The Museum has its roots in the 1833 abolition of religious orders and confiscation of the monasteries in Portugal, which brought a trove of religious art and ornaments into the public sphere. At the instigation of the liberal politician Passos Manuel, the Academia de Bellas Artes was founded in 1836, and established its headquarters at the former monastery of São Francisco da Cidade. Although primarily dedicated to nurturing new artists, that same year, the Academia founded the Galeria Nacional de Pintura on the lower levels of the same building, as a subsidiary division to select, care for and display some of the better pieces of the expropriated monastic art then in government storage. An Academia panel selected some 540 paintings for the Galeria. Predictably, most of these were religious-oriented pieces of Portuguese origin. In the chaos and aftermath of the Portuguese Liberal Wars, some of the private art collections of ruined noble families were expropriated or found their way on to the market. Of particular significance was the painting collection of the disgraced former queen, the late Carlota Joaquina, which was acquired by the Portuguese government and given to the Academia in 1859. The former king Ferdinand II of Portugal, a connoisseur of fine arts, took an interest in the budding organization, secured its royal sponsorship and, in 1865-67, Ferdinand II made a series of substantial cash donations, giving the Galeria an independent acquisition budget, enabling it to purchase pieces on the art market. On the initiative of Francisco de Sousa Holstein. In 1875, a commission headed by Sousa Holstein recommended the founding of a larger and more permanent museum away from the Academia's Chiado building. In 1881, the Academia's educational division was split off and turned into the Escola Real de Belas-Artes, with the Academia Real de Belas-Artes proper limited to cultural pursuits. In 1881, Academia officer Delfim Guedes rented the 17th-century Palace of Janelas Verdes, the former Lisbon residence of the Counts of Alvor that had been seized by the Marquis of Pombal after 1759 and sold to his own brother, the Cardinal-Inquisitor Paulo António de Carvalho e Mendonça. Later sold to the neighboring Carmeliteconvent of Santo Alberto, the palace returned to private hands following the 1833 dissolution. Guedes intended to use it as a temporary space for an international exhibition on Iberian ornamental art organized by the South Kensington Museum in London, that was set to visit Lisbon in 1882.
Foundation
The government formally purchased the Janelas Verdes palace in June, 1884, and recast it as the Museu Nacional de Belas-Artes e Arqueologia, formally founded on 11 May 1884, to house what where then known as the "Museus Centrais" of the State and placed it under the management of the Academia Real. Following the republican 1910 revolution, the arrangement was overhauled and the museum's management stopped depending on the Academia Real. By a decree of 26 May 1911, the collections were split up and two separate and independent museums created - the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, at the Palace of Janelas Verdes, and the Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea" at the old location of the Academia's Galeria at São Francisco da Cidade. The latter collection's cut-off date was roughly 1850, everything prior to that assigned to Arte Antiga. The MNAA's first museum director was the energetic José de Figueiredo, who promptly began reforming the museum based on the latest planning and exhibition principles and re-orienting it decisively towards painting. Figueiredo was the first to study and identify the authorship and significance of Saint Vincent Panels, a 15th-century polyptych discovered c. 1882 and attributed by Figueiredo to Nuno Gonçalves. The St. Vincent panels were installed in the museum by 1916 and remain perhaps its best known piece. In 1940, the MNAA expanded its installations by acquiring the neighboring old convent of Santo Alberto and turned it into an annex connected by a footbridge. The chapel of the convent, a fine example of 18th Portuguese Baroque art and architecture, was incorporated into the exhibits.
Collection
The collection includes painting, sculpture, metalwork, textiles, furniture, drawings, and other decorative art forms from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century. The collections, especially those for the 15th and 16th centuries, are particularly important regarding the history of Portuguese painting, sculpture, and metalwork.
Portuguese metalwork is another highlight of the museum. Among its collection are outstanding pieces from the 12th to the 18th centuries. One of the most notable examples is the famous monstrance of Belém. It might have been made by the playwright, actor, and poet, Gil Vicente. According to an inscription on the monstrance, it was created out the gold brought back to Portugal from Kilwa in 1504-05 by the admiral Vasco da Gama.
Textiles
The MNAA's collection of textiles spans millennia, including pieces from France, Ancient Egypt, Portugal, India, and Italy, among other places.
Imperial collection
The MNAA's Coleção de Arte da Expansão is the museum's vast collection of art from the former Portuguese Empire, collected from the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
Furniture
The MNAA's collection of pieces of furniture span several centuries and originate primarily in France, Italy, Portugal, Portuguese India, among other places. The most notable collections are those of the :Category:Royal residences in Portugal|Portuguese royal residences and the collection of pieces from colonies of the Portuguese Empire.
