Treasures from Kings. Masterpieces from the Terra Sancta Museum

This exhibition shows the extraordinary and little-known artistic treasure of the Terra Sancta Museum, amassed thanks to gifts made by several European Catholic monarchs to various churches throughout the territory over the course of 500 years, which is travelling for first time to Portugal.

The exhibition focuses on these gifts, which include noteworthy works of European art. The church lamp sent to Jerusalem by the king of Portugal, João V, and the baldachin that housed a monstrance or crucifix, given by Carlo VII, king of Naples, are eloquent examples of gifts used as political strategies at the time.

This exhibition also proposes a journey through the centuries-old history and spiritual symbolism of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, while examining the role played by the Custody of the Holy Land—the Franciscan Catholic institution responsible for guarding the Christian places in the Holy Land—in the receiving, use and preservation of these objects of Catholic worship.

Location: