The Private Examination Hall

After the university was installed in the Royal Palace, one of the old rooms in the King's wing was used for examinations. The exams were held at night, behind closed doors, with only the student and the various doctors who made up the jury present in the room. This is where the Private Examination Hall got its name.

The layout of the current room results from a remodelling carried out at the beginning of the 18th century. On the tiled wainscot, the gallery of portraits of former rectors draws our attention. There are three of them: Garcia de Almeida, the first rector after the definitive transfer of the University of Lisbon to Coimbra in 1537; Manuel de Saldanha, under whose rectorship King John IV was acclaimed King of Portugal after the Restoration of Independence in 1640; and Nuno da Silva Teles, who began work on the Joanine Library in 1717.

The ceiling is filled with exuberant vegetal motifs. In the centre, the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Portugal stands out and, on each side, there is an allegorical representation of the first Faculties of the University: Theology, with the Cross and the Sun; Laws, with the Scales and the Sword; Medicine with the Stork and the Staff of Hermes and, finally, Canons with the Papal Tiara.