One of the most important art collections in the world focuses on European painting from the 13th to the 20th centuries. The wealthy industrialist Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza began acquiring Old Masters in the 1920s for his villa in Switzerland. After the baron’s death in 1947, his son, Hans Heinrich, added modern masterpieces, including French Impressionists, German Expressionists and the pick of the Russian Avant-Garde to the collection. In 1993 the state bought the 1,000-strong collection for the knock-down price of $350 million (the true value being estimated at nearer $1 billion). In 2005 an extension opened, displaying magnificent Impressionist works.
Paseo del Prado 8 • 917 91 13 70 • www.museothyssen.org • Open 10am–7pm Tue–Sun (24 & 31 Dec: to 5pm); closed 1 Jan, 1 May & 25 Dec • Adm €13 (€9 concessions); Permanent collection free Mon noon–4pm
The collection is organized chronologically, starting with Italian Primitives on the top floor and ending with 20th-century abstract and Pop Art. Temporary exhibitions are held on the ground floor and basement. There is also a restaurant on the fifth floor.
Outstanding among the collection of Italian Primitives is this work (1310–11) by Sienese master Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255–1319). The painting’s life-like quality reveals Duccio’s interest in accuracy, and anticipates the Renaissance.
This self-portrait (c.1643) by Rembrandt (1606–69) is one of more than 60 such works by the great Dutch artist. It reveals Rembrandt’s view of himself as an isolated genius.
Vittore Carpaccio (c.1465–1525) is an important representative of the Venetian school. This intriguing work (1510) shows a courtly knight amid symbolic animals and plants.
Dutch artist Salomon van Ruysdael’s (1600–70) evocative seascape (c.1650) is considered to be one of the finest examples of the genre, for its effortless mastery of colour and carefully measured perspective.
This devotional painting (c.1450) by Dutch artist Petrus Christus (c.1410–75) was inspired by an Old Testament metaphor in which God brings the dry tree (the chosen people) to life. The “A”s hanging from the tree stand for Ave Maria.
This haunting work (c.1828) is by Thomas Cole, American artist and founder of the Hudson River School. Cole idealized the untrammelled American landscape as a new Garden of Eden.
This witty still life (c.1728) in the Dutch style is by the French artist, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699–1779). Its companion piece, Still Life with Cat and Fish, is in Room 28.
This sublime portrait (1489) by Florentine artist Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–94), was the last Baron Thyssen’s favourite. It was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Giovanna degli Albizzi to Lorenzo Tornabuoni – a union of two powerful families. Tragically, Giovanna died in child-birth shortly afterwards.
During the 16th century, portraiture was a leading genre. When Hans Holbein, the Younger (c.1497–1543) was in the service of Henry VIII, he depicted the king (c.1537) in an almost frontal pose. Henry’s rich attire suggests that this was for a private room in Whitehall Palace.
Distorted figures, swirling lines and bold colours are typical of the Mannerist style which El Greco (1541–1614 mastered in Venice, where he was influenced by Titian and Tintoretto. This intensely spiritual painting (c.1567–1577) reveals the Cretan artist’s development following his move to Toledo, Spain, in 1577.
3.91.19.28