The Lello Bookstore Foundation has acquired "Descent from the Cross" by Domingos Sequeira.

A patronage action by a Northern entrepreneur has brought back to Portugal a masterpiece that had previously left the country due to a "regrettable lapse in service," according to various sources connected to Portuguese museums and art galleries interviewed by Expresso. The announcement is expected to be made on Wednesday. When approached by Expresso, neither the Ministry of Culture, the MMP (Portuguese Museum of Photography), nor the new owner of the painting wished to comment.

The most likely scenario is that the Lello Bookstore Foundation, represented by Pedro Pinto—a lawyer, real estate investor in Porto, and head of the Lionesa Business Center in Leça do Balio—was the "private entity" that agreed to purchase Domingos Sequeira's masterpiece. The 19th-century work left Portugal at the end of last year amid significant controversy, following what the Minister of Culture termed a "regrettable failure of the services" of the then Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC), a story first reported by Expresso.

The announcement is set to take place at a ceremony in the National Palace of Ajuda this Wednesday at noon. A "Memorandum of Understanding between the Portuguese state and the owner of the 'Descent from the Cross' painting" will be signed, aiming for its public exhibition in a national museum. Invitations were sent out on Monday to various authorities connected to cultural heritage and directors of Portuguese museums.