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The Age of the Baroque in Portugal

November 7, 1993 – April 3, 1994
East Building, Upper Level and Mezzanine

Installation view of The Age of the Baroque in Portugal, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gallery Archives

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: A survey of 18th-century Portuguese art featured 119 objects on loan from public and private collections in Portugal. The exhibition, the first show devoted to works of art from Portugal in the United States, included objects such as silk vestments, furniture, porcelain, and jewelry, as well as scientific instruments, a 66-foot-long hand-painted tile frieze, a monumental altarpiece, and a gilded coach.

A symposium on the exhibition, made possible by the Instituto Camões, was held on Saturday and Sunday, November 13 and 14.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art and the Portuguese Secretary of State for Culture through the Instituto Português de Museus. Jay Levenson was the curator and coordinator for the National Gallery.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible by grants from Pacific Telesis Foundation, Espírito Santo Financial Holding S.A., Banco Comercial Português, Banco Totta and Açores, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and the Luso-American Development Foundation. Investimentos e Participações Empresariais S.A., and the International Corporate Circle of the National Gallery of Art. Transportation for the coach was made possible by the Portuguese Secretary of State for Culture and the Luso-American Development Foundation. An indemnity was granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Attendance: 180,445

Catalog: The Age of the Baroque in Portugal, edited by Jay A. Levenson. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1993.

Brochure: The Age of the Baroque in Portugal, by Jay A. Levenson. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1993.

Download a free PDF of the exhibition catalog (PDF 87.65MB)