Gulbenkian Museum closes for renovation work

Over five and a half decades after its opening, the Gulbenkian Museum will undergo a general intervention with the aim of providing its galleries with better technical conditions to display its extraordinary Collection, thus consolidating its status as an international reference institution.
Plans include the renovation of the air conditioning, lighting and security systems in order to ensure that the museum meets current standards and requirements in terms of the conservation and presentation of the Collection. This intervention will also take into account the management of the influx of visitors, which is now much higher than in earlier years, with the aim of improving their experience.
The various galleries, which have undergone interventions over the years, will also be subject to a general harmonisation, with the purpose of reaffirming the idea behind the original project for the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.
This intervention will also guarantee a clearer and more legible access to the works of art on display, including more information focusing on the Collector and research about the Collection.
So as not to deprive the public of access to the Collection, approximately two hundred works of art will be on display in the Gallery on the ground floor of the Foundation’s headquarters between 12 April and 1 September 2025. Some of the most emblematic pieces from what is considered to be the most extraordinary collection assembled by a single collector in the first half of the 20th century will be on show, covering more than 5,000 years of History, from Antiquity to the 20th century.
During the Museum’s closure period, some of the paintings will undergo a restoration process and be subject to an analytical study in collaboration with the Hércules Laboratory of the University of Évora.