We visited two other excellent museums in Lisbon. The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, housing the collection of the late Armenian oil magnate, is like a mini Metropolitan Museum. It includes Egyptian, Greek, Asian, Islamic, and European art. The museum building itself is model of museum architecture, built in the 1960’s, with the emphasis on viewing art. I was most intrigued by the Islamic art, having the Alhambra, etc. on the brain. There were Turkish textiles, glass vases, Persian miniatures, and illuminated manuscripts.
Turkish velvet:
Vases:
Turkish velvet:
Vases:
I also visited the Portuguese equivalent of a national gallery. It was a great pleasure, again without crowds, just a few people here and there. (On our last trip to Paris I managed to avoid going to the Louvre, the Orsay, and the Pompidou; why do Paris art museums have to be such mob scenes?) They have a well known Bosch there, the “Temptation of St. Anthony”. Contemplating such a painting in a silent room with virtually no one around is truly inspiring.
A few other things that caught my eye:
detail of a St. Luke by Hugo van der Goes from around 1480:
A Salome by Lucas Cranach the Elder, painted in 1510; that's quite a fashion statement :
A very dour looking church figure:
And proof that Bosch was not the only one to have visions, "Hell" by an unknown Portuguese master:
A few other things that caught my eye:
detail of a St. Luke by Hugo van der Goes from around 1480:
A Salome by Lucas Cranach the Elder, painted in 1510; that's quite a fashion statement :
A very dour looking church figure:
And proof that Bosch was not the only one to have visions, "Hell" by an unknown Portuguese master:
