Madrid, the Spanish capital, is a city bursting with cultural attractions, and some of the highlights for a visit to this marvelous city is the huge offer in top world class museums that you can see around.
Some international famous and referenced ones are without a doubt The Prado Museum, which could be easily considered in the best top 5 in the world related to classical art collections, The Reina Sofia which offers a fantastic collection more focused on contemporary art or The Thyssen Museum, which has an impressive private collection that touches a wide array of art periods for the general public to admire.
A much lesser known, but pretty interesting museum in the centre of Madrid is the Lazaro Galdeano Museum, which displays in the beautiful palace of “Parque Florido” the amazing private collection gathered through the years by Jose Lazaro Galdeano, a Journalist, businessman and culture lover who also founded a famous editorial firm.
The entrance fee to the museum is 8 euro for normal visitors, offering discounts for pensioners and students. Quite a fair price for what has to offer.
Inside the 3 floors of the museum, the collection is indeed pretty impressive, gathering a big amount of drawings, but also many other interesting items like swords, jewelry, statues, tapestries or a very impressive cabinet of old rare coins.
The drawings are nonetheless the peak of the visit, and the visitor will have the opportunity to see amazing original pieces of the most famous Spanish local painters like El Greco, Velazquez or Goya (The Aquelarre paintings are one of the highlights of the museum).
It also has a very impressive collection of international painters, with special mention to Flemish school, where you can admire some works from El Bosco or Lucas Cranach (The Young).
Another highlight of the collection “El Salvador Adolescente” was, for many years, commented to be the only piece of work by Leonardo Da Vinci exposed openly in Spain. Most recent studies point indeed to a design by the Italian genius, but the execution is attributed to some of his pupils in his workshop and not to the master himself.
All in all, a very pleasant museum to visit, both for the beautiful gardens and palace where is located and for the variety and quality of the art collection gathered there. I personally prefer museums that are big, but not huge, because after a couple of hours of visit, it is difficult to keep the attention and focus on what is displayed. This museum is perfect for a half a day excursion, and affordable to most pockets. So if you are an art lover and you happen to be in Madrid, go to discover it!
Official website of the museum: