The Institute has a permanent collection of historical and artistic objects of various origins with a strong emphasis on historical and iconographic documentation related to the colonial period and Dutch Brazil, including the world's largest collection of paintings by Frans Post, who was the first landscape painter. Brazil and the first landscape architect of the Americas. The Institute also houses one of the largest collections of white weapons in the world, with over 3,000 pieces, mostly from Europe and Asia, produced between the 14th and 21st centuries. The Institute's library has more than 60,000 volumes from the 16th century onwards, highlighting the collections of brasiliana and rare works.