Escola Nacional de Belas Artes building

This neoclassical palace in central Rio was built in the early twentieth century for the National School of Fine Arts, an institution descended from the imperial academy founded with French artists in 1816. Its grand facade with columns and allegorical sculpture faces Cinelândia square, near the municipal theatre and library. The building later became part of the National Museum of Fine Arts, holding a major collection of Brazilian and European painting. The ornate galleries and marble staircases reflect Rio's belle-époque cultural quarter.