Buried art collection of Murcia - centuries old and hidden in plain sight

Museo de Bellas Artes de Murcia, hidden in plain sight, is a 1910-built monument located in the historic center of Murcia, Spain. From 1864, the museum's foundation was housed in the salon of Levante of the Teatro de los Infantes. As its collection expanded, it was moved to the solar of the antique Convento de la Trinidad in the 1900s. Pedro Cerdán built the museum on the site, incorporating elements of the convent's grand columns and wooden staircase into the design. The museum officially opened in 1910 and was declared a monumento histórico-artístico in 1962.

Today, MUBAM houses a diverse collection of artworks, ranging from European Old Masters to local artists from Murcia. The museum consists of two distinct pavilions: the Pabellón Cerdán, which houses the permanent collections, and the Pabellón Contraste, with offices, event space, and temporary exhibition halls.

On the first floor, one can find paintings from Renaissance masters Hernando de los Llanos and Juan de Vitoria, as well as various Baroque artists such as Pedro de Orrente, Nicolás de Villacis, Mateo Gilarte, and José Mateos Ferrer. The second floor displays works from Spanish and Italian painters of the 17th century, including Zurbarán, Ribera, Murillo, Valdés Leal, and Bartolomeo Cavarozzi.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons