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Extensive trade with Flanders from the fifteenth century to the mid-sixteenth century, supported by a flourishing sugar industry on the south coast of Madeira Island, in Portugal, accounts for the abundance of Flemish paintings, sculptures and silver artworks on the island. In that period, many manufacturers and sugar factory owners, as well as local traders, ordered sumptuous items from Flanders. Artworks – ranging from paintings and sculptures to liturgical implements, vestments, and funerary plaques – were imported from the cities of Bruges, Louvain, Brussels and Antwerp in the Flanders region, where Madeira’s sugar was sold.

Today, the collection on display at the Sacred Art Museum of Funchal is the most significant ensemble of Flemish art on the Island – and possibly in Portugal. The collection dates from the late fifteenth to the mid-sixteenth century. The collection of Flemish paintings is one of the highlights of the museum, with works attributed to artists including Jan Provoost, Joos Van Cleve, Pieter Coecke van Aelst, and Dierc Bouts.

Elisa Vasconcelos, Head of Collections Management (March 2024)