The “couriers”: The “guardian angels” of the Terra Sancta Museum Art & History
International exhibitions of the Terra Sancta Museum Art & History collections are not only an opportunity to publicize our project, but also to benefit from the expertise of other museum professionals. The exhibition “Treasures from Kings. Masterpieces from the Terra Sancta Museum” which was held in late 2023/early 2024 at Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, is a case in point.
Thanks to the unfailing support of Professor António Filipe Pimentel, Director of the institution, two members of his team involved in the exhibition – André Afonso, Curator and Executive Curator, and Rui Xavier, Head of Preventive Conservation – are now committed to working alongside Terra Sancta Museum Art & History. In concrete terms, they accompanied the installation and dismantling of the Florence and Compostela exhibitions, playing the crucial role of “couriers”. Much more than technical assistance, they are veritable guardian angels for the Custody’s collections. We met them.
Could you briefly introduce yourselves?
André: “I’m André Afonso and I’ve been Curator of Silver and Jewellery Collections at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Lisbon, Portugal) since November 2021. I’m currently doing my PhD at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, focusing my study on the theme of gold boxes in the Gulbenkian Collection.”
Rui: “My name is Rui Xavier. I’m in charge of preventive conservation at the Gulbenkian Museum and Curator of Oriental lacquers, Japanese prints, and frames. For over 33 years at Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate on 112 temporary exhibitions and obtain two different postgraduate degrees in conservation and museology, from Portuguese Universities.”
Can you tell us about your relationship with the Custody of the Holy Land? How and when did this relationship begin?
André: “When I arrived at the Gulbenkian Museum, one of the first tasks I was given was to curate the exhibition “Treasures from Kings. Masterpieces from the Terra Sancta Museum”. I was the main intermediary between the Gulbenkian Museum, the exhibition’s scientific curator (Jacques-Charles Gaffiot) and the Terra Sancta Museum Art & History. As part of the preparation of this exhibition, I visited the Holy Land twice and was able to discover the works of art in their context. All this was fundamental to the preparation of the exhibition and the narrative to be created around the works. The preparatory work for the Lisbon exhibition lasted just over two years, with an opening in November 2023.”
Rui: “I had the opportunity to meet Brother Stéphane personally at the C. Gulbenkian Museum with the curators and management, and then travelled to Jerusalem in the company of André Afonso and my colleague from the José de Figueiredo Institute, the curator-restorer Belmira Maduro.”
You have agreed to continue your collaboration with the Custody beyond the Lisbon exhibition. What role do you play in exhibitions upstream or downstream?
André: “The work of the ‘courier’ is truly fundamental when an institution lends works of art for exhibitions abroad. The “courier” assumes a great deal of responsibility for the objects that circulate or are transported, including the packing and unpacking of the works when the crates are opened. All these steps are preceded and followed by the drafting of a condition report to verify and document the state of conservation of the objects at a given moment. Here’s a concrete example from a recent mission. The Terra Sancta Museum’s works of art were transported from Compostela to Florence by lorry, and as it involved many objects, I was part of the journey! It took place over four days and three nights between Compostela and Florence, all the while following the necessary technical safety and conservation conditions to enable a controlled and constant temperature and humidity to be maintained, fundamental for the preservation of such sensitive objects.”
Rui: “The courier’s job can be compared to that of a curator or museologist, with similar technical and human challenges. When works are loaned, several “couriers” are involved for each move (Lisbon, Santiago, Florence), which feeds the follow-up process. To put it more concretely, on opening day at the Museo Centro Gaiás in Compostela, we opened and checked 15 crates. The same happened in Florence at the Museo Marino Marini. I stayed a total of 12 days in Santiago before the opening and 6 days during the deinstallation. In both cases, André and I very happily share most of this time and work closely with the curators, architects/designers, curators and restorers, couriers, registrars as well as the teams for packing and unpacking, handling, installations, lighting, security, etc.”
Now that you’re getting to know the Terra Sancta Museum’s collections, is there a particular object that stands out for you?
André: “The gold lamp that King John V of Portugal sent to Jerusalem in the mid-18th century, and the gold filigree lamp that the brothers Khalil and Jiries Dabdoub donated to the Milk Grotto, in Bethlehem, in 1890. In the first case, the lamp is a unique piece, of which no similar example is known in Portugal. In the second case, the offering testifies to each person’s desire to give a little or everything they have to the God and the Creator of their lives.”
Rui: “The 1588 portable altar donated by Ferdinand de Medici. However, I must say that having accompanied various travelling exhibitions of the Terra Sancta Museum Art & History, each of the pieces with which I’ve had the opportunity to interact directly is close to my heart. I also make no secret of my growing interest in mother-of-pearl objects, their study, the materials used, the historical and production context.”
Rui Xavier, you joined the Scientific Committee at the invitation of Béatrix Saule, its Chairperson. Can you tell us a little more about your role?
Rui: “I imagine that I’ll be able to contribute to the publication on the Custody’s mother-of-pearl collection, and that I’ll be able to put my professional experience in the field of preventive conservation to good use through this fledgling museum. I can only emphasize the great honour and privilege, at this stage of my professional life, to have been invited and to be part of this committee, which is made up of such important professionals in the museum field.”
