The origin of this museum goes back to the Retrospective Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art, organized in 1882 in the halls of the 17th century Alvor-Pombal Palace. The success of that event led to the purchase of the building by the state, and to the official opening, two years later, of the Museu Nacional de Belas-Artes e Arqueologia (National Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology).

The main collections of the museum consist of foreign and Portuguese painting of the 12th to 19th centuries, sculptures from the 12th to 18th centuries, jewellery from the 12th to 18th centuries, drawings from the 15th to the 18th centuries, European portraits from the 16th to 19th centuries, Portuguese and foreign ceramics, carpets, textile and furniture.