Machado de Castro National Museum

The National Museum Machado de Castro (Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro) is an art museum in Coimbra, Portugal, named after the renowned Portuguese sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro. It first opened in 1913 and its latest renovation (2004-2012), which included the addition of a new building, was awarded the Piranesi/Prix de Rome Prize 2014.

Detail of the courtyard

Museum's history

The Machado de Castro Museum is one of the most important art museums in Portugal. It is housed in the former Bishop's Palace. This palace was built from the Middle Ages onwards roughly on the site where the Roman forum of Aeminium (Coimbra's Roman name) once stood. The remains of this distant past, the Cryptoporticus, can be visited on the lower floors of the museum.[1]

  • Medieval entrance; entrance to the museum
  • Former Bishop's Palace
  • Former Bishop's Palace
  • Access to the museum
  • New restaurant
  • Roman Cryptoporticus
  • Roman Cryptoporticus
  • Museum interior (new building)
  • Museum interior (new building)
  • Museum interior (new building)

Collections

The bulk of the museum's collection is made up of items from churches and religious institutions in the area surrounding Coimbra. The collections of sculpture (the most extensive of all the national museums of Portugal), painting, precious metals, ceramics and textiles are especially noteworthy.[1]

Archaeology
  • Portrait of Agripina, 1st Century, 54 x 34 x 34 cm
  • Portrait of Trajan, 1st-2nd Century, 70 x 32 x 34 cm
  • Female Portrait, 1st Century, 32 x 32 x 22 cm

Sculpture
  • Master Pero, Medieval Knight, 14th Century, 72 x 65 x 19,5 cm
  • Unknown author, Black Christ, 14th Century, wood, 284,5 x 140 x 61 cm
  • Unknown author, Christ in His Tomb, 14th-15th Century, stone, 64 x 151 x 65 cm
  • Master of the Royal Tombs, Virgin of the Annunciation, 1500-1525
  • João de Ruão, Deposition of Christ, 1535-1540, 222 x 225 cm
  • João de Ruão, St. Bartholomew's Martyrdom, 16th Century
  • João de Ruão, St. John the Baptist, 16th Century
  • João de Ruão, St. Agnes, 16th Century, 110 x 46 x 25 cm
  • Altarpiece of the Nativity, Antwerp, 16th Century, 106,5 x 162 x 29,5 cm
  • Olivier de Gand, St. Geronimo and Pope St. Gregory, 16th Century

Painting
  • Unknown Author, Madonna of the Rose, 15th Century, 209 x 128 cm
  • Santa Clara triptych, 16th Century, 297 x 342 cm
  • Sardoal Masters, The assumption of the Virgin, 16th Century, 168 x 135 cm
  • Quentin Metsys, Triptych of the passion of Christ, c. 1514-17
  • Quentin Metsys, Triptych of the passion of Christ, c. 1514-17
  • Cristóvão de Figueiredo, Emperor Heraclius with the Holy Cross, 1522-1530
  • Garcia Fernandes, Triptych of the Apparition of Christ to the Virgin, 1531, 98,5 x 123,5 cm
  • Bernardo Manuel, The Lamentation of Christ, 1570-1580, 178 x 160 cm
  • Josefa de Óbidos, The Virgin Breastfeeding Saint Bernard, 1670
  • André Gonçalves, Adoration of the Magi, 18th Century

Applied arts
  • Custódia do Sacramento, 18th Century, 162 x 96 x 99 cm
  • Piece of jewellery
  • Venus and Mars surprised by Vulcan, tapestry, 16th Century, 360 x 405 cm
  • "Kashan" carpet, 16th Century, silk
  • Altar piece, ceramic tiles, c.1670

Media related to Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro at Wikimedia Commons

References
  1. A.A.V.V. (coord. Adília Alarcão) – Museu Nacional Machado de Castro. Roteiro. Lisboa: Instituto Português de Museus, 2005. ISBN 972-776-269-7

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