Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Museu de Arte Sacra, Funchal
Madeira is not the first place you would think to look for some of the finest
Flemish masterpieces ever painted, but the 15th-century sugar trade between
Funchal and Antwerp (in modern Belgium) provides the link. Merchants and
plantation owners sought immortality by commissioning altarpieces for their
local churches, often depicting themselves and their families kneeling in
prayer. Thus the gorgeously colourful paintings gathered in this museum of
religious art serve also as portraits of some of the island's first settlers.
Top 10 Features
1 EntranceHall
2 ProcessionalCross
3 StSebastian
4 The
Last Supper
Tableau
5
St James
byDiericBouts
6
Deposition
byGerardDavid
7
Annunciation
byJoostvan
Cleve
8
St Philip and St James
by
vanAelst
9
St Anne and St Joachim
0 TheMachico
Adoration
Entrance Hall
The Renaissance
loggia
facing onto
Praça do Município
has been converted
into the chic Café do
Museu. A great place
for a snack, lunch or
early evening meal,
the café serves
salads, pasta dishes,
soups and light
meals from 10am
to 7:30pm.
!
Entrance Hall
Theimportanceofthe
bishopinlocalsocietyis
relectedintheelegance
ofhispalace,whichnow
housesthemuseum.
Visitorsenterthrougha
handsomehalllooredwith
pebblesformingswags
andgarlands.TheBaroque
stonestaircase,dating
fromthe1750s,islanked
bygildedcandelabra.
•
Rua do Bispo 21
• Map P3
•
291 228 900
• Open 10am-12:30pm,
2:30-6pm Tue-Sat,
10am-1pm Sun
•
Admission €3
£
St Sebastian
Thisearly16th-
centurypainted
stonestatue,
carvedbyDiogo
Pires,isfullof
holesthatonce
heldarrows.St
Sebastian,the
Romanmartyr,
wascondemnedto
deathforhisfaith.
Hemiraculously
survivedthearrows,
butwaslaterbeheaded.
@
Processional Cross
Thisexquisiteexam-
pleofthesilversmith'sart
wasdonatedatthededi-
cationofFunchal'scathe-
dralin1514byKing
ManuelIofPortu-
gal(1495-1521).
Tierupontier
ofGothic
nichesare
illedwithtiny
iguresofsaints,
aswellasdra-
maticscenes
fromthePas-
sionandCruci-
ixionofChrist.
$
The
Last Supper
Tableau
Thisalmostlife-sizetableau
inpaintedwoodwascarved
forthecathedralin1648by
ManuelPereira.Judas,who
willbetrayChrist,sitsalone
clutchingamoneybag.
For works of religious art still in their original setting
See pp40-41
10
