Museo de Belas Artes da Coruña

About the museum

The Museo de Belas Artes da Coruña was created by royal order in 1922 as the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes, on the initiative of a group of intellectuals, artists and art enthusiasts from the city, although for years it had no home of its own. The first donation, from Elvira Arévalo Gener, included two Rubens panels, “Dédalo y el Minotauro” and “Psique”, and a work by Frans Francken II. In 1947 it opened to the public in the former building of the Real Consulado del Mar, which it shared with the Real Academia de Bellas Artes and the library of the Consulado.

In September 1985 the two Rubens panels were stolen; they were recovered in Stockholm in 1988 and in Miami in 1991. The theft revealed the building's lack of security and led to a new home being built, financed by the Ministry of Culture, to which the museum had belonged since 1986. The project is by the architect Manuel Gallego Jorreto; it was built on the ruins of the 18th-century convent of the Capuchinas, incorporating part of it. It opened on 12 December 1995 and won the Premio Nacional de Arquitectura in 1997.

Today the museum is state-owned, with management transferred to the Xunta de Galicia. The complex exceeds 5,500 m², with six rooms over three floors plus two spaces in the former convent where Goya's prints and Sargadelos ceramics are displayed. The collection brings together more than 5,000 works of painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, decorative arts and archaeology, with a predominance of the 17th and 19th centuries and of 20th-century Galician art.

Highlights

• Rubens panels “Dédalo y el Minotauro” and “Psique”
• Collection of Goya prints
• Sargadelos ceramics in the former convent of the Capuchinas
• 20th-century Galician art, with works by Luís Seoane and Urbano Lugrís
• Building by Manuel Gallego Jorreto, Premio Nacional de Arquitectura 1997

Permanent exhibitions

• Colección permanente – More than 5,000 works from the 15th century to the present: painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, decorative arts and archaeology, with particular emphasis on 20th-century Galician art.
• Grabados de Goya – Collection of prints by Francisco de Goya, displayed in the recovered space of the former convent of the Capuchinas.
• Cerámica de Sargadelos – Set of Sargadelos ceramics, displayed in the former convent of the Capuchinas.

Founded

1922

Operated by

Ministerio de Cultura (titularidad estatal); gestión de la Consellería de Cultura, Lingua e Xuventude de la Xunta de Galicia

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free public visits on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings; also on 18 May, International Museum Day.

Free admission, with accreditation, for under-18s, over-65s or retired people, members of the Asociación de Amigos del Museo and members of ICOM.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum's facilities are adapted for the movement of people with reduced mobility. The museum also offers inclusion programmes for groups with functional diversity.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Educational programme with guided visits and activities adapted to each stage, from Infant Education to Bachillerato, and children's workshops.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop
• Coat check

On the ground floor there are a reception, a shop and a cloakroom.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit