From the plaque:
“It is said that “trees die standing tall”. But, the leafy horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) that lived here in front of the Palace of the Dukes, and whose trunk “slices” are exhibited here, fell ingloriously on a stormy night in 2016. The chestnut fell, but the magnificence of the trunk and the beauty of its wood deserved better fate than that of ending up heating someone’s home.
“So, we challenged the sculptor Paulo Neves to use his creativity, and his great wisdom, and sensibility to give life to the old trunk. And thus, this set of pieces was born, beautiful in their natural simplicity, open in their core, rough on their exterior, combining the lightness of the wood and the darkness of the bark and adorned with two parallel incisions in a dark shade. The old trunk turned into art to be enjoyed by all those who come by”.
Everywhere we went in Portugal, there was art. From magnificent paintings in the local church to street art painted on a wall, it’s evident that the people of this country love art. I love this piece for its simplicity and the way Paulo Neves uses Nature itself to create art. Beauty can be found everywhere, even in the ruins of an old chestnut tree.
Mostly True 
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