[1][2] It began its activities in 1986 at the Tancredo Neves Cultural Center (Centur) with a collection that included donations of private pieces as well as items from other state government agencies.

[1][2] In the 18th century, Portugal and Spain signed the Treaty of Madrid, a document that defined the boundaries between their respective South American colonies and allowed technicians from Europe to come to Pará (a process mediated by General Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado, brother of the Marquis of Pombal) such as geologists, mathematicians and architects, like Antônio José Landi, who was hired to design a government palace.

[2][4] In the 19th century, the official accession of Pará to the independence of Brazil in August 1823 and the death of Bernardo Lobo de Souza during the Cabanada in January 1835 by the native Domingos Onça marked the history of the palace.

[2] After the museum was created in 1981, it began its activities in 1986 on the fourth floor of the Tancredo Neves Cultural Center (CENTUR) and was later relocated to the Bolonha Mansion, where it operated until 1994, when it was moved to the Lauro Sodré Palace, its current location.

[2][6] The museum also has the governors' gallery, the Vicente Sales, Antônio Landi and Plácido de Souza rooms, the Open Studio and the Art Nouveau and Pompeian halls.