This museum is one of the best art galleries in Spain. Of the 15,000 paintings it owns, only 700 are exhibited. It is a journey through the history of art; from the Renaissance to the 21st century. Works from different schools are exhibited, Italian, Flemish, and Spanish. Goya was a professor at this Academy and among his works are the etching prints about the disasters of war, the whims, absurdities and themes of bullfighting. .There is an archive in the museum library. In addition to painting, sculpture, architecture, new image arts, photography and decorative arts stand out.
The project was born with Philip V but its foundation took place in 1752 under the reign of Ferdinand VI. This institution was located in the Casa de la Panadería, in the Plaza Mayor. to the old Goyeneche palace, built by Pedro Ribera and acquired by Carlos III in 1773 to be the Headquarters of the Royal Academy of Noble Arts of San Fernando. The building was rehabilitated by architect Diego Villanueva in a neoclassical style. The Royal Academy finished in the 20th century with its educational tasks when the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Complutense University of Madrid was created. It houses about 15,000 paintings, of which only about 700 are exhibited.
In its 59 rooms, artists such as Arcimbolo, an Italian painter from the 16th century with his unique painting preserved in Spain from the series dedicated to the seasons of the year “Spring” , Velázquez, Rubens, Van Dyck, Caravaggio, El Greco, Murillo, Zurbarán and especially Francisco de Goya, who was a professor at the Academy
This museum has the most important collection of intaglio engraving sheets in Spain. More than 8,000 works from the 16th to the 21st century. The copper plates of Francisco de Goya etched in etching, the absurdities, the whims, the disasters of war and bullfighting stand out.
Exhibitions, courses and conferences and concerts among other activities take place at the academy.
From Tuesday to Sundays: 10:00-14:00 hrs