The Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis is the oldest public art museum in the country. It was founded by D. Pedro IV under the name of Museu Portuense in 1833, during the Siege of Porto.

During the 19th century, it was linked to the Porto Academy of Fine Arts, which led to a strengthening of the relationship between the institution and artistic education. Since its origin and throughout the 19th century, the Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis has become mainly composed of collections of painting and sculpture.

In the 30s of the 20th century it was enriched with the deposit of the Municipal Museum of Porto, and with the extension of its collections to include Decorative Arts. In the field of Plastic Arts, the painting and sculpture nuclei of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century stand out. In Decorative Arts, ceramics are highlighted with a showcase of national faience and oriental porcelain, as well as pieces of goldsmithery, jewelery, glass and furniture from the 16th to the 19th centuries.