National Archaeological Museum of Spain
Encyclopedia
The National Archaeological Museum of Spain is a museum in Madrid
, Spain
, located beside the Plaza de Colón
(Columbus Square), sharing its building with the National Library
.
The museum was founded in 1867 by a Royal Decree of Isabella II
, and its purpose was to be a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections compiled by the Spanish monarchs.
In 1895 all the collections were moved to the current venue, a neoclassical
building projected by architect Francisco Jareño and built from 1866 to 1892. In 1968 were started renovation and extension works that considerably increased its area.
In 2008/2009 the museum was being remodelled with only the highlights from the collection being shown to the public. It is reported that the remodelled museum will concentrate on a core role and will release items from the decorative arts collection.
The current collection includes, among others, Pre-historic
, Celt
ic, Iberian
, Greek
and Roman
antiquities and medieval
(Visigoth
ic, Muslim and Christian) objects.
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, located beside the Plaza de Colón
Plaza de Colón (Madrid)
Plaza de Colón is located in the Alonso Martínez district of Madrid, Spain. This plaza and its fountain commemorate the explorer Christopher Columbus, whose name in Spanish was Cristóbal Colón.- Monuments :...
(Columbus Square), sharing its building with the National Library
Biblioteca Nacional de España
The Biblioteca Nacional de España is a major public library, the largest in Spain.It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos.-History:...
.
The museum was founded in 1867 by a Royal Decree of Isabella II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
, and its purpose was to be a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections compiled by the Spanish monarchs.
In 1895 all the collections were moved to the current venue, a neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
building projected by architect Francisco Jareño and built from 1866 to 1892. In 1968 were started renovation and extension works that considerably increased its area.
In 2008/2009 the museum was being remodelled with only the highlights from the collection being shown to the public. It is reported that the remodelled museum will concentrate on a core role and will release items from the decorative arts collection.
The current collection includes, among others, Pre-historic
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
, Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic, Iberian
Iberians
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
, Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
antiquities and medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
(Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
ic, Muslim and Christian) objects.
Artefacts
- a replica of the AltamiraAltamira (cave)Altamira is a cave in Spain famous for its Upper Paleolithic cave paintings featuring drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human hands....
cave - Lady of ElxLady of ElxThe enigmatic Lady of Elche or Lady of Elx is a once polychrome stone bust that was discovered by chance in 1897 at L'Alcúdia, an archaeological site on a private estate about two kilometers south of Elx/Elche, Valencia, Spain...
- Lady of BazaLady of BazaThe Lady of Baza is a famous example of Iberian sculpture by the Bastetani. It is a limestone female figure with traces of painted detail in a stuccoed surface that was found on July 22, 1971 by Francisco José Presedo Velo, at Baza, in the altiplano, the high tableland in the northwest of the...
- Biche of BalazoteBiche of BalazoteThe so-called Bicha of Balazote is an Iberian sculpture that was found in the borough of Balazote in Albacete province , Spain. It was first studied by a group of French archaeologists who identified it as a kind of deer, hence the name 'biche' , which was then Castillianized to 'bicha', i.e.,...
- Treasure of GuarrazarTreasure of GuarrazarThe Treasure of Guarrazar is an archeological find composed of twenty-six votive crowns and gold crosses that had originally been offered to the Roman Catholic Church by the Kings of the Visigoths in the seventh century in Hispania, as a gesture of the orthodoxy of their faith and their submission...
- Crucifix of Ferdinand and SanchaCrucifix of Ferdinand and SanchaThe crucifix of Ferdinand and Sancha is an ivory carving from circa 1063, today in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain. It was part of an offering by King Ferdinand I of León and Queen Sancha to furnish the basilica of San Isidoro de León. It is the earliest known crucifix from Spain...