The new Long Term Exhibition at the Soares dos Reis National Museum has just registered the mark of 30,000 visitors in just four months.
Inaugurated on the 13th of April last, and marking the full reopening of the museum, after the requalification intervention, the exhibition brings together the most important collection of Portuguese art from the 19th century.
In total there are 1133 pieces that tell the history of the museum and art, spread over 27 galleries.
The number of visitors registered since April suggests that in 2023 the total number of entries from last year will be greatly exceeded (44,166 visitors in 2022).
It should be noted that, from the beginning of the year until the end of July, the Soares dos Reis National Museum has already registered a total of 43,387 visitors, of which 34.5% are foreigners.
With a history of almost 200 years, the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis – the first public art museum in the country – has been repositioning itself, now presenting a new look at its collections.
The new Long Term Exhibition proposes a way with two parallel and complementary readings. A narrative reflects the history of the museum and the way in which the collections were integrated. Another one values artists and their work. Another values artists and their works.
About the Soares dos Reis National Museum
The Soares dos Reis National Museum has its origins in the Museum of Paintings and Prints and other objects of Fine Arts, created in 1833 by D. Pedro IV of Portugal, first Emperor of Brazil, to safeguard assets kidnapped from absolutists and convents abandoned in the civil war (1832-34).
With the extinction of religious orders, works were collected, among others, in the monasteries of Tibães and Santa Cruz de Coimbra. With the extinction of religious orders, works were collected, among others, in the monasteries of Tibães and Santa Cruz de Coimbra.
In 1839, he became the director of the Academia Portuense de Belas Artes, which promoted a series of exhibitions in which notable artists such as Soares dos Reis, Silva Porto, Marques de Oliveira and Henrique Pousão were awarded prizes, in successive generations of masters and disciples.
With the proclamation of the Republic, it was renamed Museu Soares dos Reis in memory of one of the most prominent names in Portuguese Art. In 1932, it became a National Museum, a time marked by a significant reorganization by Vasco Valente, through the incorporation of objects from the Paço Episcopal do Porto (Mitra) and the Industrial Museum, as well as the deposit of the collections of the extinct Municipal Museum. This is followed, in 1940, by the installation of the Museum in the Palácio dos Carrancas, where it still remains.