The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

The Museo Lázaro Galdiano

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum houses a precious art and bibliographical collection that comprises nearly all branches of art and culture. It is about a legacy that the collector and publisher José Lázaro Galdiano left to Spanish society when he gave over his collection for the use and enjoyment of everybody.

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

So, after his death in 1947, the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano was created , and the museum became part of the state´s art collection. Apart from its splendid art collection, we want to highlight the building itself which was the residence of Lázaro Galdiano and from which he directed his own Editorial La España Moderna. It is a stately building located in the very heart of Barrio de Salamanca, more specifically in 122, Calle Serrano.

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

This museum was the former palace of Parque Florido and it has four floors some of which were properly restored so as to house all the works of art which are currently there. Despite the restoration, the layout and the original decoration of many rooms has been conserved, enabling us to enjoy this stunning palace as it was originally when Lázaro Galdiano lived there. The last article we wrote in our section Places with a lot of History, was about Ateneo de Madrid. Today, we want to take you on a culture trip to the Lázaro Galdiano Museum. Come and join us!

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

FOUR HALLS FULL OF ART

The Museo Lázaro Galdiano has a collection of 12.600 art pieces that cover all the arts and techniques. In addition, it also has a magnificent library with more than 20.000 volumes of books. The art pieces are carefully and neatly distributed along its four floors.

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

On the ground floor, we can get to know in depth everything about the life of José Lázaro Galdiano as well as enjoy visiting the Cámara del Tesoro with its impressive jewellery collection with items that date back to the III century BC. On the first floor we can see the noble area of the palace which preserves the original decoration of the time. In total, it has nine halls dedicated to Spanish art from the XV to the XIX century, and it comprises paintings, sculptures as well as period furniture. The second floor is dedicated to European art ( mainly paintings ), with a representation of the most important and notable art schools. The third and last floor is called “Gabinete del Coleccionista” where you see all kinds of different objects that are exhibited in showcases and in drawers that the public is allowed to open. In this floor we find weapons, coins, medals, textile specialties, ivories and ceramics: Lázaro Galdiano´s collecting zeal is at its peak here.

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

PRICELESS MASTERPIECES

The Museo Lázaro Galdiano houses unique works of art; so much so that we want to mention some of them so that our reader becomes aware of what can be seen during a visit there.

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

For instance, some engravings and drawings by Goya are exhibited as well as his paintings El Aquelarre (Witches´ Sabbath), or Las Brujas (The Witches), both of which belong to his Black Period and are famous throughout the world.

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

We can also admire the painting Juan Bautista en Meditación by El Bosco. Furthermore, the museum houses San Francisco en Éxtasis and Adoración de los Reyes Magos by El Greco, as well as Cabeza de una Muchacha by Velázquez. In addition, we can also enjoy looking at Retrato de Fray Pedro Oña by Zurbarán. As can be seen, they are top-level artists and the very fact of being able to contemplate their works of art in such a setting as the former Parque Florido Palace is an unforgettable and worthwhile experience. In the blog of Estate One, we recommend you to visit it.

Picture 01: Luis García

Pictures 02, 04 and 05: Benjamín Núñez González

Picture 03: Tim Adams

Picture 06: Lucas

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