National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)

Coordinates: 40°25′25.122″N 3°41′21.919″W / 40.42364500°N 3.68942194°W / 40.42364500; -3.68942194
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National Archaeological Museum
Museo Arqueológico Nacional
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EstablishedMarch 20, 1867; 157 years ago (1867-03-20)
LocationCalle de Serrano, 13, Madrid, Spain
Coordinates40°25′25.122″N 3°41′21.919″W / 40.42364500°N 3.68942194°W / 40.42364500; -3.68942194
TypeArchaeology museum
Visitors499,300 (2019)[1]
DirectorAndrés Carretero Pérez
Websiteman.mcu.es
Official nameMuseo Arqueológico Nacional
TypeNon-movable
CriteriaMonument
Designated1962
Reference no.RI-51-0001373

The National Archaeological Museum (

Plaza de Colón, sharing its building with the National Library of Spain
.

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.[2]

Laying of the first stone of the building destined for the National Archaeological Museum and the National Library in 1866

The museum was originally located in the

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.[3]

Following a restructuring of the collection in the 1940s, its former pieces relative to the section of American Ethnography were transferred to the

Museum of the Americas, while other pieces from abroad were destined to the National Museum of Ethnography and to the National Museum of Decorative Arts.[4]

Its current collection is based on pieces from the Iberian Peninsula, from Prehistory to Early-Modern Age. However, it also has different collections coming from outside of Spain, especially from Ancient Greece, both from the metropolitan and, above all, from Magna Graecia, and, to a lesser extent, from Ancient Egypt, in addition to "a small number of pieces" from Near East.[5]

Permanent exhibition

Forecourt

In the forecourt is a replica of the Cave of Altamira from the 1960s. Photogrammetry was used to reproduce the famous paintings on a mould of the original cave. The replica cave is related to an exhibit at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.[6]

Main building

Visitors enter the building at basement level, and pass to the prehistory section.

Protohistory

The halls devoted to the Protohistory of the Iberian Peninsula (1st floor) exhibit pieces from

Dama del Cerro de los Santos, the Bicha of Balazote, the Bull of Osuna, the Sphinx of Agost, one of the two sphinxes of El Salobral [es] or the Mausoleum of Pozo Moro.[7][8][9][10]

Iberian sculpture

Aside from the set of Iberian sculpture, the area also hosts other items from different cultures, such as the Talaiotic bulls of Costitx, the torque of Ribadeo from the Castro culture in northwestern Iberia, or the Lady of Ibiza, associated to the Punic civilization.[7]

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.

Marquis of Salamanca (purchased in 1874 and comprising artifacts from the Paestum and Cales sites in the Italian Peninsula).[11][10] The main room of the area is a courtyard, where the artifacts are placed creating a sort of forum-like arrangement.[12] Meanwhile, the room #27 exhibits a number of mosaics both on its floor and walls.[13] The collection of Hispano-Roman legal bronzes includes the Lex Ursonensis, comprising five pieces found in the 1870s in Osuna.[14]

Late Antiquity

The halls corresponding to the

Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo (6th-8th centuries AD), the Byzantine Empire (5th to 12th centuries AD),[15] as well as some artifacts of other peoples from the Migration Period.[16]

Standout artifacts from this area include the Sarcophagus from Astorga [es], the Visigothic hoard of Guarrazar, including the votive crown of Recceswinth,[16] or the fibulae from Alovera [es].[15]

Medieval World, al-Andalus

The area dedicated to

Alhambra vases [es] stand out within the collection of Nasrid pottery [es].[19]

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 [es] and the Crucifix of Ferdinand and Sancha.[21] The medieval collection features the praying statue of Peter I of Castile [es], made in alabaster and moved from the former convent of Santo Domingo el Real in Madrid [es] to the National Archaeological Museum in 1868.[22][21] It also displays a number of items of Levantine pottery.[21]

Near East

The topic area devoted to the

Prado Museum in the 1940s by the Mexican collector Marius de Zayas (later deposited in the MAN).[24] 21st century purchases include that of the Praying Sumerian figure [es] bought at Christie's in 2001.[25]

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.[26] Many of the pieces come from purchases such as the one made from the collection of the Spanish Egyptologist Eduardo Toda y Güell[27] and also from various excavations such as the ones carried in Egypt and Sudan as a result of the agreements with the Egyptian government for the construction of the Aswan Dam[28] or the systematic excavations in Heracleopolis Magna.

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.[29] In its beginnings, the collection had funds from the Royal Cabinet of Natural History and the National Library, the collection was later enriched with works brought from the expeditions of the frigate Arapiles to the East[28] in addition to the purchase of private funds such as those of the Marquis of Salamanca[30] or those of Tomás Asensi.


Notable artifacts

Prehistoric and Iberian
Roman
Medieval
Al-Andalus


See also

References

  1. ^ culturaydeporte.gob.es
  2. ^ Lanzarote Guiral, José María (2011). "National Museums in Spain: A History of Crown, Church and People". In Aronsson, Peter; Elgenius, Gabriella (eds.). Building National Museums in Europe 1750–2010 (PDF). Linköping University Electronic Press. p. 853.
  3. ^ Official website (in Spanish), plus information from Madrid Tourist Office etc, as at November 24, 2013.
  4. ISSN 0212-5544
    .
  5. ^ "Egipto y Oriente Próximo", Museo Arqueológico Nacional (in Spanish)
  6. ^ "The Deutsches Museum Replica". Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  7. ^ a b "Protohistoria" (PDF). pp. 34–51.
  8. ABC
    .
  9. ^ Prieto, Ignacio M. (2009). "Esfinge de El Salobral" (PDF).
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-84-472-1071-8
    .
  11. ^ a b Salas Álvarez 2015, p. 281.
  12. ISSN 1139-9201
    .
  13. ^ Salas Álvarez 2015, p. 283.
  14. ISSN 2341-3409
    .
  15. ^ a b "De la Antigüedad a la Edad Media" (PDF). Museo Arqueológico Nacional.
  16. ^ a b Franco Mata, Ángela; Balmaseda Muncharaz, Luis; Arias Sánchez, Isabel; Vidal Álvarez, Sergio. "Nuevo montaje de la colección de Arqueología y Arte Medieval del Museo Arqueológico Nacional" (PDF). pp. 422–425.
  17. ISSN 1139-9201
    .
  18. ^ "El mundo medieval. Al-Andalus" (PDF). p. 78.
  19. ISSN 0214-6452
    .
  20. ^ Martín Moreno, Elena (November 2016). "La transmisión del saber clásico Astrolabio andalusí de Ibn Said" (PDF).
  21. ^ a b c "Los reinos cristianos (s. VIII–XV)" (PDF). pp. 82, 85.
  22. ^ Cómez Ramos, Rafael (2006). "Iconología de Pedro I de Castilla" (PDF). Historia. Instituciones. Documentos. 33. Seville: Universidad de Sevilla: 68–69.
  23. ^ "Oriente Próximo Antiguo" (PDF). p. 109.
  24. ISSN 1885-5008
    .
  25. ^ "Museo arqueológico Nacional. Memoria anual 2001" (PDF). p. 12.
  26. ^ "Egypt and the Near East". www.man.es. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  27. ^ Mellado, Esther Pons (2018). "La colección egipcia de Eduard Toda i Güell del Museo Arqueológico Nacional". Arqueología de los museos. 150 años de la creación del Museo Arqueológico Nacional: Actas del V Congreso Internacional de Historia de la Arqueología / IV Jornadas de Historia SEHA - MAN, 2018, págs. 1075-1090. Subdirección General de Documentación y Publicaciones: 1075–1090.
  28. ^ a b "Museum collections". www.man.es. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  29. ^ "Greece". www.man.es. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  30. ^ "Publications - Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport". sede.educacion.gob.es. Retrieved 2022-05-10.

External links

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