He was born in Niterói on January 20 of 1860. He began his drawing studies that were completed in 1883 at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts when was still a child. He moved to Europe in 1888, and was established in Venice where he would be strongly influenced by past masters, especially Tiepolo Canalleto and Guardi.

He would return to Brazil and be named temporary professor of landscape at the Academy of Fine Arts. Journalist and writer, he publishes his memories in 1926. And died on 10/17/1937. With the purpose to preserve and make public the works of Antônio Parreiras, Antônio Parreiras Museum is founded with a collection comprising 600 works of different aesthetic trends of national art, besides a very significant foreign collection.

Established by the Executive Law no 219 (Decreto Lei nº 219) of January 24, 1941 the museum was inaugurated on January 21 of 1942 as the first Brazilian museum devoted to a single artist. The headquarters - which was the painter's past residence built in 1893 - is situated in a 2 park full of trees, comprising three separate buildings. The main façade with symmetrical design and rectangular windows presents an elevation with a sphinx of Raphael Sanzio, a 16th century Renaissance painter. It was recorded as historic by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Property.