| Need
to Know Information About Madrid's Museums
- Most museums are closed on Mondays.
- You can get a 50% discount at most museums
with your ISIC card.
- Most state museums are free on Saturday
afternoons (after 14:30) and on Sunday mornings.
- Most places belonging to the Patrimonio
Nacional (i.e. the Spanish Monarchy) are free on Wednesdays
for UE citizens only.
- Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
has free guided visits on Mondays andWednesdays (17:00) and
on Saturdays (11:00).
Museo
del Prado
Even for people who are not art lovers this museum is a must see.
The Prado houses one of the oldest and greatest collections of
art in the world, containing all the finest works collected by
the Spanish royals with more than 3,000 paintings in all. One
will find works by El Greco, Ribera, Velazquez, Murillo, Zurbaran,
Goya, Antonello da Messina, Rafael, El Bosco, Van Dyck and Rembrandt.
The centerpiece of the museum is El Greco's magnificent Nobleman
With Hand on Chest, which has been restored to brilliance and
definitely worth the price of admission.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
In the Villa Hermosa Palace
just across the street from the Museo del Prado, art lovers will
find one of the most important collections of ancient and modern
paintings. The paintings and sculptures of the 19th and 20th centuries
are exceptional, encompassing among others Ghirlandaio, El Greco,
the Dutch school painters, German expressionists, and Impressionists
such as Renoir, van Gogh, Cézanne, and Matisse.
Reina
Sofia Art Center
This converted 18th-century
hospital was opened in 1992 and contains Spain's most prestigious
traveling art exhibitions, sometimes several at once. The art
center houses contemporary and avant-garde sculpture, paintings,
and engravings from Spain and around the world. Travelers will
find Miro, Dali, Juan Gris and Picasso among others. One of the
most famous pieces on display is Picasso's antiwar masterpiece,
Guernica. Also on the premises are a cinema that shows mostly
art films in their original language, subtitled in Spanish, an
excellent bookshop, library, restaurant, and café.
National Archaeology Museum
A nicely arranged display
includes the celebrated Celto-Iberian bust best known as La Dama
de Elche (probably 4th or 3rd century BC), the slightly later
Dama de Baza and a wonderfully rich hoard of Visigoth treasures
found in Toledo. In the gardens one will find a replica of the
Alta Mira Caves, complete with convincing copies of their prehistoric
wall paintings.
Bullfighting Museum
This museum houses matadors'
costumes, the heads of slaughtered bulls, and an extraordinary
collection of old posters. You'll see the art and history of bullfighting
in drawings, sketches, and prints.
Sorolla Museum
This is the former house of
Valencian painter Joaquin Sorolla, whose familiar Mediterranean
beach scenes from the turn of the century are easily recognized
and enjoyed by even the most novice of art lovers. |
