Among the fantastic array of bigger and smaller museums and art centers that Lisbon has to offer, you can find one for almost all tastes. But once you have visited the most famous ones that dedicate bigger budget to their collections and to advertising, such as the Gubelkian Museum or the MAAT, you might feel hungry to discover some small “hidden gem” of a place in the charming Portuguese capital:
As an art aficionado that I am, today I directed my steps to the small and cosy Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro Museum, a house-museum dedicated to the Portuguese painter with the same name that lived between 1846 and 1905 and left a big legacy in multiple artistic areas: comic, painting, illustration and ceramic design.
A beautiful display of his work with representations from his drawings, his comic characters and his ceramic design is found in this museum that consist of 2 houses separated by a patio, accessing by a beautiful alley covered by plants with very nice cat design ceramics on its walls.
The Rafael Bordalo museum is very easy to reach as it is a short walk away from Campo Grande metro station, and in the same area there are some other interesting museums such as the Lisbon City Museum Palacio Pimenta that we dedicated a separated article to in the past: https://www.freemagazine.fi/a-hidden-gem-in-lisbon-lisbon-city-museum-palacio-pimenta/
It can be visited relatively quick, as it is small, with the main building divided in 2 floors and an adjacent workshop where I saw some activities taking place, while on the building in the opposite site there is the library and the ceramic works. You can clear the visit in 30 minutes, but the price is quite fair for just 3 euro, so it is really worthy if you are in the Campo Grande area. Give it a try!
Official website of the museum: https://museubordalopinheiro.pt/en/welcome-to-museu-bordalo-pinheiro/