Name of Monument:

Pimenta Palace

Also known as:

House of Quinta da Pimenta; House of Madre Paula; Galvão Mexia Palace; Museu da Cidade (Museum of Lisbon)

Location:

Campo Grande, Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Date:

18th century

Artists:

Unknown architects

Denomination / Type of monument:

Secular/civil architecture, palace

Patron(s):

Attributed to King João V

History:

The history of the Pimenta Palace is not well known but it is nonetheless an interesting example of 18th-century suburban civil architecture. Legend attributes its construction to King João V who, supposedly, commissioned the palace to accommodate Mother Paula, a nun from the Odivelas Monastery, who was also his mistress. The palace would be the venue for the King's love affairs. It was also the residence of the Galvão-Mexia family. In 1956 it was purchased by the Lisbon municipality. Between 1979 and 1984 the Museum of Lisbon was set up and opened there.

Description:

A rectangular main building with a running façade, two floors and an attic.
The building has windows at ground level with discreet Baroque framing. A great gateway at the centre of the edifice is for ceremonial entrances and is wide enough for a carriage. The gateway is crowned with a semicircular pediment with an erudite plan influenced by Mafra Baroque. On the east side, as part of the Museum of Lisbon's exhibition, there is an “ensemble d'époque” or installation which recreates the atmosphere of an 18th-century suburban palace.
The museum runs throughout the whole building. It includes a rich archaeological collection, sculpture, faience, prints, paintings and drawings. The collection testifies to the history of Lisbon with an important collection of drawings of the Águas Livres Aqueduct and documents relating to the reconstruction of the city after the earthquake of 1755.

A suburban palace of the Baroque period dating to the 18th century, it has a rectangular courtyard at the back and a re-created farm. It was once associated with Campo Grande – an agricultural farm – on what was once rural land in the outskirts of the city.

How Monument was dated:

Historical evidence and stylistic analysis

Special features

Ensemble d’époque: Kitchen

Ground floor, Pimenta Palace

c.1750

Unknown artist

Re-creation of an 18th-century kitchen set up in what was the original palace kitchen. Lined with azulejos (tile panels) of random figures alluding to culinary themes (for example, a bad cook and hanging game), it is equipped with a wide-mouthed chimney, stone tables and contemporary kitchen utensils.

Staircase

Interior of the palace, Pimenta Palace

c.1750

Unknown artist

A staircase of great scale and ostentation it is fixed in the nucleus of the palace.

Ensemble d’époque: Bedroom

Ground floor, Pimenta Palace

c.1750

Unknown artist

Installed in the east wing facing the Buxo Garden is a re-creation of an 18th-century bedroom. It is worth mentioning in particular the azulejos that line the walls depicting rural themes, romantic scenes and chinoiseries most of which date to 1746.

Ensemble d’époque: Dining-Room

Ground floor, Pimenta Palace

c.1750

Unknown artist

Like the bedroom, the re-creation of an 18th-century dining-room is located in the east wing of the palace. Again worthy of mention are the azulejos that line the walls depicting rural themes, romantic scenes and chinoiseries most of which date to 1746.

Model of Lisbon before the earthquake of 1755

Ground floor, Pimenta Palace

1950s

Gustavo Matos Cerqueira, Vieira da Silva and others

A large-scale model of Lisbon’s city centre before the earthquake of 1755.

Selected bibliography:

Moita, I., (director), O Livro de Lisboa, Lisbon, 1994.
Serrão, V., “O Barroco”, História da Arte em Portugal, Lisbon, 2003.

Citation of this web page:

Paulo Pereira "Pimenta Palace" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;pt;Mon11;26;en

Prepared by: Paulo PereiraPaulo Pereira

SURNAME: Pereira
NAME: Paulo

AFFILIATION Faculty of Architecture, Technical University of Lisbon

TITLE: University Lecturer

CV:
Paulo Pereira holds an MA in Cultural Studies and has been a speaker at numerous seminars and congresses in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, the United States and Brazil. Paulo has co-ordinated and published books about Portuguese art and history, some of which are award winning. He is curator of several exhibitions held in Portugal, Ghent, Brussels and Berlin and been a contributing author for several exhibition catalogues. He has exercised managerial roles within the Town Hall of Lisbon, was Vice President of the Portuguese Heritage Institute (IGESPAR) and is a lecturer at the Technical University of Lisbon (Faculty of Architecture).
Translation by: Lili Cavalheiro, Cristina CorreiaCristina Correia

SURNAME: Correia
NAME: Cristina

AFFILIATION: Eça de Queirós Public High School, Lisbon and MWNF

TITLE: Senior Teacher, Local Co-ordinator and Vice-President of MWNF

CV:
Cristina Correia is a History graduate and, since 1985, a Senior Teacher of History at the Eça de Queirós Public High School, Lisbon where she also lectures in Portuguese Language and Culture for non-native speakers. From 1987 to 1998 she was involved with youth affairs, primary prevention and the Camões Institute. She is Vice-President and Local Co-ordinator (Portugal) for MWNF.
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: PT 26