Collections
Located in the former convent kitchen, the Maynense Museum has a permanent exhibition gallery featuring its most relevant collections since 2015. Located in the Museum, or spread throughout the institution's spaces, we can mention the following main centres:
Scientific instruments and teaching materials
Legacy of the Philosophical Journey
Archaeology of the 1755 Earthquake
Decorative arts
Tiles
Painting
Sculpture
Scientific instruments and teaching materials
A substantial number of the Maynese Museum's artifacts are associated with the teaching of experimental sciences at the institution, where subjects such as anatomy, geography, geology, natural history, physics, chemistry and zoology were taught until the beginning of the 20th century. They were mainly acquired during the 19th century, with the following examples standing out:
Classic anatomical models
For the study of the human body and its various systems, the set of collapsible anatomical models, made of papier-mâché and commissioned from the French anatomist Louis Auzoux in 1853, were used in anatomy classes.
Scientific instruments
Hundreds of scientific instruments acquired in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries for the Academy’s Physics Cabinet, as well as important objects and materials for teaching chemistry (laboratory equipment and chemical reagents).
Zoological specimens
From a variety of sources, a considerable number of the museum's naturalised species have been used to support Natural History and Zoology classes. Originating mainly from the Royal Museum of Ajuda, they comprise a varied sample of taxidermised animals such as birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
Legacy of the Philosophical Journey
Ethnographic and natural history material collected by the naturalist Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira (1756-1815) during his scientific expedition to the Amazon Basin in Brazil, between 1783 and 1792. Under orders from the crown, Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira was responsible for describing, collecting, packaging and sending to Lisbon utensils and materials used by the local population, as well as samples of mineral, botanical and zoological specimens. The Museum has hundreds of specimens from this scientific expedition in its collection.
Archaeology of the 1755 Earthquake
In 2004, following restoration work, an archaeological excavation was carried out in the cloister of the former convent, which revealed important data for understanding its history and that of the city of Lisbon. Numerous archaeological and osteological remains of the victims of the 1755 earthquake were found in the south wing of the cloister. Deposited on the graves of the convent necropolis, hundreds of human remains were identified, scattered and mixed with animal remains, objects, fragments of buildings, charcoal and ashes.
Decorative arts
Among the testimonies to the Franciscan religious life in the former Convent of Our Lady of Jesus, we highlight ceramics that belonged to the convent's old apothecary, oratories or an amber rosary given by the king consort, Pedro III (1717-1786), to his confessor, Friar José Mayne.
Tiles
Covering the interior and exterior surfaces, the tiles of the former Convent of Our Lady of Jesus are structural elements in its architecture. The building's tile production - which includes panels from the first half of the 18th century to the present day - confirms the multiple solutions and techniques of one of the most relevant expressions of Portuguese artistic production.
Painting
The painting collection consists of several works, mainly portraits, of various techniques and chronologies. The convent collection stands out, with its depictions of notable figures from the Convent of Jesus such as Friar Mayne and Friar Manoel do Cenáculo Villas-Boas, as well as portraits of the Portuguese and English royal families.
Sculpture
The sculpture collection includes marble busts of Alexander the Great and Roman emperors, as well as founders of the Academy, such as the bust of D. João de Bragança, 2nd Duke of Lafões and 1st President of the Academy, signed by Joaquim Machado de Castro (1731-1822).
