Administrative seat of the São Paulo State Government, Bandeirantes Palace was originally built to house Count Francisco Matarazzo University of Commerce, a project that was never accomplished.
The acquisition of the building by the State Government took place in 1964. In the following year, it was dedicated and received the name of Bandeirantes Palace, in reference to the pioneers of the Brazilian colonial period.
The original architectural project by Italians Marcello Piacentini and Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo had its first layouts in 1938 and envisioned straight lines, columns, smooth walls and wide facade. Later, the design was modified by Giuseppe Crosa di Vergagni, and carried out in an eclectic style, with the presence of neoclassical lines too, setting up the present facade.
The Palace holds art collections from representative historical and artistic periods of the national culture, both from the Campos Elíseos Palace, former seat of the Government, and complemented with new acquisitions since its opening. In 1977, the building was opened to public visitation and took on its vocation as a palace-museum, in parallel with administrative functions.
Currently, the temporary exhibitions in the palace feature the collection in dialogue with contemporary art, within the policy of the collections’ expansion.
