y-es travel chapter: Art sampler

There is, of course, a lot of religious art in Portugal, but Portugal also has a lot of lovely and interesting art that isn't religious. A sampling of a few of the things that I especially liked follows.

Both of the items above are from hundreds of wonderful antiquities and traditional art at the Gulbenkian Art Museum in Lisbon. The 6ft case clock on the left was made in Paris in 1730 of oak and bronze, and was working perfectly, with the correct time, ticking away in the otherwise quiet gallery when we saw it. The item on the right is a dragonfly woman's corsage ornament, a piece from a special exhibit of art nouveau work designed by Rene Juls Lalique. It was about 6 inches in length.

This piece was completely made of metal and is entirely supported by the seemingly limp, dangling (but metal) strands "hanging" from it. It is called "During Sleep" and was created by Rui Chafes. It is on exhibit at the Centro de Arte Moderne (another Gulbenkian supported institution) in Lisbon.

This sleek, clever piece is called "L'homme qui marche, et la femme aussi," was created by Angelo de Soussa and resides in the Museu Coleccao Berordo in the Belem Cultural Center.

These two works, also from the Museu Colaccao Berordo, were created by Binelde Hyrcan. The one on the left is called "Let's Talk" and, unfortunately, I did not note the title of the one on the rught. Hyrcan seems to enjoy making satirical statements about politicians, military, and grand self-important types in general, using chickens to accentuate the absurdity of their posturing.

This was also at the same museum. While not technically art, I guess, I wanted to include this because I enjoyed it as art. On the left you see the men's and women's restrooms - note on the right how the woman's image is made up of a variety of smaller female shapes.


In an Evora park, kissers - not idealistically formed.

I just liked her - in Porto's main square, with some bad dudes' heads below.

In Matosinhos, on the beach, a sculpture of women bemoaning their menfolk lost at sea.

"Charity" for a 1902 tomb, seen in Porto's Francisco

church museum catacombs where it was moved in 1981.

"Mulher con cesto" - Woman with basket, on roadside in the mountain town of Monchique.

There are several Roman ruins in Portugal - there was a Roman presence there for a long time. Some of them have some really nicely maintained/restored ceramic tiling. Below are from the ruins near Conimbrigo, outside of Coimbra.