The Gulbenkian Museum is among the renowned art museums in Lisbon and the entire world. Situated at 45A Avenida de Berna, the Gulbenkian Museum houses some of the greatest treasures of Europe. The museum is easily accessible from various areas of Lisbon and the closest Metro stations are Praça de Espanha and São Sebastião Stations.
The visiting time of the Gulbenkian Museum is from 10 AM to 5:45 PM. The museum remains closed on Mondays. The Gulbenkian Museum was renovated on a grand scale in 2001 and during that time, many of its exhibits were displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The collections of the Gulbenkian Museum includes various magnificent specimens of Asian, Egyptian, Islamic,Greek, Roman and European art. The stunning collection had been gathered by a powerful oil merchant named Calouste Gulbenkian. He was also among the richest men in the 20th century. It took him more than 40 years to collect the artistic masterpieces from different continents. Later before he died at the age of 86 in 1955, he donated every treasure of his collection to Portugal.
Some of the exhibits in the Egyptian section of Gulbenkian Museum are a beautiful antique alabaster bowl, a captivating gold mummy mask from Egypt, a
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number of bronze cats and various other priceless items. The Roman and Greek section exhibits an Attic vase that is about 2400 years old and an impressive collection of Hellenic coins. Rare fragments of Chinese porcelain, exquisite Persian tapestries of 16th and 17th century as well as Japanese prints can be seen in the Asian section.
The European art section of the Gulbenkian Museum is vast and several works in the section had been amassed from St. Petersburg's Hermitage. Some of the best exhibits are works by Rembrandt, including his Alexander the Great and Portrait of an Old Man; art pieces of Peter Paul Rubens, Van Dyck, Claude Monet, Ghirlandaio, Pierre-Ausguste Renoir and Rogier Van der Weyden. Various rich French textiles and furniture and Diana's statue in white marble by Jean-Antoine Houdon are also showcased.
The Modern Art Center is situated on beautiful gardens of the museum. It displays various specimens of contemporary international and Portuguese art. Over 10,000 items are exhibited in the center and they include the works by Almada Negreiros, Paula Rego, Vieira da Silva and Souza Cardoso.
The Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon is renowned for having one of the finest collections of private art in the world.
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