Museum of São Roque: Relics of Art and History

Following a guided tour for children at the Museum of São Roque is the pretext for the adventure of exploring one of the oldest and most important museums of Sacred Art in the country. In a reporting style, the author presents an extraordinary collection, with unique exhibits: the set of reliquaries – the second largest in the world – or the textiles, composed of stunning vestments used in religious celebrations attended by kings and queens, nobles, clergy, and the devoted people. While recounting the discoveries made along the way, Dora Santos Rosa proposes a journey through the centuries in which Portugal was formed as a cultural and artistic reality, but also political, social, and religious. Getting to know the figures who influenced the construction and enhancement of the religious complex of São Roque is another invitation made. Accepting it takes the reader through the corridors of the former house of the Jesuit priests or to distant lands, on missions that spread the Catholic faith far and wide and motivated multicultural encounters. This walk is among the artistic objects that testify to 500 years of Art and History. This is the fourth issue of the “Cadernos Solidários SCML” collection, an editorial series that showcases the work developed by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa in its various areas of intervention.

Author: Dora Santos Rosa
Collection: Solidarity Notebooks

Year of publication: 2010
Publisher: SCML
ISBN: 9789728761806