Considered one of the top ten museums in Europe and counted among the world’s best galleries, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum presents a sweeping journey through the history of Western art. Its holdings cover nearly one thousand works spanning from 13th-century Italian painting to late 20th-century masterpieces, offering visitors an unusually broad overview in a single institution.
The collection highlights major movements and schools — Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Romanticism and Pop Art — while also featuring rarer concentrations such as Impressionism, Fauvism, German Expressionism and the Avant-Garde. The museum is particularly noted for a significant assembly of 19th-century American paintings, a group not commonly found in other Madrid institutions.
Works by masters such as Dürer, Caravaggio, Renoir, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Picasso, Bacon and Lichtenstein form focal points that invite close study and reflection. Galleries are arranged to allow thematic and chronological exploration, making this a rewarding destination for both seasoned art lovers and those encountering these movements for the first time.
Visiting the Thyssen-Bornemisza offers a compact but richly varied picture of international art history, with opportunities to linger before individual paintings, compare styles across centuries and discover unexpected connections between artists and movements.
Read moreMuseum etiquette applies: photography rules vary by gallery.
Internet may be required for initial app download and activation.
Ensure your smartphone is fully charged for uninterrupted access.
Bring headphones to listen to the audio commentary comfortably.
