Museums Madrid Spain - Attractions

A collection purchased from the private collection of a German-Hungarian family with works from Titian, El Greco, Rubens, Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh, Miro, Picasso, Gris, Pollock, Dali and Lichenstein.

The Museo del Traje (Museum of Clothing), was awarded the National Prize for Architecture in 1969. The museum displays period clothing and has an in-house team that preserves, maintains and catalogs the displays. The museum houses historical dresses, contemporary and popular costumes, jewelery, household equipments, textile fabrics, leisure and economical activity items, religious products and even documentary of important figures of Spain. Costumes are not displayed for long as they are of the 18th and 19th Centuries and most of them are fragile. Hence, every six months there is change of display.

The Prado museum is one of Madrid’s most visited attractions. The museum’s collection is actually one of the largest in the world. It is a beautiful building, and you could almost go there just to see it from the outside. If you go inside, you can see the museums large collection, mostly Spanish paintings, amongst the biggest names Murillo, Goya, El Greco, Velazquez.

You can embark on a journey through the life and work of Valencian painter, Joaqua Sorolla (1863-1923), in this fascinating museum. It's located in what was his home and studio, donated to the Spanish state by his widow. Some 300 canvasses and thousands of drawings are spread throughout the three floors. The first floor contains his home and the three studios where he worked. The second floor displays most of his paintings and the ground floor is devoted to his drawings. According to Sorolla, the world was a calm and peaceful place and you'll find this museum to be an oasis of tranquillity. He was a master of light and shade and concentrated on painting the female form as well as children and the sea.

The National Museum of Decorative Arts, also called Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas is dedicated to decorative arts from around the world. It was started in 1912 and is now the property of the Ministry of Culture Dirección General de Bellas Artes and Bienes Culturales General Directorate of Fine Arts and Cultural Assets. There are a variety of colorful collections which will surprise you to your heart's content. A specialty in the Museum is the Chinese porcelain collection from the Ming and Qing Dynasties and many more artifacts from China. Roman glass objects and Coptic fabrics are some of the valuable artifacts housed here. Many other collections of rare old coins, textiles, utensils, pottery are also featured. A lot of ideas and creativity of the generations gone by can be viewed and one can experience the changes that have taken place over the years.

The Prado museum offers some the most famous painting in the world. As a world traveler, touring this museum is a “must “along with the other famous museums in Europe.

Visit anytime during the year. My visit was in the winter, which offered smaller crowds than other seasons. Of course everything cannot be seen during one trip; absorb as much as you can and keep notes for your return.

This characteristic 18th-century palace has been converted into a museum that captures the essence of middle-class life in the city during the 19th Century. You'll see an interesting collection of household objects like lamps, furniture, china and pianos, laid out in different rooms decorated with portraits of the Royal Family and important politicians and military leaders of the era. The walls are also hung with portraits of popular artists of the time, like Salvador Gutiérrez, Ribera, Madrazo, Alenza and Esquivel. You can even wander through the ballroom where famous writers, such as Béquer, Campoamor and Martínez Campos used to gather for literary evenings. There's a room entirely given over to the life of Romantic period novelist, Mariano José de Larra.

Right off the Paseo del Prado, the Prado Museum is a must see. It offers a wide collection of art with changing exhibits, so there's a little bit of something for everyone. I didn't enjoy it as much as i did the Reina Sofia, but it's worth visiting. The architecture of the building itself makes it a magnificent home for such a collection.

The Museo Lazaro Galdiano is a mansion of the Lazaro family converted into a museum. The aesthetic taste of the museum is reflective of the literary and artistic supporters who valued and contributed in the 1900s. The museum has a very regal and Spanish influence to it's structure, which is evident in it's interiors. Famous Spanish artists like El Greco, Velázquez, Zurbarán, Ribera, Murillo and Valdés-Leal have their work displayed here. Artifacts, jewelry, medieval armor, swords, daggers and royal seals still hold the charm of the bygone era and provide visitors a glimpse of the beautiful history.

If you like art you should head to this museum. They host paintings from big artist like Joan Miró, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso. The most famous being Pablo Picassos Guernica. Definitely worth a visit!

8000 mineral specimens are on display here in over 250 glass cabinets. The mineral collection has samples from every region in Spain including flora, ores and organogeneous rocks. The fossil section contains a selection of vertebrates and invertebrates from Spain and abroad including wild boar, tortoise, crocodile, frogs and bear.

I'm a big Picasso fan, so my favorite art museum in Madrid was the Reina Sofia. Picasso's Guernica lives here, and even if you don't really care for Picasso, you should definitely go see Guernica. It's definitely a sight to behold in person. There's an extensive Picasso exhibit, and a Dali exhibit as well. If you have a flexible schedule, there are limited times where you can get in for free (I might have took great advantage of that!).

This convent's museum houses an important collection of paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and precious metalwork donated to the order during the reigns of Carlos I and Felipe II. Highlights include paintings by Zurbarán, Rubens, and Titian, a sculpted sepulcher of Emperatriz María by Crescenci, Juan de Mena's sculptures and Leoni's marble mausoleum. It first opened to the public in 1960 and won the European Council's special Museum of the Year award in 1987. The 16th-century convent is home to a religious community of Franciscan nuns belonging to the order of St. Clare.

Museo Tiflológico is maintained by the National Organization for the Blind. It is designed solely for the blind and is touch accessible, as the exhibits can be touched and felt. Even the building is constructed keeping in mind the impaired and is easily accessible. Split into three rooms, it features a room displaying works by the visually impaired, another full of blind material and the third with scale models of monuments. The museum also provides audiotapes in English and Spanish to guide all visitors. The museum also offers pamphlets in braille and large fonts. Aztec and Mayan architectural works are also displayed as replicas. Miguel Detrel and José Antonio Braña have their work of sculptures and paintings exhibited here as well.

Madrid’s main attraction and one of the largest and most famous art collections in the world. Includes works by the Spanish masters Goya, Velazquez and El Greco, plus other European masters.