The permanent exhibition dedicated to 19th and 20th century azulejos organised around the upper floor of the D. João III cloister.

On display are examples of patterns produced using semi-industrial and industrial techniques in the new factories that sprang up in Lisbon, Porto and Gaia from 1840 onwards. This production allowed azulejos to be widely used, especially for cladding façades, a fundamental element in defining urban identities in Portugal. Also included in this section are some works by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (1846-1905), responsible for introducing the Art Nouveau aesthetic, produced at the factory he founded in Caldas da Rainha in 1884.

The 20th century exhibition opens with some of the first Modernist statements, patterns by architect Raul Lino (1879-1974), designed between 1907 and 1915. Also noteworthy are works by Jorge Barradas (1894-1971), an illustrator and painter with numerous ceramic works integrated into buildings in the 1940s and 1950s. The collection of modern azulejos features several works by the painter Maria Keil (1914-2012), one of the main figures responsible for the presence of azulejos in urban facilities, who designed patterns for monumental architectures such as the Lisbon Underground. In the section of the permanent exhibition dedicated to contemporary azulejos, you can admire works by some of the key names in the continuity of a five-century-old art in Portugal, such as Querubim Lapa (1925-2016), Júlio Pomar (1926-2018), Manuel Cargaleiro (n. 1927), Eduardo Nery (1938-2013), Ilda David (n. 1955), Fernanda Fragateiro (n. 1962) or Bela Silva (n. 1966).