The Lello Foundation today confirmed the purchase of the painting “Descida da Cruz” by Domingos Sequeira and announced that it will exhibit the work at the Monastery of Leça do Balio on May 18.
In a statement released by the foundation based in that monastery in Matosinhos at the same time as the signing of the memorandum of understanding with Museus e Monumentos de Portugal in Lisbon, Lello stressed that “the acquisition formalized on March 10, within the framework of TEFAF Maastricht, by the Pedro Pinto family, reflects the Livraria Lello Foundation’s ongoing mission to promote knowledge through art and culture, inspiring a more inclusive society”.
In the statement released by the foundation, it is not yet indicated which national museum the painting will be exhibited in, as was announced by the Ministry of Culture on the 12th of this month.
“The ‘Descent from the Cross’ is more than a masterpiece; it is a symbol of our heritage and identity. Bringing this work back to Portugal and making it available to the public is a privilege and a responsibility that we take on with great honor,” said the foundation’s president, Rita Marques, quoted in the same statement.
The work’s departure from Portugal has been shrouded in controversy since the end of 2023, when the then Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage decided to authorize it to leave the country, contrary to expert advice.
The Portuguese owners handed over the painting for sale at the end of 2023, after receiving permission to leave Portugal, justified by the “absence of any legal encumbrance”.
In February, the Portuguese section of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-Portugal) expressed its indignation at the government’s handling of the process that led to Domingos Sequeira’s departure from the country and demanded official answers. Earlier, a group of 12 heritage specialists also sent an open letter to the government expressing their disgust at the way the process had been conducted.
At the time, in response to the letter from 12 experts, the Secretary of State for Culture, Isabel Cordeiro, assured that “all efforts” were underway to find out the “possible conditions of purchase” of the work.
For his part, the president of the Portuguese Museology Association (APOM), João Neto, was at the same time against the public acquisition of the painting, valued at 1.2 million euros, in a context in which the state is “hostage to speculative interests”.
On the 12th, the government announced the purchase of the painting by a private Portuguese company, with a view to exhibiting it in a national museum.
“Descent from the Cross” is part of a group of four late paintings by Domingos Sequeira – with “Ascension”, “Last Judgement” and “Adoration of the Magi”, the latter already in the possession of the MNAA through a public campaign – made during the last years of his life in Rome, where he died in 1837. At least one large preparatory study of the work, in the possession of the MNAA, is classified as an asset of national interest.
