Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia

Inaugurated in 1992, "The Sofia" as it is informally called, is Spain's national museum of XX century art. The museum, mainly dedicated to Spanish art, is located in the so-called Golden Triangle of Art (including the El Prado Museum and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum) and exhibits excellent collections of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalì. Picasso's "Guernica" is without any doubt the most famous masterpiece in the museum. Other Spanish artists' works of art are housed in the museum (Gris, Mirò, Tàpies, Gordillo, and many others) while few are the works of foreign artists. Among the latter we can mention Lucio Fontana, Georgea Brauqe and Francis Bacon. In the XVIII century the central building was a hospital; after renovations and additions the building became Spain's National Museum with the opening of some sections. On October 2005 an expansion of some 8000 square metres was opened. In the Sofia there is a free-access library specialized in art books (over 100.000 books) besides over 3.500 sound recordings and almost 1.000 videos.

Palazzo del Congresso
by Paolo Vaghi

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