The museum building is a 17th century Neoclassical palace, remodeled at the beginning of the 19th century and adapted by Rafael Moneo in 1992 to house this outstanding collection of Western art. It was finished in 1850 under the direction of Narciso Pascual y Colomer.
Corinthian columns hold a Neoclassical pediment.
Click to Enlarge On the opposite side of the street, we find the Palace Hotel, built in 1912. The altarpieces and carvings are worth visiting. On the semi-circular Plaza de la Lealtad is another of Madrid's finest hotels, the Ritz Hotel, inaugurated in a unique structure built in 1910. It has been an art museum since 1818. Its ground plan is formed by a rectangle with two square structures attached at each end.