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All Spain Madrid Museo Lazaro Galdiano

Museo Lazaro Galdiano

This small and often-overlooked museum holds some of Spain's finest artistic treasures.

Madrid, Spain

Added By
Mictlān Tēcutli
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The Lazaro Galdiano Museum.   Luis García/cc by-sa 4.0
The Lazaro Galdiano Museum.   Luis García/cc by-sa 4.0
A view of the interior of the museum.   Tim Adams/cc by 3.0
Goya’s “A way of flying.”   Francisco Goya/public domain
Goya’s “Woman carried off by a horse.”   Francisco Goya/public domain
One of Goya’s nightmarish renditions of “Witches Sabbath.”   Francisco Goya/public domain
“The Incantation” by Goya.   Francisco Goya/public domain
“Simpletons folly” by Goya   Francisco Goya
The very creepy “Adoration of the child Jesus by John the Baptist” by Lucas Cranach.   Lucas Cranach the Elder/public domain
“Witches Sabbat” (detail)   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
‘The Witches’ by Goya (detail)   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Hieronymus Bosch’s “Tondals vision.”   Hieronymus Bosch/public domain
El Greco’s “St Francis in ecstasy.”   El Greco/public domain
Decoration (detail)   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View of one room   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The  Museo Lazaro Galdiano is among Madrid's most overlooked art museums, seldom visited by the crowds that converge on the city's more famous galleries, such as the Prado and the Reina Sofia. But what this small museum lacks for in size it makes up for in the sheer quantity and quality of its collection. 

Built in 1903 to house the enormous collection of the eccentric banker and art collector Lazaro Galdiano, this ornate mansion-turned-museum has been open to the public since 1962. Among its exhibits you will find some stunning artistic and historic treasures, such as sprawling medieval manuscripts, baroque Renaissance paintings, an armory featuring suits of armor and some rather deadly looking weapons, and numerous ancient Greco-Roman sculptures and ceramics.  

The highlight of a visit to this museum, however, is to see the wonderful Gothic masterpieces that Galdiano collected throughout his life. Here you can find many of El Greco's melancholic paintings, the bizarre and esoteric works of Hieronymus Bosch, and perhaps most interesting of all, the disturbing art of Francisco Goya. 

The museum's collection of artwork by Goya is particularly noteworthy as it contains some of his "Witches Sabbath" oil paintings and the entire "Disparates" print series, which features haunting black-and-white sketches portraying visions as if from a datura-fueled waking nightmare.  

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Museums Art Museum Museums And Collections Art Paintings Medieval Renaissance

Know Before You Go

By public transit, take the metro to Gregorio Marañón station, on Line 7. Once you are at the station the museum is a 5-minute walk away and is signposted. The entrance fee is 6 euros but the following times are free admission: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday and 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. 

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Monsieur Mictlan

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Luis Morato

  • Luis Morato

Published

December 3, 2018

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Museo Lazaro Galdiano
122 Calle Serrano
Madrid
Spain
40.436911, -3.685848
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