Museu Aleijadinho, Sacred art museum in the Antonio Dias district, Ouro Preto, Brazil
Museu Aleijadinho occupies the Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Antônio Dias in Ouro Preto and has operated there since 1968. Its roughly 250 sacred pieces are shown inside the church itself, among them wooden lions used as supports in solemn ceremonies, a polychrome soapstone image of São Francisco de Paula and a Crucificado. Since 2007 the visit adds multimedia resources, a consistory for temporary exhibitions and themed rooms.
The museum was founded in 1968 by parish priest Francisco Barroso Filho to preserve religious artworks and documents from the Nossa Senhora da Conceicao Parish. Its creation represented an effort to safeguard the region's artistic heritage during Ouro Preto's period of modern change.
The museum keeps about 250 sacred pieces. Among the works attributed to Aleijadinho are wooden lions used as supports in solemn ceremonies, a polychrome soapstone image of São Francisco de Paula, and a Crucifix. The collection also holds vertebrae and a metacarpal bone attributed to the sculptor.
A single ticket provides access to the museum and three connected churches: Nossa Senhora da Conceicao Sanctuary, Sao Francisco de Assis, and Nossa Senhora das Merces. The location in the Antonio Dias district makes it convenient to visit several places as part of one journey through the area.
Among the roughly 250 sacred pieces are vertebrae and a metacarpal bone attributed to Aleijadinho himself, kept alongside his sculpted works. The museum also displays cedar lions carved as supports for solemn ceremonies and a polychrome soapstone image of São Francisco de Paula.
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