Madrid Attractions

Venue: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza    When: Daily; not Mon

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid is known for its superb temporary exhibitions, but the great draw is its permanent collection, said to surpass all but that of the British Royal Family.

The collection exists in Spain thanks to German-Hungarian industrialist Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza's penchant for art. Taking over a family collection, he expanded it so much it that it soon became too big for its home in the Swiss city of Lugano. With the help of his Spanish wife Carmen Cervera, and against the wishes of the Swiss and German governments, the collection was moved to Spain on loan.

The Spanish government provided the Palacio de Villahermosa in Madrid in 1988 and a foundation was set up to manage, maintain and preserve the collection. The Baron and Baroness were so pleased with the move they decided to retain the collection permanently in Spain.

The collection is divided floor-by-floor into artistic movements: 13th-17th-century works covering Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces; 17th-century Dutch artists, German Expressionists and French Impressionists; and a whole range of 20th-century movements from Cubism, Neoplasticism and Dada to Surrealism and Pop Art.

Old Masters and modern greats on display include work by Buoninsegna, Guirlandaio, Carpaccio, Albrecht, Holbein, Tiziano, Caravaggaio, Rubens, Canaletto, Ribera, Goya, Kalf, Manet, Monet, Degas, van Gogh, Picasso, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Rothko and Rauschenberg, among others.