The National Museum of Fine Arts was inaugurated August 19th, 1938, at the initiative of Gustavo Capanema, who at the time was Minister of Education in the Getulio Vargas administration. The museum is dedicated to the preservation, dissemination, and acquisition of works which represent the Brazilian artistic production of the 19th and 20th centuries. The building was constructed during the urban modernization projects created by mayor Pereiro Passos in 1908 to house the National School of Fine Arts (EBA). The museum shared the building with EBA until 1976, when the School was moved to the Island of Fundao.
Part of the museum’s collection consists of paintings brought by Joaquim Lebreton, head of the French Artistic Mission which came to Rio in 1816 at the invitation of the Count of Barca, who at the time was a minister of the Portuguese court. There are also works produced by members of the mission, such as Nicolar-Antoine Taunay, Jean-Batiste Debret, Grandjean de Montigny, Charles Pradier, and the Ferrez brothers, as well as works of art that King Dom João VI left in Brazil when he returned to Portugal in 1821.