Date
26/11/2025

‘Musical iconography in the chapels, churches and convents of the municipality of Funchal: a look at artistic and cultural heritage’ is the name of the temporary exhibition open to the public at the School of Applied Arts (ESART) of the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco.

The initiative is the result of a partnership between the Centre for Studies in Sociology and Musical Aesthetics (CESEM) of the New University of Lisbon, the Conservatory – School of Arts of Madeira and the Regional Directorate for Culture of Madeira. After two years in the field, the work served as the basis for the exhibition, culminating in the recent presentation of the catalogue of the same name.

The project aimed to study, document and disseminate the sacred and religious heritage related to musical iconography (a discipline focused on the reading of symbolic codes and representations of sound and musical practice in the visual arts) present in some temples in the city of Funchal or already in museum contexts.

Analysing oil paintings, panels, sculptures and tiles from the Convent of Santa Clara, the Church of the College, the Church of Boa Nova, the Church of Socorro, the Chapel of the Holy Family, the Chapel of Alegria, the Chapel of Santana, the Chapel of Nazaré, the Chapel of Corpo Santo, Museum of Sacred Art and Funchal Cathedral, the aim was to identify musical instruments and figures of musicians in contexts where music played a central role in sacred and/or religious art, providing a comprehensive overview of this in Funchal’s sacred and religious iconography.

The exhibition was initially on display between March and August at the Santo Amaro Museum Centre, located in Torre do Capitão, in the capital of the autonomous region. After its stay at ESART, it is expected to continue its itinerant journey.

The official opening in Castelo Branco on 25 November was preceded by a presentation entitled ‘The “intelligence” of artificial intelligence (AI) in art and musical iconography’ by Luzia Rocha. In her speech, one of the CESEM researchers responsible for designing the exhibition drew attention to the potential errors caused by the failure to identify images originating from AI.

This was followed by two musical pieces performed by a student from the singing class and an introduction to the exhibition by Luísa Correia Castilho, a lecturer at ESART and also a member of CESEM.

The exhibition, comprising almost three dozen items, will be open to the public in the main corridor on the upper floor of the school until 2 January 2026.