Real Academia de San Fernando: the academy's own collection
On the busy Calle de Alcalá, a door away from the Puerta del Sol, the academy that trained Spain's artists keeps a museum of what they made and what they learned from. It is one of the best collections in Madrid, and one of the least visited.
- What it is
- Museum
- Time to allow
- 1 to 2 hours
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- A weekday morning
Madrid this week
Why the Real Academia de San Fernando is worth it
The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando was founded by royal decree in 1752. Some twenty years later Charles III bought it a palace on the Calle de Alcalá, built in the Baroque style for the Goyeneche family, and had Diego de Villanueva give it the plain neoclassical front it has now.
Goya was one of its directors, and the academy has some of his most striking small pictures. Over two centuries, its students included Picasso and Dalí, and its members gave it their works, so its galleries run from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.
The same building houses the Calcografía Nacional, the national print collection, with the copper plates of Goya's etchings.
What to see
Goya
The Burial of the Sardine, a carnival crowd dancing under a grinning banner, and the Inquisition Scene and the Madhouse, painted small and dark in the same years. There are portraits and a self-portrait too.
Zurbarán's friars
A row of standing monks in white habits, painted for a monastery in Seville: some of the most austere and beautiful pictures in Spanish painting.
Arcimboldo's Spring
A face made entirely of flowers, painted for the Habsburg emperor in Vienna, one of the few Arcimboldos in Spain.
Rubens, Ribera and Murillo
Altarpieces and religious paintings of the seventeenth century, many of them taken from Spanish churches and convents in the nineteenth.
How to do it well
- It is rarely crowded. Go when the Prado is full.
- The visit takes about an hour.
- The Puerta del Sol is two minutes away, and the Círculo de Bellas Artes five, along the same street.
Where it is
Address
Calle de Alcalá 13, between the Puerta del Sol and the Gran Vía
Nearest station
Sevilla (line 2) or Sol (lines 1, 2 and 3), two minutes on foot
Museums and sights nearby
- Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum550 m
- Plaza Mayor600 m
- Museo Nacional del Prado850 m
- Royal Palace of Madrid1.1 km
Distances are in a straight line.
Tickets and tours: Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando: common questions
- What can you see at the Real Academia de San Fernando?
- Goya's Burial of the Sardine and other paintings by him, Zurbarán's white-robed friars, Arcimboldo's Spring, and works by Rubens, Ribera, Murillo and the academy's own members.
- Did Picasso study at the Real Academia de San Fernando?
- Yes, briefly, as a teenager in 1897. Dalí studied there in the 1920s and was expelled.
- How long does a visit take?
- About an hour. It is a museum of modest size, and rarely busy.
- How much time do you need for the Real Academia de San Fernando?
- Allow 1 to 2 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.
What visitors say about the Real Academia de San Fernando
Rating from Google
Things to do near the Real Academia de San Fernando
The nearest of this site's best things to do in the city. Distances are in a straight line.
- 12Walk the Gran Vía and stand at Kilometre Zero in the Puerta del Sol250 m awayWalk, 1 to 2 hours, free
- 17Look over Madrid's rooftops from the Círculo de Bellas Artes350 m awayMonument, 45 to 90 minutes, ticket for the roof
- 15Take the guided tour of the Descalzas Reales convent500 m awayChurch, 1 to 1.5 hours, ticket
- 4Walk seven centuries of painting at the Thyssen550 m awayMuseum, 2 to 3.5 hours, ticket, free on mondays
Artists to see near the Real Academia de San Fernando
The museums nearest to here, and the most famous artists on show in each.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, 550 m away
Museo Nacional del Prado, 850 m away
Where to eat near the Real Academia de San Fernando
The nearest of the famous tables this site lists in Madrid. Distances are in a straight line.
- Lhardy4.2Restaurant, Carrera de San Jerónimo150 m away
- Antigua Pastelería del Pozo4.5Pastry shop, Puerta del Sol150 m away
- Viva Madrid4.5Tavern, Barrio de las Letras300 m away
- Casa Labra4.3Tavern, Puerta del Sol350 m away
Hotels near the Real Academia de San Fernando
The five-star hotels closest to it, of those this site lists in Madrid. Distances are in a straight line.
- Four Seasons Hotel Madrid4.6Five-star hotel, Canalejas50 m away
- JW Marriott Hotel Madrid4.6Five-star hotel, Canalejas100 m away
- Gran Hotel Inglés4.7Five-star hotel, Barrio de las Letras200 m away
- The Principal Madrid4.5Five-star hotel, Gran Vía350 m away