On the 9th and 10th of October 2023, the Soares dos Reis National Museum hosts the third and final course of the ENDLESS Metal project, supported by the European COST Innovators Fund with the aim of providing skills to professionals of ​​Cultural Heritage that allow advances in the analysis and study of art objects produced in metals.

The Soares dos Reis National Museum’s Documentation and Information Service includes the Library and Archive, and the Museum’s library has its bibliographic catalogue available online, which can be accessed HERE.

Opening hours
The Library is open on weekdays from 10am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 5pm, except on national and municipal holidays.

Summer Program

Meetings on Saturday, September 22, 3pm

Visit guided in Portuguese

Summer programme

Meetings on Saturday 30 September, 3pm

Visit guided in Portuguese

Christ crucified

Valladolid or Palencia workshop

Spain, 13th century

Polychrome wood

Deposit Porto City Hall | former MMP

On September 7, the Machado de Castro National Museum in Coimbra opens the exhibition Manuel Jardim and Modernism in Portugal, featuring paintings and watercolours from the collection of the Soares dos Reis National Museum. The artworks, signed by Portuguese artists who were contemporaries of Manuel Jardim, make it possible to relate and confront the work of this painter from the first generation of Portuguese Modernism.

The exhibition, open until 7 January, includes a self-portrait by Adriano Sousa Lopes, a painting by Armando de Basto depicting the historic centre of Porto at the beginning of the 20th century and two watercolours by Tomaz Leal da Câmara, illustrating episodes from the book A Velhice do Padre Eterno by Guerra Junqueiro.

The Soares dos Reis National Museum welcomed more than 600 visitors on the first Sunday that admission was free from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for residents of Portugal.

According to the new legislation, admission is free all day on Sundays and public holidays, from September 1st.

On this first day, there were 627 visitors, 443 of whom (around 71%) were residents of the country.

For the third year running, the Soares dos Reis National Museum in Porto will mark Neighbours’ Day.

With the aim of strengthening ties with the surrounding community and reinforcing a sense of belonging, Neighbours’ Day will bring together António Ponte, the Museum’s Director, with residents and representatives of the commercial spaces and services located in the block of Rua D. Manuel II, Rua do Rosário, Rua Miguel Bombarda and Rua Adolfo Casais Monteiro.

As well as socialising and sharing, the initiative includes a visit to the new long-term exhibition at the Soares dos Reis National Museum, which has just opened, and will also feature a musical performance by students and teachers from the Guilhermina Suggia Music School.

The Soares dos Reis National Museum began a new cycle with the opening of its long-term exhibition on 13 April. With a history of almost 200 years, the country’s first public art museum is now taking a fresh look at its collections, which must be rediscovered.

Two pieces from the collection of the Casa-Museu Fernando de Castro, which is part of the Soares dos Reis National Museum, are part of the temporary exhibition VITA PRIMA. SANTO ANTÓNIO EM PORTUGAL, which opens on 23 June at the Palácio Pimenta in Lisbon. The polychrome clay sculpture Os Mártires de Marrocos (The Martyrs of Morocco) tells of the martyrdom of five Franciscan friars at the hands of Moorish soldiers, and the painting Cinco Frades Franciscanos (Five Franciscan Friars), possibly from the 17th century, relates to their mission to evangelise other territories.

The pieces are part of an exhibition that presents itself as a journey through the life of St Anthony as a young man and reflects how the values associated with him, both sacred and profane, have become pillars of Lisbon’s identity. The life of Fernando de Bulhões, before adopting the name of Saint Anthony, began in the Cathedral of Lisbon, passed through the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, where he became a monk, and was followed by the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra. The death of the five Martyrs of Morocco in January 1220 made him take up the mendicant cause and set off to evangelise Morocco.

The exhibition will be open until 31 December 2023.

The MNSR makes two itineraries available for download that guide visitors on an independent journey through the long-term exhibition. One of the itineraries refers to the history of the Museum since the creation, by D. Pedro IV in 1833, of the Museum of Paintings and Prints and other Fine Arts objects, until the establishment of the Contemporary Art Center in the 70s of the 20th century . The other highlights the artists and artistic movements present in the exhibition.

History of the Soares dos Reis National Museum – download

The artists in the collections of the Soares dos Reis National Museum – download

The Soares dos Reis National Museum is presenting a programme for four intense months of activities and events that aim to respond to the different interests of all those looking to relax, enjoy and get to know.

From courses to workshops, themed visits to meetings in the garden and music, there are many opportunities to create summer memories.

One of the highlights of this new programme cycle is Thursdays after Hours, with extended hours from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Entry is free at these times and there’s always something going on.

Participate! The Museum is for everyone and for everyone.

João Mário Grilo is at the Soares dos Reis National Museum recording a documentary about Aurélia de Souza, using the temporary exhibition Vida e Segredo, dedicated to the Portuguese-Chilean artist, as a backdrop. The exhibition, on show from 24 November 2022 to 21 May, brought together paintings by Aurélia de Souza, her sister Sofia de Souza and other artists who influenced their work in a space that takes us back to the transition from the 19th to the 20th century.

The documentary, which has yet to be released, is part of the activities planned to mark the first centenary of Aurélia de Souza’s death, which took place on 26 May 1922, at the age of 55. The centenary programme includes an evocative programme resulting from a partnership between the MNSR, the University of Porto, the Catholic University, the Art History Institute of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the New University of Lisbon, the Municipality of Porto and the Municipality of Matosinhos. The launch of a catalogue raisonné with a complete survey of the work of one of the most remarkable women on the Portuguese art scene is planned for the near future.

Based on the exhibition Life and Secret Aurélia de Souza 1866-1922, the Soares dos Reis National Museum, in partnership with the Association of Friends of the MNSR – Círculo Dr José de Figueiredo, is preparing a map of the city of Porto around the artist Aurélia de Souza.

The creation of the map was accompanied by a meeting at the Museum that brought together guides, tour operators and tourism students, museum professionals and researchers. Together, the participants explored the contexts and places of the city at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.

In a second phase, a map of Porto will be presented with proposals for places to visit that are emblematic of the artist’s journey.

The Soares dos Reis National Museum will have free admission on 18 April, the date marking International Monuments and Sites Day. The offer includes a free visit and two guided tours as part of the programme for the reopening of the long-term exhibition. At 10.30 a.m. the visit Games of light and colour: the naturalist formulas of Portuguese painting, by Ana Anjos Mantua. At 3pm, a visit to Brave New Worlds: production, iconography and decoration in the Goldsmiths’ and Jewellers’ collections by Susana Medina. Entries take place online.

On 18 April, free admission is extended to all national museums.

The Soares dos Reis National Museum begins a new cycle with the opening of its long-term exhibition on 13 April. With a history of almost 200 years, the country’s first public art museum is repositioning itself and taking a new look at its collections.
Aware of the demands of an increasingly proactive and knowledgeable society, the MNSR seeks to provide opportunities for new readings and new narratives, always valuing its cultural heritage and honouring the history to which it is heir.
Speaking at the protocol session, the director of the MNSR emphasised that the new exhibition proposes a journey with two parallel and complementary readings. One narrative reflects its history and the way the collections have been integrated. The other emphasises the artists and their works.

Co-funding
NORTE 2020 Portugal 2020 Feder PRR Cultural Heritage Safeguard Fund

Patronage
Lionesa Group Tintas CIN Sign