Museum of Sacred Art (Museu de Arte Sacra

If you can't get to Bahia or Minas Gerais during your stay in Brazil, you can get a taste of the fabulous baroque and rococo art found there at the Museum of Sacred Art. On display is a collection of 4,000 wooden and terra- cotta masks, jewelry, and liturgical objects from all over the country, dating from the 17th century to the present. The on- site convent was founded in 1774. Unlike many of Sao Paulo's museums, the Museu da Arte Sacra boasts a wealth of exhibits and plenty of information in English.

But you have to be interested in the “bells and smells” of Catholic rites to enjoy yourself here. The place is packed with colorful wooden and clay figures of saints and Virgin Mary's from churches across Brazil (many of them dating back to the 17th century), gold monstrance's and silver processional crosses. Among the most curious pieces: an oratory made from a codfish crate in the 1950s; a zany, life- size and very English- looking St George, mustachioed and in a suit of amour; and a rather spooky life- size St Peter dressed as pope, with beehive hat and triple cross.

The museum, in the grounds of a monastery on a busy road, is set to one side of a church that is a regular place of prayer for city- centre workers.

Hours: 11:30 h to 17:00 h; Tue- Sun.

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Contact Information

Museum of Sacred Art (Museu de Arte Sacra
Tiradentes 676
01310-200 Sao Paulo

Tel. +55112436511

http://www.mas.ufba.br