The school originated as part of the Academy of Fine Arts in
Lisbon. This dates back to 1836, the same year in which the
Porto Academy of Fine Arts was established. From the beginning it was housed in the former Convent of Saint Francisco in the
Chiado district of the Portuguese capital, with the buildings still suffering from the effects of the
1755 Lisbon earthquake. In 1862 the academy became known as the Royal Academy of Fine Arts: the "Royal" was dropped after the
5 October 1910 revolution that overthrew the monarchy. The Lisbon School of Fine Arts started in 1881 when the academy's teaching sector was made autonomous, although it was not formally established until 1925, when the necessary regulations were published. The School of Fine Arts and its successors have trained many of Portugal's leading artists, although it did not accept women as students until 1896, forcing women who could afford it to study outside Portugal, often in Paris. From 1950 it was called the Superior School of Fine Arts in Lisbon (
Escola Superior de Belas-Artes de Lisboa - ESBAL), with courses in painting, sculpture and architecture being taught. After the 25 April 1974
Carnation Revolution, a broad restructuring of artistic education began at the arts schools in both Lisbon and Porto, with the aim of better aligning artistic and architectural teaching with contemporary standards. Communication design and equipment design courses were created, joining painting, sculpture and architecture. In 1979, the architecture department separated from ESBAL and was integrated into the
Technical University of Lisbon, as the Faculty of Architecture. ==Impact==