Located in the basement of the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Rio de Janeiro, the Religious Art Museum has the objective of preserving and disseminating the history of the Catholic Apostolic Church in Brazil. The collection began in 1950, a time when some churches were demolished and their possessions redistributed. Family, convent, and religious institution donations helped the original collection grow over time.
The museum is an institution associated with the Rio de Janeiro Archdiocese, and is currently comprised of more than 5 thousand catalogued items. It includes the John Paul II collection, with 73 pieces related to the Pope’s two visits to Rio de Janeiro, in 1980 and 1997, and works which illustrate the history of the city.