Museum of Asian Art was founded in 1928 as the Museum of Sino-Japanese Art, following the donation of Gregorios Manos’ Sino-Japanese collection to the Greek state. Since that time, the Museum has been a pole of attraction for many other donations, resulting in its collection currently comprising approximately 15.000 works of Asian art form private collections and individual item donations. The 1973 Hadjivassiliou donation, in particular, with the addition of 400 works from India, Pakistan, Tibet, Siam and southeast Asia, changed the Museum’s strictly Sino-Japanese profile and led to it being renamed to the Museum of Asian Art.

Today, the Palace of Saint Michael and Saint George houses the Corfu Museum of Asian Art, the only one of its kind in Greece, solely dedicated to the art and antiquities of Asia. Nowadays, it enjoys worldwide recognition, with rare items from its collections being presented in international exhibitions.