We have remarked before (probably here, certainly in conversation) that we have been much more thorough in our exploration of the greater European continent than we have been of our adopted home country. We’ve dug into the capitals of England, France, Italy, even Greece… more than we have the fair city of Lisbon. That all changed recently, when personal business required us to visit the U.S. Embassy in Portugal, located iiiiinnn…. that’s right, Lisbon. Since we had to make the effort to get there anyway, we decided to stretch the trip out a few days and actually poke around a bit. See the sights, that sort of thing. We consulted the oracles (aka our friends) to prioritize our options, then hit the road.
We’ve actually done a little bit of touristing in Lisbon before, but that trip was short on actual experiences and long on “peering through the locked gate” experiences. This time we double checked that thing we wanted to see were open on the days that we wanted to see them, the way real people do it. Our first item up for bid was the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, aka “the tile museum” to us English-speaking heathens. (That’s extra clever if you’ve read about the origins of the word “heathen“.) I suspect this is common knowledge but just in case: the Portuguese have a deep cultural appreciation for decorative ceramic tile that goes back hundreds of years. They aren’t unique in this but they are particularly well known for it. Decorative tile (“azulejo“) is to Portuguese culture what marble statues are to Italian. Thus it is hardly surprising that there is an intense gallery in the capital city dedicated to outstanding examples of this craft, both from a technical standpoint as well as examples of cultural significance.
While there are numerous exhibits within the converted convent, we felt you could broadly think of the entire museum on a continuum, with “historically significant” on one end and “just plain beautiful” on the other. The earliest examples go back to the mid-1400s but, kind of unsurprisingly if you stop to think about it, they aren’t really the peak of the craft. It’s fascinating to see how far back this art form goes, but the techniques have advanced so far since then, as has the evolution of technique in craftsmanship, that the early examples are just kind of plain looking out of context. (NOT saying they aren’t worth the examination, just that… well, if you were tiling your house tomorrow, you probably aren’t going for reclaimed tiles from 1491 unless you’re a history buff.) By the time you get to the samples of the last few decades there are some truly spectacular works of art.
Click on the images below to see just a few of the exhibitions in more detail. Which, alas, is about as good as it can get for you for the near future, as the museum closed for renovation at the beginning of November with an anticipated re-opening in June of 2026. Fingers crossed!
