The National Museum Machado de Castro ( pt, Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro) is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, named after the renowned Portuguese

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Joaquim Machado de Castro Joaquim Machado de Castro (19 June 1731 – 17 November 1822) was one of Portugal's foremost sculptors. He wrote extensively on his works and the theory behind them, including a full-length discussion of the statue of King Joseph I entitled ' ...

. 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.

Building

The museum is housed in the former Bishop's Palace. This palace was built from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

onwards roughly on the site where the Roman

forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

Aeminium Aeminium was the ancient name of the city of Coimbra, in Portugal. The Romans founded the civitas of Aeminium in this place at the time of Augustus, which came under the protection of nearby Conimbriga situated some to the south. The Roman ci ...

(Coimbra's Roman name) once stood. The remains of this distant past, the

Cryptoporticus In Ancient Roman architecture a cryptoporticus (from atin''crypta'' and ''porticus'') is a covered corridor or passageway. The usual English is "cryptoportico". The cryptoportico is a semi-subterranean gallery whose vaulting supports portico stru ...

, can be visited on the lower floors of the museum.A.A.V.V. (coord. Adília Alarcão) – Museu Nacional Machado de Castro. Roteiro. Lisboa: Instituto Português de Museus, 2005. File:Museu Machado de Castro porta da cerca medieval entrada do museu IMG 0071.JPG, Medieval entrance; entrance to the museum File:Paço Episcopal de Coimbra ou Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro.jpg, Former ''Bishop's Palace'' File:Coimbra November 2012-6.jpg, Former ''Bishop's Palace'' File:G Byrne Museu Machado de Castro 2 IMG 0082.JPG, Access to the museum File:G Byrne Museu Machado de Castro 2 IMG 0301.jpg, New restaurant File:ForumRomanoDeCoimbra1.jpg, Roman

File:ForumRomanoDeCoimbra3.jpg, Roman Cryptoporticus File:G Byrne Museu Machado de Castro 2 IMG 0165.JPG, Museum interior (new building) File:G Byrne Museu Machado de Castro 2 IMG 0185.jpg, Museum interior (new building) File:G Byrne Museu Machado de Castro 2 IMG 0181.JPG, 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.

Archaeology

File:Retrato de Agripina-a-Antiga c 40 dc Museu Machado de Castro IMG 0154.JPG, ''Portrait of Agripina'', 1st Century, 54 x 34 x 34 cm File:Head of Trajan, from the Cryptoporticus of Aeminium, Coimbra, Portugal (12570466063).jpg, ''Portrait of Trajan'', 1st-2nd Century, 70 x 32 x 34 cm File:Portrait of Livia from Aeminium (Coimbra, Portugal), circa 30 AD, Machado de Castro National Museum, Coimbra, Portugal (12990788884).jpg, ''Female Portrait'', 1st Century, 32 x 32 x 22 cm

Sculpture

File:Cavaleiro medieval IMG 0171.JPG, Master Pero, ''Medieval Knight'', 14th Century, 72 x 65 x 19,5 cm File:Cristo Negro sec XIV IMG 0172.JPG, Unknown author, ''Black Christ'', 14th Century, wood, 284,5 x 140 x 61 cm File:Christ-MNMC.jpg, Unknown author, ''Christ in His Tomb'', 14th-15th Century, stone, 64 x 151 x 65 cm File:Mestre dos túmulos reais Virgem da Anunciação 1500-1525 2 IMG 0323.JPG, Master of the Royal Tombs, ''Virgin of the Annunciation'', 1500-1525 File:João de Ruão Deposição de Cristo no túmulo 1535-1540 1 IMG 0343.JPG, João de Ruão, ''Deposition of Christ'', 1535-1540, 222 x 225 cm File:João de Ruão Martírio de S Bartolomeu sec XVI IMG 0201.jpg, João de Ruão, ''St. Bartholomew's Martyrdom'', 16th Century File:João de Ruão S João Baptista Sec XVI IMG 0197.JPG, João de Ruão, ''St. John the Baptist'', 16th Century File:João de Ruão Santa Inês séc XVI 110 x 46 x 25 cm IMG 0196.JPG, João de Ruão, ''St. Agnes'', 16th Century, 110 x 46 x 25 cm File:Retábulo da Natividade séc XVI madeira 106,5 x 162 x 29,5 cm IMG 0309.JPG, ''Altarpiece of the Nativity'', Antwerp, 16th Century, 106,5 x 162 x 29,5 cm File:Olivier de Gand S Jerónimo S Gregório Papa sec XVI IMG 0304.JPG, Olivier de Gand, ''St. Geronimo'' and ''Pope St. Gregory'', 16th Century

Paintings

File:Senhora da Rosa sec XV Museu Machado de Castro.JPG, Unknown Author, ''Madonna of the Rose'', 15th Century, 209 x 128 cm File:Tríptico de Santa Clara Sec XV Museu Machado de Castro.jpg, ''Santa Clara triptych'', 16th Century, 297 x 342 cm File:Mestres do Sardoal Assunção da Virgem séc XVI 168 x 135 cm.jpg, Sardoal Masters, ''The assumption of the Virgin'', 16th Century, 168 x 135 cm File:Quentin Metsys Tríptico da Paixão de Cristo c 1517 3.jpg, Quentin Metsys, ''Triptych of the passion of Christ'', c. 1514-17 File:Quentin Metsys Tríptico da Paixão de Cristo c 1517 4.jpg, Quentin Metsys, ''Triptych of the passion of Christ'', c. 1514-17 File:Cristóvão de Figueiredo Imperador Heraclio com a Santa Cruz 1522-1530.jpg,

Cristóvão de Figueiredo Cristóvão de Figueiredo (died ) was a Portuguese Renaissance painter. Like many other important painters of the time, Cristóvão de Figueiredo was a pupil of Master Jorge Afonso, in Lisbon, in the early 16th century. He later worked together wi ...

, ''Emperor Heraclius with the Holy Cross'', 1522-1530 File:Garcia Fernandes Tríptico da Aparição de Cristo à Virgem 1531 98,5 x 123,5 cm.jpg,

Garcia Fernandes Garcia Fernandes (died ''c.'' 1565) was a Portuguese Renaissance painter. Like many of painters of the time, Garcia Fernandes was a pupil in the Lisbon workshop of Jorge Afonso, who was the court painter of King Manuel I. In the 1530s he worked ...

, ''Triptych of the Apparition of Christ to the Virgin'', 1531, 98,5 x 123,5 cm File:Bernardo Manuel Lamentação de Cristo 1570-1580 178 x 160 cm.jpg, Bernardo Manuel, ''The Lamentation of Christ'', 1570-1580, 178 x 160 cm File:Josefa de Óbidos - Lactação de São Bernardo - MNMC.jpg,

Josefa de Óbidos Josefa de Óbidos (; – 22 July 1684) was a Spanish-born Portuguese painter. Her birth name was Josefa de Ayala Figueira, but she signed her work as "Josefa em Óbidos" or "Josefa de Ayalla". All of her work was executed in Portugal, her fathe ...

, ''The Virgin Breastfeeding Saint Bernard'', 1670 File:André Gonçalves - goncalves adoracao-1.jpg, André Gonçalves, ''Adoration of the Magi'', 18th Century

Applied arts

File:Custódia do Sacramento IMG 0310.JPG, ''Custódia do Sacramento'', 18th Century, 162 x 96 x 99 cm File:Peça de ourivesaria Museu Machado de Castro IMG 0217.JPG, Piece of jewellery File:Tapeçaria de Vénus e Marte surpreendidos por Vulcano sec XVI 360 x 405 cm.jpg, ''Venus and Mars surprised by Vulcan'', tapestry, 16th Century, 360 x 405 cm File:Tapete de Medalhão, séc XVI.jpg, ''"Kashan" carpet'', 16th Century, silk File:Frontal de altar em azulejo, c1670.JPG, Altar piece, ceramic tiles, c.1670

References

External links

Official site
*
The Machado de Castro National Museum on Google Arts & Culture
{{Authority control Culture in Coimbra Art museums and galleries in Portugal

Machado de Castro Joaquim Machado de Castro (19 June 1731 – 17 November 1822) was one of Portugal's foremost sculptors. He wrote extensively on his works and the theory behind them, including a full-length discussion of the statue of King Joseph I entitled ' ...

Machado de Castro, Joaquim National museums of Portugal Tourist attractions in Coimbra Museums in Coimbra District National monuments in Coimbra District