Penn Quarter in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Ocean Piece
by Jorge Martins
This piece by the Portuguese artist Jorge Martins, born in 1940, represents a large wave made of stone, light and shades. This single wave aims to join Portugal and the United States across the Atlantic. Both countries are characterized through two of its outstanding poets, Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) and Walt Whitman (1818-1892).
The poems are linked by an identical ecstasy before the European maritime adventures of the XV and XVI centuries and the wave is like a piece of the oceans traveled at that time by the seafarers.
Fernando Pessoa was a great admirer of Walt Whitman, who used to live in the area now occupied by the Archives-Navy Memorial Station.
The sculpture weighs 32 tons and it is made of Portuguese green stone, known as "Verde Viana", from the name of the village, Viana do Alentejo, where the cave is located. Its 170 parts were cut and assembled in Washington by Portuguese workers from MA.DE.IN.
The "Ocean Piece" was a gift of Lisbon's subway system (Metropolitano de Lisboa) to the Washington Metro. This gift is part of a project supported by the Metropolitano de Lisboa to spread at home and abroad the public art of the best Portuguese artists.
This panel is a gift from the Metropolitano de Lisboa.
Erected by Metropolitano
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Colonial Era • Exploration • Railroads & Streetcars • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1940.
Location. 38° 53.639′ N, 77° 1.343′ W. Marker is in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in the Penn Quarter. Marker can be reached from the intersection of 7th Street Northwest and Indiana Avenue Northwest, on the right when traveling south. The marker and artwork are at the underground section of the Metro station. While underground, it is in an open-air section of the station. When it the station is closed, an open air gate drops and locks. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 300 7th St NW, Washington DC 20004, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. America's Main Street (within shouting distance of this marker); General Winfield Scott Hancock (within shouting distance of this marker); The Navy Memorial - from Bow to Stern (within shouting distance of this marker); Ceremony at the Crossroads (within shouting distance of this marker); The United States Navy Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Chief Petty Officers' (within shouting
Additional keywords. LGBT, LGBTQ, 🏳️🌈
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), December 18, 2021
3. Prayer of Columbus panel of the piece
Prayer of Columbus
......
All my emprises have been fill'd with thee
My speculations, plans, begun and carried on in thought at Thee.
Sailing the deep or journeying the land for Thee:
Intentions, purpors, aspirations mine, leaving results to Thee.
O I am sure they really came from Thee,
The urge, the ardor, the unconquerable will,
The potent, felt, interior command, stronger than words,
A message from the Heavens whispering to me even in sleep,
These sped me on.
By me and these the work so far accomplish'd,
By me earth's cloy'd and stifled lands, uncloy'd, unloos'd,
By me the hemispheres rounded and tied, the unknown to the known.
Walt Whitman
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), December 18, 2021
4. Occident panel of the piece
Occident
With two hands - Deed and Fate
We have unveiled. In the same gesture, one
Raises the flickering and divine torch
While the other draws the veil aside.
Whether the hour was ripe or it owned
The hand that tore the Western veil,
Science was the soul and Audacity the body
Of the hand that unveiled it.
Whether the hand rose the glittering torch
Out of Fortune, Will or Tempest.
God was the soul and Portugal the body
Of the hand that bore it.
Fernando Pessoa
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 18, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 387 times since then and 42 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 18, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
