Sculpture

Comprising a set of 307 pieces, in the main of a religious nature, the Sculpture collection of the Quinta das Cruzes Museum bears testimony not only to the widespread liking for Sculpture in Portugal in terms of religious images, but also the historic events which, both through the process of the Extinction of Religious Orders and their convents (1834) and the application of the Law of Separation of Church and State (1911), allowed private individuals and the State to come into the possession of these objects.

The sculpture cluster largely consists of the donation by César Filipe Gomes (in the years of 1946 and 1962) and other donations, legacies and acquisitions made between 1950-1970. It has a very broad timeframe (from the mid-15th century to the mid-20th century), highlighting pieces dating back to the 15th to the 18th centuries.

As is the case of the rest of the Museum pieces, the Sculpture Collection includes cultural assets which can be grouped into three major production categories: pieces of National Origin (as is the case of the cluster of Nativity Figures); pieces of European origin (like the Flemish Sculpture cluster); and pieces carried out in the Orient (Oriental and Indo-Portuguese ivories).
Also worthy of mention in this collection are the various elements of Architectonic, Heraldic and Funereal Sculpture which go to make up the Sculpture Cluster, spread around the garden.

Another cluster worth mentioning is that of the works by the Madeiran sculptor Francisco Franco (1885-1955), active in the first half of the 20th century and associated with the artistic production of the Estado Novo (Second Republic). Part of this set of pieces, donated by the Miguéis family in 1974, has been granted to the Henrique and Francisco Franco Museum in Funchal.