Nacional de Arte Antiga

-

Our choice of activity on a cloudy day, sixth day of our trip 2 May 2018, was the Nacional de Arte Antiga (MNAA) National Museum of Ancient Art. We started the day with the Miradouro de Santa Catarina.  Despite of the gloomy weather, the open view of Lisbon is nice. Nearby is the Pharmacy and Health Museum.


The visit began with paintings of Lisbon before the earthquake in 1755. Big square, mighty Sao George Castle standing over the hill, big port with numerous ships, extinct buildings reveal the old look of charming Lisbon.

 
 

The most popular Panels of St. Vincent was crowded with people.  We arrived at the top floor to appreciate sculptures from the ancient time and then The Adoration of St. Vincent, a multi-panel work from a 15th century Portuguese master, Nuno Goncalves. St. Vincent is surrounded by noblemen and clergymen.  Some faces are repetitive in the different panels.


The museum is dotted with horrified and surreal paintings. We were shock by the terrible scenes at the hell.

 

Another stunning piece is the Last Judgement. Up the top is Christ with his throne.  Maria and John the Baptist serve both sides. Accountants reviewed ledgers of demons and angels for judging their final destinations. The bad ones were thrown into the hell and the good ones headed to the Glory.
 

Still ahead came the Temptations of St. Anthony, from Dutch painter Jheronomis Bosch (15-16th century) which is known for his fantastic illustrations of religious concepts and narratives. The painting contains multiple scenes of Christian monk St. Anthony faced  during his desert pilgrimage. He often saw Satan hovering in front of him in his prayers.  And Satan dressed in different ways to hide the evil nature.


On the second floor, 2 large lacquer screens depict the moment that the Portuguese, the first Europeans, landed in Japan. They were seen as villains, with big noses and wicked faces.


There are many beautiful paintings and sculptures.  I can't show you all but a few to make you more interested to visit the museum.  Among all, I like very much The Adoration of the Magi by Domingos António de Sequeira.  The structure of the composition, the holiness and the light are brilliant.

 

A bit more on the angels in different art pieces: Annunciation and the disastrous earthquake in 1755. It recalled the tragic event with very different scenes, extremely religious not offering assistance to the needed vs. helping the other victims.  The painter Joao Glama showed himself twice in the painting. 




 

Location: R. das Janelas Verdes, 1200 Lisboa, Portugal

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kbal Spean

-
Image
Kbal Spean is a unique archaeological site situated 50km from the Siem Reap.   Religious stone cravings sit on the river banks and bed, 150m stretch of the Stung Kbal Spean River.     Kbal Spean is commonly known as the "Valley of a 1000 Lingas " or "The River of a Thousand Lingas". Lingas are phallic representations sacred to Brahmanism.   It is a symbol of fertility.   Hundreds of them are carved into the rock of the river.   Other carvings include gods such as Vishnu , Shiva , Brahma and animals. To appreciate the beautiful carvings in the nature, one has to climb a trek for around 30 minutes.   Exhausted but worthwhile. Reclining Vishnu is often the theme of carvings.   Others include Shiva and Uma mounted on the bull, Brahma on a lotus petal and still others which I can't figure out exactly. Animals, lingas, yoni dot here and there.            Downdream ...
Read more

Hong Kong Heritage Museum - The Hakkas and Fishing Origin

-
Image
15 June 2012 HK Heritage Museum - Hakka Women It has been more than 10 years that I haven't been to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum .  Today, a Picasso exhibition brought me back.  Hmm, a Spanish artist associating with the Chinese heritage.  It's a special event of the French May .  It drew a lot of people to the museum, though a bit remote.  People, family speaking different languages crowded at the venue.  Picasso 's paintings shown were across his different periods.  Many photos of him and friends were also shown. Hong Kong Heritage Museum is unique in providing the history of Hong Kong, featuring Hakka (Guest family) migration, as a fishing village, the traditional Cantonese opera as the integral parts of Hong Kong's heritage, history and culture. During the reign of Yongzheng and Qianlong of Qing Dynasty (18th century), people were encouraged to utilise wasteland for farming.  A big demographic shift of residen...
Read more

Marshal Zen Garden Beitou 北投少帥禪園

-
Image
Marshal Zen Garden was built during the Japanese-colonised period of the 1920's.  It was renowned for the hot spring and was used as the entertainment hub of the Japanese pilots during the end of the World War II. In the 1960's, it was used to confine Marshal Chang Xue-liang and his wife Zhao Di. We checked in in our hotel Double Inn and was driven there.  The environment is very soothing with a lot of green, flowers and typical Japanese set up. We first enjoyed our afternoon tea after travelling straight from Alishan to Chiayi to Taipei. You can visit the Zen Garden if you hold a booking of  the tour, hot spring or restaurant. It was very nice to enjoy the afternoon in its tea house  小六茶舖. It's cosy and the food was superb, good value for the money. NTD900 for two. Marshal Chang and his wife were detained at the Zen Garden for decades.  Though it was years ago, the exhibition of his room, photos and his life made me feel...
Read more