State Historical Museum of Pará, History museum in Cidade Velha district, Belém, Brazil.
The State Historical Museum of Pará is housed in the Lauro Sodré Palace, a building designed by Italian architect Antonio Landi between 1762 and 1771 and inaugurated in 1772. The palace, built with indigenous labor, features a grand staircase leading to galleries, a library, an auditorium, and themed rooms such as the Pompeian, Empire, Renaissance, Art Nouveau, and Neoclassical halls. Its collection includes furniture, paintings, and decorative arts from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The museum was established in 1981 and initially operated at Centro Cultural Tancredo Neves before relocating in 1986 to Palacete Bolonha. It subsequently moved to its current location in a building that once served as the seat of government.
The palace's name honours Lauro Sodré, the first republican governor of Pará. The first Círio de Nazaré procession left from here in 1793, a devotion brought by Portuguese colonizers. The Renaissance Hall, the palace's most important room, has cast steel decoration from the United States bought by Governor Lauro Sodré in 1894, and holds Antônio Parreiras's painting A conquista da Amazônia, commissioned by Governor Augusto Montenegro.
The museum occupies the upper floor of the Lauro Sodré Palace in the Cidade Velha district; a large staircase at the entrance leads up to the collection. The Renaissance Hall holds cast-steel decoration bought by Governor Lauro Sodré in 1894, and the Eclectic Hall was decorated by the French artist Joseph Cassé.
The palace's Renaissance Hall, its most important room, is decorated with cast steel from the United States bought by Governor Lauro Sodré in 1894. It holds the canvas A conquista da Amazônia, painted by Antônio Parreiras on a commission from Governor Augusto Montenegro.
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