Museos

MUSEUMS

For the second year in a row, the Museos series of stamps is celebrating the most prestigious Spanish art collections and museums. The stamps feature reproductions of important museum works and together form an attractive Premium Sheet.

Madrid's National Archaeological Museum was founded in 1867 under the reign of Isabel II with the aim of bringing collections that were spread among different locations at the time together into one major institution. The Royal Decree that created the museum allocated it the collections of the National Library's Museum of Medals and Antiquities, the Royal Cabinet of Natural History (currently the Natural Science Museum) and the School of Diplomacy. These collections were expanded through private donations and purchases and with pieces recovered by the Scientific Committees, made up of museum staff who travelled through parts of Spain and abroad. They include a collection of artefacts from Sicily, Athens, Cyprus, Troy and Constantinople.
In the 1940s, thanks to an artwork exchange with France, some of the most iconic pieces came to the museum, including the Treasure of Guarrazar and the Lady of Elche. Around the same time, the museum started specialising in archaeology and parts of its collections were moved to the national museums of anthropology, decorative arts and America. In the 1970s such iconic works as the Lady of Baza and the Pozo Moro monument were added. Renovation and expansion works began on the building in 2008, and after closing its doors for several years the fully refurbished museum opened on 1 April 2014.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, located in the Palacio de Villahermosa in Madrid, opened in October 1992. The art holdings are made up of the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, acquired by the Spanish Government in 1993, and the collection owned by Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, which has been at the museum since 2004. Together they contain nearly a thousand works of art, mainly paintings, with dates ranging from the 13th to the late 20th centuries. Some of its major artists include Van Eyck, Carpaccio, Durero, Caravaggio, Frans Hals, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Mondrian, Klee and Hopper, among many more.
A significant part of the museum's collection includes some artistic movements that are not represented in Madrid's two large museums: the Prado and the Reina Sofía. These movements include Fauvism, Impressionism, German Expressionism, early 20th century avant-garde and pop art. Also noteworthy is the collection of 19th-century American paintings, considered unique among European museums. The Thyssen Museum, along with the Prado and the Reina Sofía, form Europe's most important Golden Triangle of Art.

Madrid's Lázaro Galdiano Museum opened its doors to the public on 27 January 1951. Its holdings include a heterogeneous collection of more than 13,000 pieces assembled by José Lázaro Galdiano, who, upon his death, bequeathed all the material for educational purposes and the enjoyment of future generations. The museum is located in the Palacio de Parque Florido, which was the collector's home, and its four floors display a careful selection of works including paintings, drawings, engravings, fans, weapons, bronzes, ceramics, sculptures, enamelwork, medals, furniture, metalwork, textiles and glasswork, among other decorative arts.
On some floors, the Palacio de Parque Florido preserves the original layout and décor, with painted ceilings, marble, wood and stucco plinths, and inlaid floors. Its most valuable pieces include a collection of Goya canvases and engravings and paintings by El Greco, Murillo, Velázquez, Carreño and Zurbarán. It also exhibits a selection of paintings from the most important European schools, including the Italian, Flemish, German, Dutch, French and English schools. The Fundación Lázaro Galdiano also has a library with more than 20,000 volumes including manuscripts, books of hours, prints, drawings and rare and curious books.