Frei Manuel do Cenáculo e os Primórdios da museologia em Portugal : a oração do Museu de 1791 e o álbum Lápide do Museu Sesinando Cenaculano Pacence

Abstract

D. Frei Manuel do Cenáculo is an exceptional figure from the Portuguese 18th century. Along his life he was guided by the ideals of the Enlightenment, featuring always a pedagogical side in all his actions. His great life project was to endow the country with Libraries and Museums, necessarily open to the public. It was only at the end of his life, as archbishop of Évora, that accomplished his goal. He was, however, a compulsive collector, creating valuable collections of books, ancient coins, paintings, archaeological artifacts and historical natural objects. Before being appointed as archbishop, Cenáculo was bishop in Beja. There he created the Museu Sesinando Cenaculano Pacence, where he deposited part of its collections, notably a epigraphic section from the archaeological collection. The measures he took related to the creation of this Museum, open to the public in 1791, give him a proeminent role in the beginnings of the Portuguese museology. The date was celebrated with the deliverance of an Oração (which is in fact based on an older one). There was a document that can be referred to as a an early catalogue, with exact drawings of the artifacts, their origins and dimensions, which was called Lápides do Museu Sesinando Cenaculano Pacence. In this thesis, these documents are jointly analyzed, including a transcription of the Oração do Museu from 1791 and an inventory that compiles information relative to the artifacts presented in the catalogue