc=y
** See Monserrate uma nova história, Livros Horizonte, Fev. 2008, pp. 91 and 177.
