Sacred Art Museum of Funchal
Photo: Self-photographed — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Housed in Funchal’s 16th-century Episcopal Palace, the Sacred Art Museum displays 15th-19th century religious art, including Flemish paintings and sculptures.
Planning your visit
Madeira was a sugar island before it was a wine island, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that trade made it wealthy enough to buy art from Flanders — the finest workshops in Europe at the time.
The Sacred Art Museum in Funchal's sixteenth-century Episcopal Palace holds the result: a collection of Flemish paintings from around 1500, commissioned or bought by Madeiran merchants and donated to the island's churches. Works from the circles of Gerard David and Jan Provoost are among them.
That a small Atlantic island holds Flemish primitives of this quality is the collection's whole point, and it documents a trade route as much as a devotional culture.
Portuguese sculpture, silver, vestments and liturgical objects fill the remaining rooms.
It sits in central Funchal near the cathedral. Allow an hour. The main booking is an entry ticket. Current availability is shown below.
Before you book
Where is Sacred Art Museum of Funchal?
Sacred Art Museum of Funchal is in Funchal, Portugal. The map on this page marks its exact location.
How long should I allow for Sacred Art Museum of Funchal?
Allow an hour. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Sacred Art Museum of Funchal in advance?
Tickets can be bought on the door at quiet times, but booking ahead fixes the date and avoids the queue at busy ones. Live availability is shown on this page.
