Museu de Grão Vasco, Viseu
The Museu de Grão Vasco (Tel: 232 422 049) in Viseu is housed in the former bishop's palace and seminary next to Viseu Cathedral and in the same square as the Igreja da Misericórdia.
The outstanding Museu de Grão Vasco displays the work of Vasco Fernandes (aka Grão Vasco, the Great Vasco), one of the supreme masters of Portuguese art who lived in the late 15th to early 16th centuries.
Among the works on display are the Life of Christ (1501-1506) commissioned for Viseu Cathedral and the St. Peter on His Throne (1530-1535).
History
The Museu de Grão Vasco was established in 1916 and the 16th century former bishop's monumental granite palace is the perfect setting for the works on display, the interior improved by a renovation by the Porto architect Eduardo Souto de Moura.
Exhibits
The collection of art at the Museu de Grão Vasco is displayed on three floors with the centerpiece a remarkable set of altarpiece paintings from the cathedral painted by Grão Vasco and his collaborator, Gaspar Vaz.
Also on display at the museum are works of art produced for liturgical practices (Romanesque to Baroque painting, sculpture, jewelry and ivory), mostly from the Cathedral and churches in the Viseu area.
To this is added pieces of archeology, an important collection of Portuguese painting of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, copies of Portuguese faience, oriental porcelain, metalwork, sculpture and furniture. Some of the latter is from Portuguese voyages of discovery and trade to South America, the Far East and Japan.
In addition to the paintings of Grão Vasco, works of art by such artists as José de Almeida Furtado, Raimundo Madrazzo, Alfredo Keil, Tomás José da Anunciação, Silva Porto, Carlos Reis, José Malhoa, Marques de Oliveira, João José Vaz, Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, Veloso Salgado, Falcão Trigoso, Artur Loureiro, António Teixeira Carneiro and Joaquim Lopes are also on display.
The Museu de Grão Vasco has a cafe/restaurant and an art library and historical archive available to visitors and scholars. The floors can be accessed by stairs or an elevator.
Access & Hours
Museu de Grão Vasco
Paço dos Três Escalões
Adro da Sé
3500-195
Tel: 232 049
Hours: Tuesday 2 pm-6 pm; Wednesday-Sunday 10 am-6 pm; closed Monday
Admission: Fee
Viseu has bus connections from the bus terminal at Avenida Dr Antonio Jose de Almeida to Coimbra (75 minutes), Covilhã (1 hour, 40 minutes), Lisbon (3 hours, 30 minutes), Porto (1 hour, 45 minutes), Mangualde (20 minutes) and Guarda (75 minutes).
Buses also go to Salamanca in Spain with onward connections to Madrid. The bus station is a short walk downhill from the Camera Municipal.
Viseu has a number of excellent places to stay including the Hotel Avenida, right next to Rossio, the Casa da Rua da Paz, the Hotel Palacio dos Melos and the Pousada De Viseu, located in a grand 19th century building.
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