The Lion's Group 1885

Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro painted this group portrait in 1885, capturing a regular gathering of Lisbon’s intellectuals at Cervejaria Leão. This work provides a window into the cultural and social life of late 19th-century Portugal, a time of both progress and stark class divisions. Here, we see a privileged circle, mainly men, engaged in lively conversation around a table laden with food and drink. The artist was deeply engaged with the cultural and intellectual life of his time, he himself was part of this circle. The presence of a waiter hovering in the background reminds us of the labor and class dynamics that supported this bourgeois lifestyle. The painting raises questions about who is included and excluded from these spaces of intellectual exchange. The emotional tone is convivial, but it’s also worth considering whose stories are being told and whose are being left out of the picture. “The Lion's Group” serves as both a historical document and an invitation to reflect on issues of identity, class, and representation.