The Ipiranga Museum specializes in the history of Brazilian society, with an emphasis on material culture. Its collection comprises approximately 30,000 items of iconography, including paintings, photographs, and posters, as well as 25,000 objects.

In the collection, it is possible to learn about the collective imagination regarding Brazil's and São Paulo's past through paintings such as "Landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in Porto Seguro" (1900) and "Foundation of the City of São Paulo" (1909), by Oscar Pereira da Silva; "Foundation of São Vicente" (1900) by Benedito Calixto and "Departure of the Monção" (1897), by Almeida Júnior, in addition to the plaster model that represents the city in 1841.

Another highlight is the Militão Augusto de Azevedo Collection, by a 19th-century photographer known for his urban photographic records, such as the "Comparative Album of the City of São Paulo 1862-1887," and for the numerous portraits of people he made for the Photographia Americana studio.