Monserrate Revisited: The Cook collection in Portugal

The celebratory exhibition for the 200th year of Sir Francis Cook's birth, to which the present catalogue refers, marks not only this important occasion, but also the beginning of a new chapter for Palácio de Monserrate. This exhibition aims to initiate the process of transforming Monserrate into a museum. Once the most significant restoration work on the palace was completed, which enabled the recovery of some of the apparatus rooms to their original splendor, it became evident that the building would have further added value if some of the works that originally belonged to the estate were displayed in the existing empty spaces. This would be the only possible method to convey to visitors the romanticist domestic culture of English influence, of which Monserrate was the embodiment in Sintra. The loan of objects belonging to public collections was secured for this exhibition, and once ceased, said objects will be returning to their customary locations. The exhibition will likewise serve as a divulgement and engagement engine in the identification and possible acquisition of objects in private collections, which may then integrate the museum space that Palácio de Monserrate will henceforth represent.