Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

Set within a landscaped garden in the heart of Lisbon, the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian holds one of the finest private art collections ever assembled. Amassed by the Armenian oil magnate and philanthropist Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955), the collection spans some five thousand years of art and is displayed in a building designed expressly to house it.

After a year and a half of renovation works, the museum reopened in 2026, restoring the harmony of its original 1969 design by the architects Ruy Jervis d’Athouguia, Alberto Pessoa and Pedro Cid. The renewal, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, brings back original materials and strengthens the dialogue between the galleries, the architecture and the garden.

A collector’s museum

Calouste Gulbenkian pursued only works of the highest quality, from ancient Egypt to the early twentieth century. On his death, the collection passed to the foundation that bears his name, together with the garden that surrounds it. The museum opened in 1969 and was conceived around the collection rather than adapted to it.

Highlights of the collection

The collection numbers around six thousand pieces, of which roughly a thousand are on display at any time. It is organised into distinct groups:

• Egyptian, Greco-Roman and Mesopotamian art, including sculpture, reliefs and funerary objects.
• Islamic art and the art of the Armenian and Far Eastern traditions.
• European painting and sculpture, with works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas and Turner.
• Eighteenth-century French decorative arts, furniture and goldsmithery.
• The celebrated Rene Lalique jewellery collection, among the finest in the world.

The renovation added a new numismatics room, restored the Assyrian bas-relief to a more central position and renewed the Lalique Room, which now also includes paintings by Burne-Jones and Sargent.

Visiting the museum

The museum stands at Avenida de Berna 45A, close to Praca de Espanha, within the Gulbenkian garden. Opening hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, and Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00; the museum is closed on Tuesdays. Please note that between 12 and 23 October 2026, work is taking place in the galleries and some works of art are being removed.

Tickets and full visitor information: gulbenkian.pt/museu.

Image credit: Museu Calouste Gulbenkian (main entrance) by Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.