National Azulejo Museum

Museu Nacional do Azulejo is a museum dedicated to the Lisbon azulejos, typical of Portugal ceramic tiles.

Building (former Convent of Madre de Deus )

The 1509 Eleanor of Portugal (Dona Leonora de Bragança ), sister of King Manuel I of Portugal and widow of King John II of Portugal donated orders of Claris Monastery Madre de Deus (Mother of God) was almost completely destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. The present monastery church is the work of the Baroque. The two-story Renaissance cloisters were spared by the earthquake. King John III. Portugal had converted the monastery, after the earthquake, it was King John V of Portugal to restore and rebuild. The Manueline façade was reconstructed by the architect João Maria Nepomuceno. In the church itself Dutch azulejos, a coffered ceiling, Talha Dourada and paintings of the Portuguese School of the 16th century. In paintings are King John III. and his wife Catherine of Castile represented. 1834 recognized the secularization also this monastery, which was first used as an asylum. One of the chapels dedicated to St. Anthony. Queen Eleanor was buried in the monastery.

The Museum

Housed in the cloisters and buildings preserved museum was opened in 1960. The first director was the azulejos researcher João Miguel Santos Simões. Since 1980, it bears the title " National Museum " and has since been de facto independent from the Museum of Ancient Art (Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga ). The collection provides an overview of the development of the tile art in the course of centuries. The most significant tile paintings are a Cityscape, Lisbon shows the 25 years before the 1755 earthquake and a 25 meter tiled image from 1300 tiles. Another series of paintings, the panel Nossa Senhora da Vida from 1580, depicting the birth of Jesus to over 1300 tiles, azulejos, and portraits of King Charles II of England and his Portuguese wife, Catherine of Braganza. The azulejos panels usually come from the period from the 15th to the 19th century and from dissolved monasteries of the country or private houses of the upper classes. The history of the tile system in Portugal and the different production forms are represented, as well as modern and contemporary art azulejos.

The collection includes numerous native of Arabia, North Africa and Flanders tiles, such as the Flemish tile master Jan van Bogaert.

Eie workshop for the restoration of the panels and repair of multi-million tiles collection is also in the home.

General

The museum is located at Rua de Madre de Deus No. 4 in Xabregas district. Opening times: Tuesdays from 14 to 18 clock, Wednesdays to Sundays from 10 to 18 clock. To reach the bus line 18, 42, 104 and 105 Closed on Mondays and public holidays. Price: € 5,00. Sundays free.