The Machado de Castro National Museum is one of the most important museums of fine arts in Portugal. It was named after the prominent Conimbricense sculptor Machado de Castro. His estate includes important centers of sculpture, painting and decorative arts. It occupies the old premises of the Episcopal Palace of Coimbra and a large new building, opened in 2012. It is located at Largo Dr. José Rodrigues, parish of Sé Nova, Coimbra.

 

The first Universal Exposition, held in the London setting of Hyde Park in 1851, was such an innovative event that many considered it to be the dawn of a new era. Undoubtedly, it had remarkable consequences for industrial production, international trade and tourism, while it produced decisive results for museology and artistic teaching.

This great event has shown that the quotation of any manufactured product is not solely the result of its use value, but is also defined according to taste  criteria  .

To counteract the unanimous primacy of France in taste, the English create an institution designed to extend the influence of art and science on industry, which will eventually be named the  Victoria and Albert Museum  . This innovative establishment was closely linked with a drawing school, the center of a network of local schools, aimed at contributing to the purification of the agents most directly involved in industrial production.

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