Description: The Museu Jose Regio from the outside just looks likes like any large Portuguese house that has been newly painted but this particular house on the street named after the museum and the man who lived in the house gives visitors an insight into the life and teachings of one of Portugal's better known poets. His full title was Jose Maria dos Reis Pereira and he was born in 1901 in a metropolitan borough of Porto known as Vila do Conde.
In the year of 1925, his first book of poetry was published, Poems of the God and the Devil, using the pseudonym, Jose Regio. And this is how he is affectionately known in Portugal.
Jose was brought up in Portalegre and spent 34 years in this house. As a writer had he strong modernist ideals. In his early days he wrote for the Lisbon daily paper – Diario de Noticias.
Inspired by another famous poet Luís Vaz de Camões (1524-1580) Jose went on to produce a fine body of work including plays and poetry. His work has strong religious overtones but always questioning man’s interaction with God and how individuals behave in society.
The museum is fascinating inside displaying various collections of items of every day use, tools and utensils he would have used during the 34 years of his life spent here. He was an avid collector of artesanto crafts (ceramics, agricultural utensils) mainly because he had always been influenced by his grandfather who was from the Alentejo, an agricultural region of Portugal.
Walking around the different rooms you get the feeling of what life was like for the people of the Alentejo 70 or 80 years ago; not always grand. Some of the furniture was simple in design but made from solid oak and I should imagine very heavy to move around. I liked the way rooms were presented, how it would have been when he was living in Portalegre all those years ago.
The rooms I enjoyed looking at the most were the two kitchens One of the kitchens displayed collections of hand painted plates which originated from Coimbra. The plates are called 'ratinhos' named after people who came looking for seasonal work on the land in the Alentejo. Ratinhos means mouse in Portuguese and the workers were named this because they always seemed to be dressed in grey. The work of the ratinhos was cutting wheat with a scythe. These very decorative Faience plates were exchanged for food and clothing.
The second kitchen concentrated more on larger domestic utensils – water carriers and huge cooking pans made from metal. Wrought iron must have been popular in this part of the Alentejo as there were many examples; some very decorative and others practical – like stands for hanging utensils on and metal was even used in the design of window and door frames.
Interesting to note the beautifully carved wooden tools used to make decorative indentations in loaves of bread and cakes and hand crafted grinders for grinding flour. I was familiar with some of the handicrafts on display as I have seen lots of these kinds of things being sold at antique and country fairs throughout Portugal. Some go for a large price and are very popular with collectors.
In one of the rooms there is a a very important collection of sacred art and figures of Christ. The main crucifix is a little overwhelming but fascinating, if a little solemn. Some people will enjoy these religious artefacts but I found most of the sculptures although well crafted a bit drab.
The poet died in 1969 and this house-museum was opened in 1971.
Opening times: Tues-Sun 9.30 – 12.30, 2-6. Closed Monday and Public Holidays.
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