National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)

The Museo Arqueológico Nacional is a national museum located in the Palacio de Biblioteca y Museos Nacionales in Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain, a 19th-century building, begun by the architect Francisco Jareño y Alarcón and completed by Antonio Ruiz de Salces, which it shares with the Biblioteca Nacional and is located on Calle de Serrano, next to Plaza de Colón.

It is the main Spanish museum dedicated to archaeology. Its collection is based on pieces originating in Spain, from Prehistory to the Modern Age. However, it also has different collections from abroad, especially from Ancient Greece, both metropolitan and, above all, Magna Graecia, and, to a lesser extent, from Ancient Egypt, as well as “a small number of pieces” from the Near East.

The museum is state-owned and directly managed by the Ministry of Culture and Sport. Organically it depends on the General Directorate of Fine Arts and Cultural Heritage, specifically the Subdirectorate General of State Museums.

History

The museum was founded in 1867 by a Royal Decree of Isabella II as a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections of the Spanish monarchs. The establishment of the museum was predated by a previous unmaterialised proposal by the Royal Academy of History in 1830 to create a museum of antiquities.

The museum was originally located in the Embajadores district of Madrid. In 1895, it moved to a building designed specifically to house it, a neoclassical design by architect Francisco Jareño, built from 1866 to 1892. In 1968, renovation and extension works considerably increased its area. The museum closed for renovation in 2008 and reopened in April 2014.

Collection

Forecourt

In the forecourt is a replica of the Altamira cave in Santillana del Mar from the 1960s. Photogrammetry was used to reproduce the famous paintings on a mould of the original cave.

Protohistory

The halls devoted to the Protohistory of the Iberian Peninsula (1st floor) exhibit pieces from a number of Pre-Roman peoples existing roughly along the 1st millennia BC, as well as from the Punic-Phoenician colonisation.

Roman Hispania

The collection of Hispano-Roman artifacts—located in the 1st floor—comes both from diggings at specific archaeological sites as well as from punctual purchases.

Late Antiquity

The halls corresponding to the Late Antiquity (1st floor) host pieces related to the period of time corresponding to the Lower Roman Empire in the Iberian Peninsula—the Diocesis Hispaniarum (3rd–5th centuries AD)—, the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo (6th-8th centuries AD), the Byzantine Empire (5th to 12th centuries AD), as well as some artifacts of other peoples from the Migration Period.

Medieval World, al-Andalus

The area dedicated to al-Andalus is located in the 1st floor. Iconic pieces from al-Andalus include the pyxis of Zamora (actually made in Medina Azahara), the deer-like fountain source of Medina Azahara or the marble font for ablutions of Almanzor.

Medieval World, Christian kingdoms

The area dedicated to the medieval Christian Kingdoms (roughly ranging from the 8th to the 15th century) is located in the 2nd floor. Iconic pieces of Romanesque ivory craftsmanship include the Arca de las Bienaventuranzas and the Crucifix of Ferdinand and Sancha.

Near East

The topic area devoted to the Ancient Near East (conventionally excluding Ancient Egypt) is located at the 2nd floor. One of the most important sets of the MAN’s Near East collection is that of pottery from Iran.

Egypt and Nubia

The collections of Egypt and Nubia are made up mainly of funerary funds (amulets, mummies, steles, sculpture of divinities, ushabti…) ranging from prehistory to Roman and medieval times.

Greece

The Greek collection is made up of works from continental Greece, Ionia, Magna Graecia and Sicily, where the collection of bronzes, terracottas, goldsmiths, sculptures and to a greater extent pottery come from; pieces that ranging from the Mycenaean to the Hellenistic period.

Address: C. de Serrano, 13, Salamanca, 28001 Madrid, Spain.

Working hours:

Thursday 9:30 AM–8 PM
Friday 9:30 AM–8 PM
Saturday 9:30 AM–8 PM
Sunday 9:30 AM–3 PM
Monday Closed
Tuesday 9:30 AM–8 PM
Wednesday 9:30 AM–8 PM