Past Exhibitions

King Carlos, a Man of his Time     Now that enough time has passed to allow for serious and dispassionate reflection on the events and protagonists in the final years of the Portuguese monarchy, and one hundred years after the regicide in which the King Carlos and the Crown Prince Luís Filipe lost their lives, we wanted to evoke the figure of that monarch who is also na integral part of the history of the National Coach Museum. In 1864, at the tender age of five months, King Carlos was recognized in Parliament as the future successor of his father, King Luís and, in a way, this was the start of His long education and preparation for the art of governance, which he was to assume 26 years later.         The young prince received an education that was both demanding and modern for Portugal and for the time, partly thanks to the influence and guidance of his Italian mother, Queen Maria Pia of Savoy, and the Germanic roots of his father, King Luís, and his paternal grandfather, King Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He became used to accompanying his parents on their frequent visits in Portugal and around Europe. When he was only two years old, he made his first big journey, to Italy, where he met His maternal grandfather, Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy, and from then one, he never ceased to travel.     At five years of age, he could already read Portuguese and French, at that time the international language par excellence. Although his primary education was provided within the Court, it was based on the same rules as existed for public education at that time, and the little princes were expected to come up to the educational demands in force for other students. When he was nine years old, he was already taking his first classes on the Laws of the State under the guidance of Councillor Martens Ferrão. In a Portugal conditioned by its geographical position at the extreme west of Europe, King Carlos managed to maintain assiduous contact with the other European countries such as Spain, France, England, Germany and Italy, and also to keep up with not only the political and social developments, but also with the scientific and cultural developments of his time. King Carlos was, without a doubt, an enlightened man of the 19th century, something that may have perhaps have distanced him from the Portuguese Court and Nation of the period, which were indubitably less progressive. The Exhibition is organised around a group of objects in the National Coach Museum collection which once belonged to King Carlos and which accompanied him at various times in his life, beginning with items from his childhood, such as his first saddle or his first driving carriage, offered by the King of Italy, then moving on to a set of hunting saddles, used from his youth in one of his favourite activities, including also the ceremonial coaches used at his wedding to Princess Amélia of Orléans, on 22 May 1886, or the Ceremonial Carriage used when he was acclaimed as King, on 28 December 1889, and ending with the Landau he was travelling in on that fateful afternoon on 1 February 1908 and where he lost his life. We owe this small homage to the King who authorised the creation of the Royal Coach Museum, inaugurated by Queen Amélia on 23 May 1905. But also to the Man who, in his lifetime, one hundred years ago, developed an intense diplomatic activity, bringing to Portugal the major European Heads of State in a great endeavour to promote Dialogue as the path to Peace among Nations, when forebodings of a growing tension were already being felt in Europe.

The “Giro” of Our Lady of the Cape and the Processional Berlins

This exhibition was inaugurated by His Eminence the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, D. José Policarpo, and by the wife of the President of the Republic, Dr. Maria Cavaco Silva, on 23 May 2007, the commemorative day of the foundation of the National Coach Museum. It remained open until 27 January 2008, in the temporary exhibitions room of the Museum.

"Documental exhibition that, from the two processional berlins of the Museum’s collection, tells the history of the cult to Our Lady of the Cape Espichel, a collective religious expression which, ongoing since the 15th century, involves 26 parishes included in the current districts of Lisbon, Sintra, Cascais, Mafra, Odivelas, Loures and Oeiras, that receive every year the pilgrimage image of Our Lady of the Cape, and are responsible for the organization of festivities in its honour.

The exhibition put together a collection of archaeological objects related to the prehistoric worship in the area of Sesimbra and Cape Espichel, pieces of religious art of the 18th century that were part of the designated Treasury of Our Lady of the Cape and a diverse set of religious artefacts of popular nature from different ages involved in this religious cult.

The display of a 15 minutes length DVD completes the exhibition setting the historic environment of the “Giro” with moving pictures of the latest processions in which the berlins were used."

The exhibition was presented in Portuguese and English.

D. Amélia, a queen a museum

Inaugurated on 23 May 2006, the commemorative day of the foundation of the Museum. It remained open to public until April 30, 2007 in the temporary exhibition room of the National Coach Museum.

"Documental exhibition that illustrates the life of Queen Amélia of Orléans and Bragança, the founder of the Museum, since her birth in 1895 until her death in exile in 1951 and the repatriation of her remains to the Royal Pantheon of São Vicente de Fora.

The exhibition, organized into panels, is completed by a number of personal items from D. Amélia from the collections of the Pena National Palace and the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa. A dress and amazon saddle of the Queen stand out, just like a marble bust dating from 1862 sculpted by Tomás Costa and a set of drawings and watercolours executed by the Queen.

The display of a 15 minutes length DVD completes this exhibition showing not only moving pictures of the sovereign but also setting the historical background of her stay in Portugal."

The exhibition was presented in Portuguese and English.

Lisbon 100 years ago

Inaugurated on 23 May 2005, on the centenary of the Museum. It remained open to public until May 2, 2006 in the temporary exhibitions room at the National Coach Museum.

"Documental exhibition that illustrates the events experienced in Lisbon in the year of 1905 through the news published in the daily newspapers of the time. Over two thousand and five hundred copies of 13 different titles were consulted and were selected stories on political activity, cultural life, social life, religious life, daily life and business activity.

In this exhibition, organized into panels that graphically reconstruct pages of newspaper presented chronologically from January to December, stands out the inaugurations of the Museum of São Roque, the Royal Coach Museum, the V National Exhibition of the Society of Fine Arts and the death of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro. Completes the exhibition a 15 minutes length video with pictures of Lisbon at the time."

This exhibition which attracted many curious national visitors was also the interest of many foreigners visitors, even though it was a documentary exhibition exclusively in Portuguese, motivated by the illustration of official visits to Lisbon, in 1905, of Queen Alexandra of England, the Emperor of Germany, William II and the President of the French Republic, Émile Loubet, and the display of a video documentary about life in 1905 Lisbon.