Museo Nacional de Antropología (Madrid)

National Museum of Anthropology
Museo Nacional de Antropología
Museum's main facade
Established 1875
Location Madrid, Spain
Type Archaeological and ethnographic
Public transit access Atocha station
Website mnantropologia.mcu.es
National Museum of Anthropology
Native name
Spanish: Museo Nacional de Antropología
Location of National Museum of Anthropology in Spain
Location Madrid, Spain
Coordinates 40°24′28″N 3°41′20″W / 40.407694°N 3.688975°W / 40.407694; -3.688975Coordinates: 40°24′28″N 3°41′20″W / 40.407694°N 3.688975°W / 40.407694; -3.688975
Official name: Museo Nacional de Antropología
Type Non-movable
Criteria Monument
Designated 1962
Reference no. RI-51-0001384

The National Museum of Anthropology (Spanish: Museo Nacional de Antropología) is a national museum of Spain, located in Madrid near the Parque del Buen Retiro and opposite Atocha railway and metro station. It is considered the oldest anthropology museum in Spain, formally inaugurated on April 29, 1875, during the reign of Alfonso XII.

History

Dr Pedro González de Velasco promoted his project of a museum of Anatomy and assembled the early collections. The focus later passed from physical to cultural anthropology.

Structure

Each of its three floors is dedicated to a different subject:

A collection of skulls from the beginnings of the museum.
  • Ground floor. The Asia hall, devoting a special attention to the culture of the Philippines, a Spanish colony until 1898, with many items taken from an 1885 exposition in nearby Retiro Park. It also dedicates side rooms to temporary exhibitions and a Wunderkammer giving an impression of the early exhibitions including a plaster cast and the skeleton of the "Extremaduran Giant" (Agustín Luengo Capilla), and statues and plaster casts of several racial types.
  • First floor. The Africa hall, with a prominent representation of the culture of Equatorial Guinea, a Spanish colony until 1959.
A Peruvian example of pintura de castas ("caste pictures"), showing a Mestizo as the offspring of Mestizo parents.

A lecture hall allows performances of traditional music and dances and lectures.

References

    Media related to Spanish National Museum of Anthropology at Wikimedia Commons


    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.