Catalog Casa Ásia - Francisco Capelo Collection

The Casa-Ásia Museum, Francisco Capelo Collection is born from a collector's fascination with the East, who for twenty-five years has gathered "... with passion and astonishment, about 1300 works of art that encompass a wide variety of media and are associated with various historical periods and different countries in South, East, and Southeast Asia."
The collection is created from the beginning with the aim of being exhibited to the public, to introduce visitors to religious artifacts, everyday objects, and works of art that circulated among the fourteen countries represented in this collection. The pieces were created for "internal consumption," that is, without any European interference, which immediately constitutes a truly unprecedented cultural asset.
The selection criteria for the pieces has always been rarity, integrity, and beauty, and the assembled collection stands alongside prestigious international museums, constituting a new cultural offering in Lisbon.
The opportunity to house the Collection arose in 2017, from the meeting and agreement between the then Provider of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, Pedro Santana Lopes, and the collector Francisco Capelo. 
The chosen location was a 17th-century palace in Chiado that, after a restoration that earned it a Honorable Mention from Gulbenkian, opened its doors in April 2024.

The Traveller's Eye Catalogue / The Journey of the Gaze presents and illustrates 232 selected works from the art collection of Francisco Capelo, as well as several essays by academics and art historians of international scope, which present and contextualize the different pieces.

Authors: Francisco Capelo, Alexandra Curvelo, Raquel Henriques da Silva, Hedi Hinzler, Sushma Jansari, Fiona Kerlogue, Regina Krahl, Yannick Laurent, Linda S. McIntosh, George Michell, Dhiravat na Pombejra, David Priesley, Manuel João Ramos, Dawn Rooney, Anne-Valérie Schweyer, Peter D. Sharrock, Donald M. Stadner

Year of Publication: 2021
Editor: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers
ISBN: 9789899021396 (PT) | 9789899021389 (ENG)

Access the location HERE.

Guided tours: Tuesdays at 11am and Thursdays at 3pm

Appointments/Information:
Tel.: 213 235 250 I Email: ca.cfc@scml.pt