The museum stems from the desire of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955), Armenian collector who throughout his life has acquired more than 6,000 works of art, now gathered in this beautiful space. It is an impressive estate, covering a timeline that goes from the ancient Egyptian empire until the twentieth century. Here you can find representative collections of different civilizations and hemispheres, highlighting the Islamic Art cores and French decorative arts of the eighteenth century.