As part of the ongoing series of guided tours promoted by the Cultural Council of the Círculo Eça de Queiroz, members visited the Medeiros e Almeida Museum in Lisbon. The initiative provided an opportunity to closely explore one of the country’s most notable collections of decorative arts, assembled by a leading figure in Portugal’s 20th-century business and cultural spheres.
António de Medeiros e Almeida stood out in commercial aviation, car importation, and the sugar industry in the Azores. His professional success enabled him to gather, over his lifetime, a vast and eclectic art collection, which would eventually form the House-Museum now managed by the foundation he established in 1973. The museum opened to the public in 2001 and continues to fulfill its mission of preserving and showcasing this heritage.
The museum is divided into the Old Wing—the former residence, preserved as originally lived in—and the New Wing, featuring rooms reconstructed with original paneling, painted ceilings, and period furnishings. Among the roughly 2,000 objects on display are items of great historical and artistic value, such as a Portuguese silver tea set that accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte into exile, a Breguet pocket watch commissioned by Junot and captured by Wellington, and a fan that belonged to Empress Eugénie of Montijo.
“This visit gave us access to a remarkable example of patronage and cultural vision,” said António Ayres Gonçalves, President of the Cultural Council of the Círculo Eça de Queiroz. “The Medeiros e Almeida House-Museum shows how a private collection can become a public treasure of immense historical and artistic value. This is the spirit that the Círculo seeks to promote among its members.”
The cultural outing concluded with a convivial lunch at the 39 Degraus restaurant, at the Portuguese Cinematheque – Museum of Cinema, allowing for an extended exchange of ideas in an informal setting.