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GPS 38.57220368597755, -7.907173942330393

The Frei Manuel do Cenáculo National Museum, formerly known as the Évora Museum, is an art and archeology museum located in the historic center of the city of Évora.

History

On July 30, 1914, Decree-Law No. 226 authorized the creation of the Évora Museum and, the following year, on March 1, Decree-Law No. 1355 was made official, with the name of Évora Regional Museum. It opened to the public in 1921, in the Palácio Amaral building, from which it moved to the current building, occupied in its entirety in 1929. The first four rooms were inaugurated two years later and, in 1936, the Museum was incorporated there. Archaeological, which was previously located on the ground floor of the Évora Public Library.

Its annex, since 1917, is the Church of the Convento das Mercês, a 17th century building. This former convent of the Religious Augustines, which functions as the Religious Decorative Arts section of the Museum, is currently closed for reasons of conservation of the building[2]. The importance and diversity of the Museum's Collection and its historical path, whose origins date back to Frei Manuel do Cenáculo and the founding of a small museum attached to the Évora Public Library in 1805, transform the Frei Manuel do Cenáculo National Museum into an unavoidable institution. to get to know and understand the history and artistic and cultural manifestations of Évora, the region and the entire country.

Collections

The collections feature important Art and Archeology centers, also bringing together a Natural History Collection (Earth Sciences and Life Sciences) as well as scientific objects (Science and Technique). Of the vast estate, the painting collection stands out, which covers the period from the 15th to the 20th century, highlighting the predominance of Portuguese authors, such as Baltazar Gomes Figueira (and his daughter Josefa de Óbidos, born in Seville, but who lived and produced in Portugal), and paintings belonging to the city's extinct Churches and Convents. In this context, the Flemish altarpieces of the Main Altar of the Cathedral of Évora and the Chapel of Esporão, the Triptych of the Conventinho de Valverde, by Gregório Lopes, as well as the Frei Carlos of the Convento do Espinheiro and Francisco Henriques, a painter from São Francisco, deserve to be highlighted. from Évora. In the collection of foreign paintings, largely belonging to Frei Manuel do Cenáculo, works from the Dutch and Italian schools stand out.

The sculpture collection highlights architectural elements from the city's monuments and important examples of tombs from the 14th to 18th centuries, with artistic relevance being the works attributed to Nicolau Chanterene.

The furniture collection allows us to trace a typological trajectory of civil furniture between the 19th and 20th centuries. XVI to XIX. The extinction of the Religious Orders and the consequent integration of their estates contributed to the creation of the Goldsmith collections, mainly made up of liturgical items, jewelery and textiles, essentially liturgical vestments.

The numismatic and naturalia collection comes essentially from the collection of Archbishop Frei Manuel do Cenáculo. The vast and representative archeology collection is made up of several collections, including that of Frei Manuel do Cenáculo.

It should be noted that the archbishop was one of the first to carry out archaeological work, which he reported on in his correspondence.

Also worth mentioning is the Leonor Pina collection with the fantastic collection of the Anta Grande do Zambujeiro, together with the so-called Hospital collection, with finds relating to other dolmens from the Municipality of Évora, Herdade das Casas, Castelo da Lousa, Castelo do Geraldo, pieces found in excavations prior to the work on the museum building, namely Islamic and Paleo-Christian, pieces that filled some gaps in the collection.

Full list of Geochaching below: