Museu Nacional de Belas Artes

The core of Brazil's most important museum of Brazilian art arrived with royalty. King John VI brought part of the Portuguese Royal Collection when the court moved to Brazil in the early 19th century, and those works stayed after his return to Europe. The Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts) is especially rich in 19th-century paintings and sculptures, which makes it well suited to visitors interested in that period of Brazilian art.

The collection holds more than 20,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints by Brazilian and international artists, ranging from the High Middle Ages to contemporary art. Smaller groups of decorative arts, folk art and African art add to it, and the library holds about 19,000 titles.

Founded in 1937 and inaugurated in 1938, the museum inherited both the collection and the headquarters of the National School of Fine Arts. That headquarters is an eclectic-style building from 1908, designed by Spanish architect Adolfo Morales de los Ríos. It was listed as Brazilian national heritage in 1973.