Soares dos Reis National Museum

Soares dos Reis National Museum (Portuguese: Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis) is a museum, currently housed in the Carrancas Palace situated in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória, in the northern Portuguese city of Porto.

Initially it was housed in the Convent of Santo António (in the centre of Porto), exhibiting religious art confiscated from Portuguese convents, and those works of art expropriated from the absolutist followers of Miguel I (who had struggled against Peter IV a year before).

[1] But, it was in 1911 that the museum obtained its collection of work by Soares dos Reis, a celebrated Portuguese sculptor, taking on the name of its benefactor.

In 1942 the museum was transferred from the centre of the city to the former-residence of the Moraes e Castro family, known commonly as the Carrancas (which means scowlers/frowners, a passing reference to the disapproving nature of its members).

The museum has a vast collection mainly focused on Portuguese art of the 19th and 20th centuries, including painting, sculpture, furniture, metalwork and ceramics.

The procession by Auguste Roquemont