[4] Murtinho was born in Cuiabá, the capital of Mato Grosso, and moved to Rio de Janeiro for his education.

[1][5] Murtinho's Imperial-period birth home, Casa Dom Aquino, is preserved in Cuiabá and is the only of its type remaining in the city.

"[2][5] His name adorns a number of public spaces in Brazilian cities, most notably Joaquim Murtinho Street in Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro,[6] and a homonymous street in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso;[7] as well as a centenary public school in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul.

[2] The plantation house of the Murtinho family is now known as Casa Dom Aquino; it is nicknamed "Predestination House" (Casa Predetinada) by historians for producing two of the most important figures in the modern history of Mato Grosso.A Murtinho was born in the residence in 1848, and it was the birthplace of Dom Francisco de Aquino Correia (1885 – 1956), archbishop of Cuiabá.

The Viscount of Ouro Preto and Ruy Barbosa, finance ministers, promoted unrestricted credit for industrial investments and backed it with unrestrained issuance of money.

[5] Murtinho's austerity measures "provid[ed] invaluable service in the rehabilitation of the country's credit"[4] during his tenure at the Finance Ministry.

The historian Delfim Netto stated: "Murtinho believed that the solution to the problem should be found by the market itself, which would be responsible for eliminating marginal producers.

Murtinho stated in the Relatório apresentado ao presidente da República dos Estados Unidos do Brazil pelo Ministro de Estado dos Negócios da Fazenda Joaquim Murtinho no anno de 1899, 11º da República: "Convinced that official intervention could only increase our ills, the government allowed coffee production to be reduced by natural selection, thus determining the liquidation and elimination of those who had no living conditions, leaving it in the hands of the strongest and those most organized for the fight".

José Antônio Murtinho was Chief Surgeon Officer of the Brazilian Army, and was elected vice-president and president of the province of Mato Grosso in the mid-19th century.