The monument, which faces the Ducal Palace, stands on a platform of six steps and dominates the otherwise completely empty square. The equestrian statue of King João IV, located in the Praça do Paço Ducal, is a bronze work by the sculptor Francisco Franco (1885-1955). Franco began work on the statue in 1938, building on sketches he had made in Italy in 1925. The statue was completed and erected in 1943.