Center for Sacred Art

This center is housed in the former Colégio church. In the 16th century the Society of Jesus expanded to the Azores, founding its residences and colleges on several islands of this archipelago, namely on São Miguel, in the city of Ponta Delgada, from the year 1591.

The primitive Church of the Colégio dos Jesuítas de Ponta Delgada, of All Saints invocation, as the first stone was laid on November 1st 1592, gave place to a unique monument of baroque creation, with exuberant decorative elements in its facade, of volcanic stone, in the carving of the altarpiece of the main altar and in the eighteenth-century tile panels.

In 1834, the church was acquired from the State by Nicolau Maria Raposo de Amaral, owner of the Jesuit College, through paternal inheritance. After 139 years, his descendants and heirs donated the Church of Todos-os-Santos, with its estate, to the City Hall of Ponta Delgada, which decided to cede the space to the Regional Government of the Azores, in 1977, for installation of the Carlos Machado Museum's Center for Sacred Art, and the museum project was approved in 2004.

From the artistic collection kept in the church since the time of the Jesuits, paintings and sculptures from the 17th and 18th centuries are on display in the nave and sacristy, with emphasis on the Coronation of the Virgin, by Vasco Pereira Lusitano (1535-1609), painted in Seville in 1604, and paintings depicting stages in the life of St. Francis Xavier, attributed to Bento Coelho da Silveira (1620-1708).

• OPEN 6 DAYS A WEEK
• Monday - Closed
• Tue. to Sun. - 10:00 to 17:30