A exposição do sagrado no museu

The sacred is interdict, so its exposure in the secular space of the museum seems contradictory. Christianity, however, creates a precedent in the context of religions, to restrict the interdiction, allowing the sacred objects, when disaffected, to be transferred to museological functions. The history of Portuguese museology is made up largely of ecclesiastical initiatives and incorporating sacred art objects. However, in the first museums, religious objects were approached as art objects. Only later did museums become aware of the importance of data such as function, meaning and symbol. Correspondingly, contemporary museography designs strategies that enhance the content of the sacred in religious heritage.