Museu dos Biscainhos - Página principal · MUSEU DOS BISCAINHOS 6 MUSEU DOS BISCAINHOS 7 The Museu dos Biscainhos is housed in a distinguished property that consists of a building

MUSEU DOS BISCAINHOS

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Museu dos Biscainhos

Guide


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contentsCREDITS

title

Museu dos Biscainhos. Guide

editorial coordination

Museu dos BiscainhosTeresa de Almeida d’EçaInstituto dos Museus e da Conservação / Divisão de Documentação e Divulgação (Institute of Museums and Conservation / Documentation and Communication Unit)Clara Mineiro

conception and texts

Teresa de Almeida d’Eça

CollaborationMargarida Sotto-Mayor Moreira

TranslationPer Christopher Foster – CRS Translations

photography

Instituto dos Museus e da Conservação / Divisão de Documentação Fotográfica(Institute of Museums and Conservation / Photographic Documentation Unit)Coordinated byVitória MesquitaJosé PessoaPhotographerJosé Pessoa assisted by Carlos PomboArquivo de imagem do Museu dos Biscainhos (Museu dos Biscainhos Photographic Archive)PhotographersLuis Ferreira AlvesMiguel LouroJoão Paulo SottomayorJorge Barros

graphic design

Studio Andrew Howard

pre-printing, printing and finishing

Gráfica Maiadouro

publisher

© Instituto dos Museus e da ConservaçãoPalácio Nacional da Ajuda, Ala Sul, 4º Andar��40-0�� LISBONwww.ipmuseus.pt

�st EditionLisbon, July �007

paper

Gardapat �50 grModigliani Insize �45 gr

fonts

Benton SansGizaFFScala

print run

�000 Exemplares

isbn

97�–776–��8–�

legal deposit

��0 907/05

museu dos biscainhos

Rua dos Biscainhos, 4700-4�5 BRAGATel: �5� �0 46 50Fax: �5� �0 46 58E-mail: [email protected]: www.ipmuseus.pt

acknowledgements

The Museu dos Biscainhos would like to thank the following for their permission to re-produce the images contained in this Guide:Arquivo Distrital de Braga / Universidade do MinhoBiblioteca Nacional da Ajuda / Instituto Por-tuguês do Património Arquitectónico Biblioteca de Arte da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

Introduction 6

The Museum, History and Collectionss �0

MUSEUM ToUR

Lobby and Staircase �8

Entrance Hall �4

Great Hall �8

Oratory �6

Dais Room 4�

Music and Games Room 48

Office 54

Dining Room 58

Cloister 64

Private Chambers 68

Slave and Servants’ Quarters 7�

Stables 76

Kitchen 80

Gardens 86

Notes 96

Bibliography 98


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The Museu dos Biscainhos is housed

in a distinguished property that

consists of a building and its gardens

constructed and enlarged during the

�7th and �8th centuries – making it a

significant testimony to the Baroque

period – and improved during the first

half of the �9th. It therefore allows us a

continued and synthesizing insight into

the society and culture of the era for

the whole period in question.

From the middle of the nineteen

eighties, the museum opted to place

the chief emphasis of its museological

work on researching and disseminating

information about daily life during the

ancien régime, an era of remarkable

importance for Portuguese history.

This decision stemmed from a

considered assessment of several factors:

• the relevant importance of the

Baroque period for the Minho region

and in particular for the city of Braga,

the site of notable growth due to

archiepiscopal power, in terms of a

desired interrelationship between the

museum and its surroundings;

introduction

LEFT

Casa dos Biscainhos.Ink and wash drawing on paper. From Mappa das Ruas de Braga (Map of the Streets of Braga). 1750. Arquivo Distrital de Braga.

• the preservation of the original

structure of the palace and gardens

and the characterisation of this

heritage, which extends artistically

from the Baroque to the neoclassical

and Empire;

• consistency in the articulation of

the above points with the museum’s

collections, namely, decorative arts,

painting, sculpture and engravings

dating from the centuries in question.

The current contents of the museum

are presented as an examination of the

�7th to early �9th centuries as reflected

in the inner world and domestic privacy

of a seigneurial house.

Within the scope of the museum’s

overall objective, the present guide

provides a contextualized tour through

the tastes, traditions, emotions, art,

thought and life of Portuguese society

during the period under analysis.

Museu dos Biscainhos, �004.

Teresa de Almeida d’Eça

FoLLoWING PAGE

MAPPA/(D)A/CIDADE/DE/BRAGA PRI/MAS. Circa 1755. André Ribeiro Soares da Silva (attrib.). IPPAR/Biblioteca da Ajuda.


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The Museum, history and collectionsThe contextfrom Roman empire to archiepiscopal fiefdom

The city of Braga, whose roots lie deep

in time, has a history going back two

thousand years and predates the

founding of the nation. It grew out of

settlements inhabited by the Bracari

who, at the end of the �rd century BC,

were subjugated by the power of the

Roman Empire.

“Bracara Augusta”, the Roman city,

was elevated to the status of capital of

the Roman province of Galecia in the

�rd century AD.

Since that distant time, Christianity

has woven the spiritual fabric of the

city, whose first bishop was consecrat-

ed in the year 400.

There followed a string of invasions,

by the Suevi, Visigoths and Arabs, the

latter arriving at the beginning of the

eighth century.

In reaction to these successive

attacks, efforts were made to revive

Braga in the ��th century. In the

following century, the Count and

Countess Dom Henrique and Dona

Teresa, in gratitude for the assistance

provided during the struggle to found

the nation, handed control of the city

and its surroundings to the archbish-

ops, who governed with absolute rule.

Over the centuries, several notable

figures have stood out for their role in

influencing the shape of the city,

particularly Archbishop Dom Diogo de

Sousa, who, in the �6th century,

imposed a new scale on the city that

was simultaneously humanist and

grandiose, instigating the beginning of

a process of growth that has been

continuous ever since.

In national terms, the �8th century

represented a period of substantial

economic prosperity stemming from

the gold, diamonds and agricultural

goods brought from the Brazilian

colony. In addition, the expansion of

corn maize cultivation in Portugal

afforded significant growth, especially

in the northwest. In the mid-seventeen

hundreds, Braga had a population of

around �7,000, robust trade and

significant industry, producing bells,

sails, silk and damask, pieces of

goldsmithery, tinsmithery and tanning.

Cabinet-making, sculpture, carving and

painting workshops proliferated.

In the heart of the Minho, and Braga

in particular, favourable conditions

existed for the special development of

art. Stimulated by the desire to serve

God, the archbishops, wielders of great

power, intensively fomented the

different expressions that enlarged

the city structure.

The prelates favoured buildings of a

religious nature, to which were added

several seigneurial houses belonging to

the northern nobility, giving the city a

monumental character that the �7th

and �8th centuries, the golden age of

the Baroque, consolidated in richness

and opulence.

In �750, the cathedral chapter, in order

to organise its vast built heritage,

which included a significant part of

Braga, conducted a series of surveys

that today constitute, in global terms,

a rare resource for understanding and

interpreting life in an �8th century Eu-

ropean city: the “Índice dos Prazos das

Casas do Cabido” (Index of the Leases

of the Houses in the Chapter) and the

“Mappa das Ruas de Braga” (Map of

the Streets of Braga) – the latter “of

incalculable value for the study of soci-

ology, urbanism, architecture and the

history of art”1 – which documents the

design of the facades of 4,064 houses

existing at the time.

Dating from around �755 is an-

other document of great interest, the

“MAPPA (D)A CIDADE DE BRAGA PRI-

MAS” (MAP OF THE CITY OF BRAGA

PRIMAS), attributed to André Soares.

This is a highly detailed record of the

urban layout and respective place

names that identifies thirty places of

worship, among them churches, chap-

els, convents and seminaries, as well as

public and private buildings.


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house and Gardensnobility and splendour

The Casa dos Biscainhos is located out-

side the medieval walls of the city, in the

street after which it is named3 and that

connects two important urban areas:

campo da Vinha and campo das Hortas.

Dr. Constantino Ribeiro do Lago

was one of the notable figures of the

age in which he lived (�6�9–�686). He

married Maria de Sousa e Silva on ��st

September �655.4

Inácio José Peixoto, an illustrious

Braga native who lived in the �8th cen-

tury, refers to him in his “Memórias”5 in

the following terms: “He was a secular

associate judge and special magistrate

Some of the many artists who lived or

worked in Braga include, among many

others, Manuel Fernandes da Silva, An-

dré Soares, Carlos Amarante, Frei José

de Santo António Vilaça, Marceliano de

Araújo, Manuel Furtado de Mendonça

and Agostinho Marques.

The period in focus was conspicu-

ous for an extraordinary sense of

pomp, grandeur, luxury and ostentation

that manifested itself in the Baroque

feast, a sacred and profane event that

attained elevated levels of realization.

In Braga, there were processions

followed by gala cortèges, bullfights,

tournaments and jousting, games,

fancy-dress balls, comedies, light

shows, bell-ringing, fireworks, theatre,

assemblies and orchestras.2

In sum, the Museu dos Biscainhos fits

into a significant historical and artistic

context that emphasises the importance

of the museum’s current programme.

“The house is an authentic

document of the life of man ... It

sums up an entire style of life and

for that reason is an extremely

important element for the study

of a society, whatever the era.”

Carlos de Azevedo

in this city and procurator-general of

the diocese. This minister was a tal-

ented and worthy man as he was Court

procurator in the year �667 not only

for the city but also for the province,

unpaid and he managed to resolve vari-

ous things ... And it is through him that

it can be said that this noble house first

began to shine.” 6.

Francisco Pereira da Silva, the third

son of the extremely powerful procura-

tor and Dean of the cathedral chapter,

was responsible for significantly enlarg-

ing the building 7, a project for which he

invited Manuel Fernandes da Silva, one

of the most skilled artisans working in

Braga, where he produced a notable

body of work, both as architect and

master mason, from the end of the �7th

century to the middle of the following.

On �6th November �7��, the Dean

signed an agreement 8 to enlarge his

houses in Rua dos Biscainhos, and the

actual L-shaped facade, a common

feature of Baroque architecture from

that century, was probably the work of

the same artist. Of note is the fact that

the master mason made a cardboard

maquette for the job.

The imposing Great Hall, dating from

the first quarter of the �8th century and

incorporating artistic styles character-

istic of the Baroque period, was prob-

ably constructed at this time.

Bearing in mind that the garden’s

central axis constitutes an extension of

the main entrance to the new facade, we

can assume that the garden area was

also structured during this significant

enhancement 9. It should be remem-

bered that the commissioner, as Dean

of the chapter, was the second most

powerful person in Braga’s religious hi-

erarchy, and that this ambitious project

would have been consistent with the rep-

resentation of his power and influence.

Still in the first half of the �8th cen-

tury, the north wing of the palace, fac-

ing Rua dos Biscainhos, was extended

upwards by a further floor that already

registers some elements of a late

Baroque style. The date of this work is

verifiable by a drawing of the building

noting the alteration in the aforemen-

tioned Mappa das Ruas de Braga (Map

of the Streets of Braga) of �750.

If we look at the “Mappa da Cidade

de Braga Primas” (Map of the City of

Braga Primas) (circa �755), we can see

that the Biscainhos estate (building and

gardens) emerges as one of Braga’s

most important seigneurial houses.


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It is assumed that for the occasion

of the wedding of Maria Angelina de

Eça Montenegro to Damião Pereira

da Silva de Sousa de Meneses in �79�

– from whose union would be born the

�st Count of Bertiandos – the building

would have undergone improvements,

identifiable as the creation of the Dining

Room, just as it appears to the public

today, with paintings on the walls, neo-

classical azulejo (tile) wainscots and or-

namental ceilings featuring stucco and

landscape paintings. From that period

and entering the �9th century, some of

the palace’s other ceilings would have

been decorated with artistic stucco

closely associated with equally neo-

classical paintings.

The decorations to the interiors in

the north-facing wing, with wall and

ceiling paintings in the Empire style,

featuring eagle, bee and laurel wreath

motifs, among others, are thought to be

from the beginning of the �9th century,

This then is the heritage that history

has provided us an opportunity to turn

into a museum and to place at the serv-

ice of one and all.

On �4th February �954, at a meeting of

the Junta de Província do Minho (Minho

Provincial Council), the then president,

Dr. Felicíssimo do Vale Rego Campos,

bearing in mind the healthy state of the

body’s finances and in the context of its

respective duties, presented a proposal

for the creation of a museum for which

immediate approval was obtained.

The project became reality nearly a

decade later, on �5th March �96�, after

the acquisition of the Palácio dos Bis-

cainhos from the �rd Viscount of Paço

de Nespereira, Dr. Gaspar Lobo Mach-

ado do Amaral Cardoso de Meneses.

Given the historical and artistic

importance, size and central urban

location of the estate, which had been

classified as a listed building by Decree

no. �7.�66 of 5th April �949, this was an

extraordinary opportunity.

The process advanced through

the efforts in �964 of the architect

Alberto da Silva Bessa, then head

of the Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e

dos Monumentos Nacionais do Norte

(Department of National Buildings and

Monuments in the North), to draw up a

plan to restore the building and adapt it

to the role of a museum.

The museum’s origins

Once the work had been completed,

the canon Arlindo Ribeiro da Cunha,

an integral member of the council’s

administration, strove to raise aware-

ness of the museum within the local

community in the aim of encouraging

donations for the creation of the muse-

um’s future collection.

For its inauguration, an Installation

Committee was established made up of

Mrs. Maria Emília Amaral Teixeira, Mrs.

Maria Clementina Quaresma and the

architect Mr. Roberto Leão. The Museu

dos Biscainhos opened to the public on

��th February �978.

On �7th March �987, Decree-Law

no. �� transferred responsibility for

the technical and administrative run-

ning of the Museu dos Biscainhos from

the Assembleia Distrital de Braga10

to the then Instituto Português do

Património Cultural and, in �99�, it

was transferred again to the Instituto

Português de Museus (Portuguese In-

stitute of Museums), now Instituto dos

Museus e da Conservação (Institute of

Museums and Conservation), to which

it is currently attached.

The collections of the Museu dos

Biscainhos have been structured

around the donations and bequests of

local benefactors, particularly those

of Dr. José Maria da Costa Júnior and

his wife, Mrs. Maria Celeste Ribeiro da

Costa Júnior and Mrs. Maria Delfina

Gomes da Silva e Matos de Sousa Car-

doso. These have been progressively

enlarged through systematic endow-

ments and loans from private individu-

als and public bodies.

The current collections fall within

the category of decorative arts, refer-

ence being made, among others, to

furniture, Portuguese, European and

Chinese ceramics, Portuguese and Eu-

ropean glassware, textiles, goldsmith-

ery, and metalwork and weaponry.

The collection also includes Portu-

guese and European painting, sculp-

ture, drawings, engravings, means

of transport and ethnography. The

Archaeology section is currently on

loan to the city’s Museu Regional de

Arqueologia D. Diogo de Sousa.

discovering the collections


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Documents

Museu dos Biscainhos - Página principal · MUSEU DOS BISCAINHOS 6 MUSEU DOS BISCAINHOS 7 The Museu dos Biscainhos is housed in a distinguished property that consists of a building