Museu Nacional de Belas Artes

The present museum building around 1920

Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (MNBA) is a Brazilian museum in Rio de Janeiro .

The art museum was founded in 1937 on the initiative of the Minister of Education Gustavo Capanema . In 1938 the museum was inaugurated by the Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas .

The stock is based in its beginnings on the flight of the Portuguese King John VI. from Lisbon and the removal of parts of the Portuguese art collection to Rio de Janeiro in 1807. These works of art remained in Brazil when John VI. returned to Portugal. Later these works were part of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes , an institute of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro . When the National Museum was founded in 1937, the art collection was housed in the college building erected in 1908. The museum building was designed by the architect Adolfo Morales de los Rios (1858–1928).

The museum is one of the most important cultural institutions in Brazil. In the field of art, it is one of the most important museums of Brazilian art, especially with paintings and sculptures from the 19th century. The art collection includes more than 16,000 items, including paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints by Brazilian and international artists from the Middle Ages to Modern Art. The museum library consists of over 19,000 titles. In May 1973, the National Museum was added to the list of Brazilian cultural assets under the number 860 as part of a building complex on Avenida Central, now Avenida Rio Branco .

The director is the curator Monica Figueiredo Braunschweiger Xexéo (Monica Xexéo).

Illustrations

Jean-Baptiste Debret , Johann VI. of Portugal , Museu Nacional de Belas Artes collection
Giovanni Maria Bottalla , Deucalion and Pyrrha (around 1635), one of the paintings by John VI. brought to Brazil
The collection of plastic copies of the ancient statues of the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes
Victor Meirelles - The First Mass in Brazil , 1861
Pedro Américo - Battle of Avaí (1872–1877)
Giovanni Battista Gaulli - Portrait of Cardinal Luigi Alessandro Omodei (around 1670)
Jan Boeckhorst - Pegasus (1675-1680).
Pedro Weingärtner - Chegou tarde!
August Müller : Retrato de Grandjean de Montigny
Almeida Júnior : O derrubador brasileiro , 1875
Rodolfo Amoedo : Último Tamoio , 1883
José Correia de Lima : Retrato do marinheiro Simão, o carvoeiro , 1853–57