Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Museo Calouste Gulbenkian)

 

Your first question may be...

Who was Calouste Gulbenkian?

Well, he was one of the richest men in the world in the twentieth century. He was born in Armenia in 1869. He made billions of dollars in the oil industry. He lived in London and Paris as well and spent his last 15 years in Lisbon. He died in 1955 at the age of 86.  

Calouste collected over 6,000 works of art in his lifetime and donated it all to Portugal upon his death. He never saw the museum, which finally opened in 1969, but I'm sure he would have been very pleased with how it all turned out.

There are European paintings by many of the masters including Rembrandt, Renoir, Ghirlandaio, Rubens, Manet, Monet, Gainsborough and Turner.

Besides the beautiful paintings, there's also a wonderful collection of artifacts of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Islamic, Asian and European origin.

After touring the museum we took a walk in the Gulbenkian Park that surrounds the museum.

              You'll also find some interesting art in the park. 😊

So...if you're into art, this is truly a 'must see' in Lisbon.