MNAA at the MNSR
Artistic Crossroads
Throughout 2026, the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis (MNSR) will host a series of four exhibitions featuring iconic cultural artefacts from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (MNAA), as part of the MNSR's annual programme dedicated to the theme of ‘Artistic Crossroads’.
The ‘MNAA at the MNSR’ programme promotes dialogue between collections, contexts and languages, reinforcing an inter-institutional, interdisciplinary and contemporary approach. It is a result of the temporary closure of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga for renovation work on its buildings and spaces.
The four exhibitions planned throughout the year will present landmark works from the MNAA collections, offering new interpretations in dialogue with the spaces, permanent collections and conceptual framework of the MNSR.
As part of the rotation plan for the MNSR's Long-Term Exhibition, to be held in February, the painting Adoration of the Magi (a piece from the MNAA) will be exhibited, together with drawings by Domingos Sequeira, belonging to the MNSR collection. Thus, during 2026, the paintings Adoration of the Magi and Descent from the Cross will remain side by side at the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis.
The “MNAA at MNSR” programme is a strategic commitment to collaboration between national museums, promoting the circulation of collections, joint work between teams and the development of new curatorial perspectives. This cooperation allows the MNAA to continue its public mission – to gather, conserve, study and share a heritage of national importance – even at a time when the museum is closed to the public.
Exhibition Programme for the Cycle “MNAA at MNSR”
· Exhibition: SEQUEIRA: the final studies | 12.01-12.04.2026
The four preparatory drawings were made by Domingos António de Sequeira (1768-1837) for the series of compositions he painted in Rome towards the end of his active years in the city (1827-1833). The themes of the Adoration of the Magi, the Descent from the Cross, the Ascension and the Final Judgement are presented as key moments in the Christian narrative, each of them recreated in generous spaces and inhabited by a large number of figures. The visionary atmosphere of the various scenes is elevated by the use of different lighting, able to sensitively express the spiritual singularly of each one. Produced on almost the same scale as the corresponding oil paintings, the solutions for the final compositions appear to be already fully established here, although the artist did reformulate certain details.
After the painter’s death, these cartoons remained in the possession of the family, who, in a moment of need, pawned them to the ‘Mount of Piety’ in Rome, from which they were recovered, in 1859, by the Marquis of Sousa Holstein, son of the Duke of Palmela. After the marquis’ death, in 1878, the four drawings were acquired from the heirs by the Academia de Belas Artes, from where they were transferred to the MNAA.
· Exhibition: CAVALEIRO FARIA: an 18th-century portuguese draughtsman | April to June
· Exhibition ‘Miniatures, various media and languages’ | July to September
· Exhibition: SPLENDOURS OF THE ORIENT: gold jewels from the Old Goa | October to December
Exhibition Programme for the Cycle “MNAA at MNSR”
· Exhibition: SEQUEIRA: the final studies | 12.01-12.04.2026
The four preparatory drawings were made by Domingos António de Sequeira (1768-1837) for the series of compositions he painted in Rome towards the end of his active years in the city (1827-1833). The themes of the Adoration of the Magi, the Descent from the Cross, the Ascension and the Final Judgement are presented as key moments in the Christian narrative, each of them recreated in generous spaces and inhabited by a large number of figures. The visionary atmosphere of the various scenes is elevated by the use of different lighting, able to sensitively express the spiritual singularly of each one. Produced on almost the same scale as the corresponding oil paintings, the solutions for the final compositions appear to be already fully established here, although the artist did reformulate certain details.
After the painter’s death, these cartoons remained in the possession of the family, who, in a moment of need, pawned them to the ‘Mount of Piety’ in Rome, from which they were recovered, in 1859, by the Marquis of Sousa Holstein, son of the Duke of Palmela. After the marquis’ death, in 1878, the four drawings were acquired from the heirs by the Academia de Belas Artes, from where they were transferred to the MNAA.
· Exhibition: CAVALEIRO FARIA: an 18th-century portuguese draughtsman | April to June
· Exhibition ‘Miniatures, various media and languages’ | July to September
· Exhibition: SPLENDOURS OF THE ORIENT: gold jewels from the Old Goa | October to December