Zaragoza Museum

TEMPORARILY CLOSED

The main part is located at a Neo-Renaissance building designed in purpose for the Spanish-French Exhibition in 1908, by the architects Ricardo Magdalena and Julio Bravo.

It houses interesting collections of archeology and fine arts with works and funds from different parts of the province.

If you are a lover of Goya’s painting you ought not to miss the opportunity to know the works that are kept in the Zaragoza Museum. Some of the funds that you can admire are, among others, the portraits of Carlos IV and María Luisa de Parma, same size oil paintings painted in 1789. Both are a splendid example of Goya’s work as a painter of the King’s Chamber.

The portrait of Ferdinand VII shown in this museum is the largest of all known. Made between 1814 and 1815, it stands out both for its interesting play of lights and for the realism of the monarch’s expression. In the portrait of the Duke of San Carlos, José Miguel de Carvajal and Vargas, the short and dense brushstroke anticipates the forms of later artistic movements.

But the Zaragoza Museum also keeps for the visitor several works of religious theme and important funds of the artist’s graphic work (series of prints and copies of Velázquez), although only a few of them are exhibited.

In the archeology section there are pieces from prehistory to Muslim times, such as the Roman head of Augustus found in Turiaso (Tarazona) or the Botorrita bronze. From the Roman era the tourist can also admire the extraordinary collection of mosaics from Villa Fortunatus (Fraga).

The Zaragoza Museum also has three other locations. In the José Antonio Labordeta Park in Zaragoza lies the Casa Pirenaica (Pyrenees House) and the Casa de Albarracín (Albarracin House), which host the ethnology and ceramics sections respectively. In the town of Velilla de Ebro there is a last section of the museum where you will find the findings of the archaeological site of the Roman city of Colonia Celsa.