page_title: Biscainhos Museum
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Biscainhos Museum / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Biscainhos Garden, in Biscainhos Palace, Braga, Portugal
context_page_description: The Residence of Biscainhos, is a former-signeurial residence located in civil parish of Braga, in the municipality of Braga, in northern Portuguese district of Braga.
context_section_description: In 1665,  Maria da Silva e Sousa married Dr. Constantino Ribeiro do Lago (1619-1686), who was one of the most important civil personalities in Braga. He was a Knight in the Order of Christ, alcalde of Ervededo, Overseer and Judge of Braga, Chancellor of Relação, attorney-general of Mitra, represented the city in the 1667 Cortes in Lisbon. Lago ordered the construction of a residence, that was likely constructed by Basque artisans from the province of Biscay, then working in the cathedral of Braga, resulting in its name, Biscainhos. The work was concluded in 1699 by his son, Diogo de Sousa da Silva, who was also a knight in the Order of Christ.
  In the 18th century, over three generations, the residence was passed-on through the matrilineal descendant of the family.
  On 26 November 1712, Francisco Pereira da Silva (who was the Dean of the Cathedral of Braga) signed a contract with mason Manuel Fernandes da Silva, to expand the residence along Rua dos Biscaínhos, the second executed to that effect. In the course of this work, a ceiling painting in the main hall was executed by painter Manuel Furtado de Mendonça (in 1724), and later, azulejo tile, which came from fabricators in Coimbra.
  In the intervening years it passed-into the possession of various illustrious owners. António Pereira Pinto de Eça, was administrator of the second founding of Bertiandos. João Pereira Forjaz Coutinho, was the son of the Secretário dos Negócios Estrangeiros, da Guerra e da Marinha (Secretary for International Affairs, War and the Army). Damião Pereira da Silva de Sousa e Menezes (1764-1835) was administrator of the first founding of Bertiandos. Gonçalo Pereira da Silva de Sousa e Menezes (1797-1856), Count of Bertiandos, member of the council of Queen D. Maria II, Peer of the Kingdom, Civil Governor of Braga and attorney of the 1928 Cortes. His daughter, Joana Maria do Rosário Francisca Sales Pereira da Silva de Sousa e Menezes (1818-1874), second Countess of Bertiandos, lading-in-waiting of Queens D. Estefânia and D. Maria. Her nephew, Gaspar Lobo Machado do Amaral Cardoso de Menezes, 3rd Viscount of Paço de Nespereira was the last member of the family to be owner of the Residence of Biscainhos.
  The dominant period of its history occurred in the 18th century, resulting in exquisite Baroque interiors that included azulejos, ceilings with beautiful relief stucco work and paintings of the period. It was also framed by the magnificent gardens.
  In 1963, the building was acquired by the District Junta from the Viscount of Paço de Nespereira, in order to install a museum, with work initiated under the responsibility of Alberto da Silva Bessa. On 11 February 1978, the Museum of the Biscaínhos was opened to the public. Due to the financial incapacity of the district junta, by decree 133/87 (18 March) the building was placed into the management of the IPPAR Instituto Português do Património Cultural (Portuguese Institute of Cultural Patrimony). During this time, the exterior facades were repaired and the paintings in the halls were repaired. But, on 9 August 1991, it was succeeded by its transfer into the management of the Instituto Português de Museus (Portuguese Institute of Museums), in decree 278/91 (Diário da República, Série-1A), and later (29 March 2007), to the Instituto dos Museus e Conservação, I.P. (Institute of Museums and Conservation) by decree 97/2007 (Diário da República, Série 1, 63).
caption: A view of the manicured gardens of the Biscainhos
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D300", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Roxio PhotoSuite", "Image DateTime": "2008:06:14 21:06:07", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "218", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "33732", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10029", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:06:14 16:58:39", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:06:14 16:58:39", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "19/10", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF SubSecTime": "30", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "30", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "30", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4288", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2848", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "33580", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}