The Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (; MNAA), also known in English as the National Museum of Ancient Art, is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

national

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. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

located in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

. With over 40,000 items spanning a vast collection of painting, sculpture, goldware, furniture, textiles, ceramics, and prints, MNAA is one of the most visited museums in Portugal. The MNAA was founded in 1884 to display the collections of the

Portuguese royal family The Most Serene House of Braganza ( pt, Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine Dynasty (''Dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the ...

and the National Academy of Fine Arts. It is housed in the ''Palácio Alvor-Pombal'', a former residence of the 1st Marquis of Pombal which was expanded when it was converted into a museum. The museum's collection spans more than a millennium of art from Europe,

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with t ...

and includes notable artworks by

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oak ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

Hans Holbein the Elder Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Ältere; – 1524) was a German painter. Life Holbein was born in free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsace (now France). He belonged to a celebrated family ...

Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanish ...

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

Domingos Sequeira Domingos António de Sequeira (Lisbon; 10 March 1768Rome; 8 March 1837) was a famous Portuguese painter at the Royal Court of King John VI of Portugal. Biography He was born in Belém, Lisbon, into a modest family. He later changed his family nam ...

, and Giambattista Tiepolo, among numerous others.

History

Origins

The museum has its roots in the 1833 abolition of religious orders and confiscation of the monasteries in Portugal, which brought a trove of religious art and ornaments into the public sphere.1868 catalog of the Galeria Nacional
/ref> At the instigation of the

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

politician

Passos Manuel Manuel da Silva Passos (5 January 1801 – 16 January 1862) was a Portuguese jurist and politician, one of the most notable personalities of 19th-century Portuguese Liberalism. He is more commonly referred to as Passos Manuel, due to the way he ...

, the Academia de Bellas Artes ("Academy of Fine Arts") was founded in 1836, and established its headquarters at the former monastery of São Francisco da Cidade (near the

Chiado The Chiado () is a neighborhood in the historic center of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Chiado is an important cultural and commercial district, known for its luxury shopping, historic landmarks, and its numerous theatres and museums. In 1988, ...

). Although primarily dedicated to nurturing new artists, that same year, the Academia founded the Galeria Nacional de Pintura ("National Gallery of Painting") on the lower levels of the same building, as a subsidiary division to select, care for and display some of the better pieces of the expropriated monastic art then in government storage. An Academia panel selected some 540 paintings for the Galeria. Predictably, most of these were religious-oriented pieces of Portuguese origin. In the chaos and aftermath of the Portuguese

Liberal Wars The Liberal Wars (), also known as the Portuguese Civil War (), the War of the Two Brothers () or Miguelite War (), was a war between liberalism, liberal Constitutional monarchy, constitutionalists and conservative Absolutism (European history) ...

, some of the private art collections of ruined noble families were expropriated or found their way on to the market. Of particular significance was the painting collection of the disgraced former queen, the late Carlota Joaquina, which was acquired by the Portuguese government and given to the Academia in 1859. The former king

Ferdinand II of Portugal '' Dom'' Ferdinand II ( Portuguese: ''Fernando II'') (29 October 1816 – 15 December 1885) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, and King of Portugal ''jure uxoris'' as the husband of Queen Maria II, from the birth o ...

, a connoisseur of fine arts, took an interest in the budding organization, secured its royal sponsorship (it was renamed Academia ''Real'' de Belas Artes in 1862) and, in 1865–67, Ferdinand II made a series of substantial cash donations, giving the Galeria an independent acquisition budget, enabling it to purchase pieces on the art market. On the initiative of Francisco de Sousa Holstein (son of the 1st Duke of Palmela, a vice-inspector of the Academia Real, in 1868, the Galeria's rooms were remodelled into a better exhibition space for its expanding collection and opened to the general public. Nonetheless, the facilities remained inadequate - it was terribly humid, cramped and still traversed by unrelated visitors to the Academia (which had, by now, become something of a social hang-out for dissheveled bohemian artists and students). In 1875, a commission headed by Sousa Holstein recommended the founding of a larger and more permanent museum away from the Academia's Chiado building. In 1881, the Academia's educational division was split off and turned into the Escola Real de Belas-Artes ("Royal School of Fine Arts", now part of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

), with the Academia Real de Belas-Artes proper limited to cultural pursuits.entry
at the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo In 1881, Academia officer Delfim Guedes rented the 17th-century Palace of Janelas Verdes ("Green Windows"), the former Lisbon residence of the Counts of Alvor that had been seized by the

Marquis of Pombal Count of Oeiras () was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated July 15, 1759, by King Joseph I of Portugal, and granted to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, head of the Portuguese government. Later, through another roy ...

after 1759 and sold to his own brother, the Cardinal-Inquisitor Paulo António de Carvalho e Mendonça (thus it is also known as the Palace of Pombal-Alvor). Later sold to the neighboring

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican C ...

of Santo Alberto, the palace returned to private hands following the 1833 dissolution. Guedes intended to use it as a temporary space for an international exhibition on Iberian ornamental art ("Exposição Retrospectiva de Arte Ornamental Portuguesa e Espanhola") organized by the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria & Albert) in London, that was set to visit Lisbon in 1882.

Foundation

Staring in the National Museum of Antique Art

The government formally purchased the Janelas Verdes palace in June, 1884, and recast it as the Museu Nacional de Belas-Artes e Arqueologia ("National Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology"), formally founded on 11 May 1884, to house what where then known as the "Museus Centrais" of the State and placed it under the management of the Academia Real. Following the republican 1910 revolution, the arrangement was overhauled and the museum's management stopped depending on the Academia Real (now renamed Academia Nacional de Belas Artes). By a decree of 26 May 1911, the collections were split up and two separate and independent museums created - the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga ("National Museum of Ancient Art"), at the Palace of Janelas Verdes, and the Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea" ("National Museum of Contemporary Art") at the old location of the Academia's Galeria at São Francisco da Cidade (since renamed the Chiado Museum). The latter collection's cut-off date was roughly 1850, everything prior to that assigned to Arte Antiga. The MNAA's first museum director was the energetic José de Figueiredo, who promptly began reforming the museum based on the latest planning and exhibition principles and re-orienting it decisively towards painting. Figueiredo was the first to study and identify the authorship and significance of

Saint Vincent Panels The ''Saint Vincent Panels'', or the ''Adoration of Saint Vincent'' panels, are a polyptych consisting of six panels that were perhaps painted in the 1450s. They are attributed to the Portuguese painter Nuno Gonçalves, who was active from 1450 t ...

, a 15th-century polyptych discovered c. 1882 and attributed by Figueiredo to

Nuno Gonçalves Nuno Gonçalves (c. 1425 – c. 1491, ''fl.'' 1450–71) was a Portuguese artist whose work initiated the Portuguese Renaissance in painting. He was court painter for Afonso V of Portugal from 1450 to 1471, and in 1471 he was appointed the offici ...

.* José de Figueiredo (1910) ''O Pintor Nuno Gonçalves''. Lisbon: Tip. Annuario Commercial. The St. Vincent panels were installed in the museum by 1916 and remain perhaps its best known piece. In 1940, the MNAA expanded its installations by acquiring the neighboring old convent of Santo Alberto and turned it into an annex connected by a footbridge. The chapel of the convent, a fine example of 18th Portuguese

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...

art and architecture, was incorporated into the exhibits.

Collection

The collection includes

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

sculpture 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 ...

metalwork Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fur ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ch ...

s, and other

decorative art ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

forms 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 ...

to the early 19th century. The collections, especially those for the 15th and 16th centuries, are particularly important regarding the history of Portuguese painting, sculpture, and metalwork.

Painting

;European The European painting section of the museum is significant and is represented by Jacob Adriaensz Backer, Bartolomé Bermejo, '' Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony'' by

Pieter Brueghel the Younger Pieter Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger (, ; ; between 23 May and 10 October 1564 – between March and May 1638) was a Flemish painter, known for numerous copies after his father Pieter Bruegel the Elder's work as well as h ...

, David Gerard, '' Saint Jerome in His Study'' by

, Lucas Cranach,

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca ...

Jan Gossaert Jan Gossaert (c. 1478 – 1 October 1532) was a French-speaking painter from the Low Countries also known as Jan Mabuse (the name he adopted from his birthplace, Maubeuge) or Jennyn van Hennegouwe ( Hainaut), as he called himself when he matri ...

Pieter de Hooch Pieter de Hooch (, also spelled "Hoogh" or "Hooghe"; 20 December 1629 (baptized) – 24 March 1684 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age painter famous for his genre works of quiet domestic scenes with an open doorway. He was a contemporary of ...

Adriaen Isenbrandt Adriaen Isenbrandt or Adriaen Ysenbrandt (between 1480 and 1490 – July 1551) was a painter in Bruges, in the final years of Early Netherlandish painting, and the first of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting of the Northern Renaissance. ...

, Quentin Metsys,

Hans Memling Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a painter active in Flanders, who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was born in the Middle Rhine region and probably spent his childhood in Mainz. He ...

Antonis Mor Anthonis Mor, also known as Anthonis Mor van Dashorst and Antonio Moro (c. 1517 – 1577), was a Netherlandish portrait painter, much in demand by the courts of Europe. He has also been referred to as Antoon, Anthonius, Anthonis or Mor van Dashor ...

Joachim Patinir Joachim Patinir, also called Patenier (c. 1480 – 5 October 1524), was a Flemish Renaissance painter of history and landscape subjects. He was Flemish, from the area of modern Wallonia, but worked in Antwerp, then the centre of the art mar ...

, Jan Provost,

José Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring to ...

Andrea del Sarto Andrea del Sarto (, , ; 16 July 1486 – 29 September 1530) was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. He was known as an outstanding fresco decorator, ...

David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile art ...

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed wit ...

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Duchy of Brabant, Brabantian Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Sou ...

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...

, David Vinckeboons, Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom,

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegorie ...

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...

and others. File:Jacob Adriaensz Backer (1608-1651) - Courtisane (1640).jpg, ''Courtesan'' by Jacob Adriaensz Backer, 1640. File:Pieter de Hooch - Conversação.JPG, ''Merry Company'' by

; 1662. File:Lisbon, Museum Nacional de Arte Antiga, Albrecht Dürer, Saint Jerome.JPG, '' St. Jerome in His Study'' by

; 1521. File:Hieronymus Bosch - Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony - WGA2585.jpg, '' Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony'' by

; c. 1501. File:Flight into Egypt (Giambattista Tiepolo) (cropped).jpg, ''

Flight into Egypt The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 2:13– 23) and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the ...

'' by Giambattista Tiepolo; c. 1764-70. File:Lisboa-Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga-Os Filisteus acados da Peste-20140917.jpg, ''The Philistines'' by

; c. 1631. File:Virgem com o Menino e entre Santos e Anjos - Hans Holbein.jpg, ''Virgin with Child'' by

; 1519. File:Salomé - Lucas Cranach, o Velho.jpg, ''Salome'' by

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known ...

; c. 1510s. ;Portuguese Perhaps the most famous work in the museum is the ''

'', which date from before 1470 and are attributed to

, court painter of

King Afonso V Afonso V () (15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by the sobriquet the African (), was King of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Africa. ...

. Though the history of the polyptych remains enshrouded in mystery, the six large panels have been argued to portray people from all levels of late medieval Portuguese society venerating Saint Vincent, in what would be one of the first group portraits in European art. There are 60 figures on the panels. The museum also has important works by early 16th-century painters active in Portugal, such as, Jorge Afonso, Vasco Fernandes, Garcia Fernandes,

Francisco de Holanda Francisco de Holanda (originally ''Francisco d'Olanda;'' 6 September 1517 – 19 June 1585) was a Portuguese court painter and sculptor for King John III of Portugal, and later for Sebastian of Portugal. He wrote what is regarded as the first treat ...

Cristóvão Lopes Cristóvão Lopes (c.1516–1594) was a Portugal, Portuguese painter. Cristóvão Lopes was the son and disciple of royal painter Gregório Lopes, who died in 1550. Cristóvão succeeded his father as the royal painter of John III of Portugal ...

, Gregório Lopes, Cristovão de Figueiredo, Francisco Henriques, and others. Painting from the 17th through the early 19th centuries is well represented by works that include those of Josefa de Óbidos, Vieira Portuense, and

. File:Lisbon, Museum Nacional de Arte Antiga, portuguese school, Virgin with child.JPG, Triptych of the Infantes of Portugal by the Master of Lourinhã; c. 1510-25. File:A Adoração dos Magos (1828) - Domingos Sequeira.png, ''

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

'' by

; 1828. File:Lagos40 kopie.jpg, ''

'' by

; c. 1450s. File:Francisco vieira de matos detto vieira lusitano, ritratto di cavaliere, 1750 ca (cropped).jpg, ''Portrait of D. Lourenço de Lencastre'' by Vieira Lusitano; 1745-50. File:Frei Carlos - Anunciação.jpg, ''Annunciation'' by Frei Carlos; c. 1520. File:Gregório lopes, madonna col bambino e angeli, 1536-39 (cropped).jpg, ''Madonna with Child and Angels'' by Gregório Lopes; 1523.

Sculpture

The MNAA's collection of sculpture spans millennia of statues, figurines, and other pieces, originating in Ancient Rome,

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

, Italy, Ancient Egypt,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, France, Brazil, and England, among other places. File:Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga - Lisboa - Portugal (29508850544).jpg, ''Two-Headed Fountain''; 1501-1515. File:Lisboa-Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga-Retábulo da Paixão de Cristo-20140917.jpg, ''Altarpiece of the Passion of Christ''; c. 1550-75. File:Lisboa-Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga-São Miguel-20140917 (cropped).jpg, ''St. Michael Archangel''; 17th century. File:Arte romana, torso di apollo, I secolo.jpg, Torso of Apollo; 1st century. File:Bottega di coimbra, altarolo con madonna col bambino, 1525-50 ca.jpg, ''Madonna with Child''; 1525-50. File:António ferreira, presepio del convento di santa teresa de jesus de carbide, 1701-25 ca. 03.jpg, ''Santa Teresa visiting Jesus in the crib''; 1701-25. File:Arte romana, torso del pothos, I secolo ac-I dc ca, da un originale di skopas del 360-355 ac ca.jpg, ''Torso of Pothos''; 1st century. File:Epoca tolemaica, leone in basalto con base di porfido, 325-30 ac ca. 02.jpg, ''Ptolemaic lion''; 325-30 BCE. File:João de ruão, san jacopo matamoros, 1550 ca.jpg, '' Saint James Matamoros'' by João de Ruão; c. 1550.

Goldwork

Portuguese

is another highlight of the museum. Among its collection are pieces from the 12th to the 18th centuries. One of the most notable examples is the famous

monstrance A monstrance, also known as an ostensorium (or an ostensory), is a vessel used in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, High Church Lutheran and Anglican churches for the display on an altar of some object of piety, such as the consecrated Eucharistic ...

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in ...

. It might have been made by the

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

, and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often ref ...

. According to an

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

on the monstrance, it was created out the gold brought back to Portugal from Kilwa (East Africa) in 1504-05 by the admiral

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

. File:CustodiadaBemposta.jpg, ''Portuguese monstrance''; 16th century. File:Portogallo, piatto con stemma, xix-xx secolo, argento.jpg, ''Portuguese plate''; 19th century. File:Lisbon Diego de Paiva de Andrade.jpg, ''Cameo of Diogo de Paiva de Andrade''; c. 1575. File:Lisbon, museum Nacional de Arte Antiga, reliquary?.JPG, '' Custódia de Belém''; 1506. File:Thomas e françois-thomas germain, centrotavola del duca di aveiro, argento, parigi 1729-57, 01.jpg, '' Germain Service''; c. 1750-60's. File:Ambroise-nicolas cousinet, sedici statuette per decorazione della tavola imbandita, argento dorato, 1757-58, 03.jpg, ''Dancing Courtiers'' by Ambroise-Nicolas Cousinet; 1757-8. File:Portogallo, reliquiario, oro, smalti, cristallo di rocca, smerladi e rubini, xvi secolo 01.jpg, ''Crown of Thorns Reliquary''; c. 1515-25. File:François-thomas germain, saliera, oro, 1770-90 ca.jpg, ''Portuguese Royal Serviceware'' by François-Thomas Germain; c. 1770-90.

Textiles

The MNAA's collection of textiles includes pieces from France, Ancient Egypt,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and Italy, among other places. File:Jan II leyniers (attr.), su dis. di charles le brun, nascita di meleagro, bruxelles 1680 cva.jpg, ''Birth of

Meleager In Greek mythology, Meleager (, grc-gre, Μελέαγρος, Meléagros) was a hero venerated in his ''temenos'' at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked b ...

'' by Jan Leyniers; 1680. File:Portogallo, panno da appendere in lino e cotone, 1615, 02.jpg, ''Portuguese lace''; 1615. File:Tournai, la scoperta dell'india, 1504-30 ca.jpg, ''Arrival of the Portuguese to India'' from

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

; 1504-30. File:Aubusson, su disegno di charles lebrun, la famiglia di dario ai piedi di alessandro, 1661.jpg, Aubusson tapestry; 1661. File:Egitto copto, frammento con vaso, VI secolo.jpg, ''Coptic Egyptian textile''; 5th century. File:India, panno da parete per il mercato portoghese, guzerate (forse), 1600-10 ca. 01.jpg, ''Indian Tapestry''; 1600-10.

Imperial collection

The MNAA's ''Coleção de Arte da Expansão'' is the museum's vast collection of art from the former

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...

, collected from the

, and

. File:India mogul, scena di convesrazione, da un album, 1610 ca.jpg, ''

Mughul The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

scene''; 1610. File:Scuola di kano (attr.), paravento con mercanti giapponesi, 1593-1600 ca. 07.jpg, '' Nanban screen''; c. 1593. File:Ceylon, cofanetto, legno di sandalo, tartaruga, avorio e argento, xvii sec. 01.jpg, ''Sri Lankan coffer''; 17th century. File:Cina, coppia di bauli laccati con intarsi di madreperla e oro, su tavolini, xviii secolo 02.jpg, ''Chinese cabinet''; 18th century. File:Produzione afro-portoghese, saliera in avorio, forse dal benin, edo o yoruba, xvi secolo.jpg, '' Afro-Portuguese ivory figurine''; 16th century. File:India portoghese, cofanetto in argento dorato, xvii secolo 01.jpg, ''

Indo-Portuguese Indo-Portuguese creoles are the several Portuguese creoles spoken in the erstwhile Portuguese Indian settlements, Cochin Portuguese Creole, Fort Bassein, Goa and Damaon, Portuguese Ceylon etc, in present-day India and Sri Lanka. These creole ...

chest''; 17th century. File:Persia Portrait of a Portuguese (detail).jpg, ''Persian portrait of a Portuguese nobleman''; 16th century. File:Cina, dinastia qing, bottiglia, regno yongzheng, 1723-35 ca.jpg, ''

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

vase''; 1723-35.

Furniture

The MNAA's collection of pieces of furniture span several centuries and originate primarily in France, Italy,

, and

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

. The most notable collections are those of the Portuguese royal residences and the collection of pieces from the former

. File:Arte indo-portoghese, cabinet con base, ebano e avorio, sind o gujarat, xvi-xvii secolo 01.jpg, ''

cabinet''; 16-17th century. File:Jean henri (attr.), secretaire a ribaltina, parigi 1776 ca., con orologio a lira di jean michel breant parigi (1775-1800 ca.).jpg, Secretary by

Jean Henri Riesener Jean-Henri Riesener (german: Johann Heinrich Riesener; 4 July 1734 – 6 January 1806) was a famous German ''ébéniste'' (cabinetmaker), working in Paris, whose work exemplified the early neoclassical "Louis XVI style". Life and career Riesene ...

; c. 1776. File:Portogallo, credenza, 1650-1700 ca.jpg, ''Portuguese credenza''; c. 1650-1700 File:Portogallo, sedia con braccioli, 1750-1800 ca.jpg, ''Portuguese chair''; c. 1750. File:Portogallo, letto portatile, 1750 ca. 01.jpg, ''Portuguese bed''; c. 1750. File:Portogallo, leggio, 1650-1700 ca.jpg, ''Music stand''; c. 1650. File:Pierre bernard, comò, parigi 1750 ca, con due candelabri francesi del 1750-90 ca.jpg, ''French chest of drawers'' by Pierre Bernard; 1750-60. File:Portogallo, oratorio privato a forma di trumeau, 1730-60 ca.jpg, ''Portuguese oratory''; 1730-60. File:Arte indo-portoghese, cabinet con base, xvii secolo.jpg, ''

cabinet''; 17th century. File:Claude-charles saunier, commode, 1750-75 ca., con orologio di jean-baptiste dégré, parigi 1775-1800 ca.jpg, ''French clock and drawers'' by Claude-Charles Saunier; c. 1775.

Ceramics

The MNAA's collection of

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, ...

and

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

spans several centuries with pieces originating in mainly

, France, Italy,

, and China. Notable collections include

porcelains,

Hispano-Moresque ware Hispano-Moresque ware is a style of initially Islamic pottery created in Al-Andalus, which continued to be produced under Christian rule in styles blending Islamic and European elements. It was the most elaborate and luxurious pottery being pr ...

, and Caldas da Rainha ceramics. File:Relief of Virgin Mary with child.JPG, ''Relief of the Virgin Mary'' by Andrea della Robbia; 15th century. File:Lisbon, Museum Nacional de Arte Antiga, jug (cropped).JPG, Portuguese vase; 18th century. File:Bottega dei della robbia, cornice di tabernacolo eucaristico, 1501-25 ca.jpg, ''Tabernacle of the Eucharist'' by Andrea della Robbia; 1501-25. File:Sèvres, la toeletta della signora, in biscuit, 1775 (cropped).jpg,

Sèvres porcelain Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for ...

; 1775. File:Meissen, vasi coronati, 1860-80 ca. 01.jpg,

Meissen porcelain Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work an ...

; c. 1860-80. File:Lisbon, Museum Nacional de Arte Antiga, the drunkard.JPG, ''Drunkard on a Barrel''; 19th century. File:Maiolica ispano-moresca, piatto a lustro, manises, 1425-1450 ca.jpg, ''

''; c. 1425-50. File:Fabbrica di minton, brucia profumi, staffordshire, inghilterra, xix secolo.jpg, ''Incense burner''; 18th century. File:Firenze, porcellana medicea, brocca e bacile, xvi secolo 02.jpg, ''Florentine vase''; 16th century.

References

External links

Official website

National Museum of Ancient Art
on

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

{{coord, 38, 42, 15.90, N, 9, 09, 42.49, W, dim:250_scale:2500_region:PT-11_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Art museums established in 1884 Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga Museums in Lisbon National museums of Portugal 1884 establishments in Portugal

History

Origins

Foundation

Collection

Painting

Sculpture

Goldwork

Textiles

Imperial collection

Furniture

Ceramics

See also

References

External links