Memory and Heritage Sector Coordination
Professor Dr. Marize Malta
marizemalta@eba.ufrj.br
The Dom João VI Museum collection of the School of Fine Arts / UFRJ has its history started in the nineteenth century. The vast acquis originally featured works from the Royal Collection, donated by D. João VI, and others brought by Joaquim Lebreton, head of the caravan of French artists and craftsperson responsible for creating a school of arts and crafts, a fact that occurred in 1816. The so-called Pinacoteca of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts still included works of contests, such as travel awards, pensioners’ submissions, student exercises, copies of works of great masters, sculptures, and didactic reliefs, as well as acquisitions and donations. The country’s dominant artistic collection, however, was dismembered in 1937, when much of it originated the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA), involving the transfer of more than 3,500 items.
The works that were not selected to compose the MNBA collection remained in the domains of the National School of Fine Arts (ENBA), which, since 1971, was incorporated into the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), adopting the name of Escola of Fine Arts (EBA). In 1975, the EBA was transferred to the University City on Fundão Island, taking all its material and historical heritage to part of the modernist building of the Faculty of Architecture. In 1979 was created by the then director Almir Paredes Cunha the D. João VI museum of the EBA-UFRJ, which brought together the old works and documents, to preserve and disseminate the history of the school itself and artistic teaching in Brazil.
In 2004, Professor Sonia Gomes Pereira was selected by Petrobras to develop the Memory Project of Brazilian Art of the 19th and 20th Century: revitalization of the D. João VI Museum of EBA / UFRJ. During the Project, the museum occupied the 2nd floor of the Jorge Machado Moreira building, was moved to the 7th floor, leading to an innovative museum proposal, characterized by an open technical reserve, underlining the character of a university museum aimed at for research and support for teaching and extension.
Learn more: www.museu.eba.ufrj.br
Plan if you haven’t yet visited the Dom João VI Museum or want to take your group! We have open arms to welcome you!
The museum is an open technical reserve. The staff will accompany a limited number of people. There are two types of visits:
FREE: Free visiting hours at the Dom João VI Museum – Monday to Thursday, with entry from 9 am to 12 pm and 12:30 pm to 2 pm.
GROUPS: For group visits – classes with professors or mediated visits it is necessary to fill out the prior scheduling form and check availability by email: educational.cmp@eba.ufrj.br
In-person research requires an appointment, depending on the collection:
Dom João VI Museum: museu@eba.ufrj.br
Historical Archive: arquivohistorico@eba.ufrj.br
Rare Works Library: reservasraras@eba.ufrj.br
