Royal Collections Gallery, Museum in Madrid, Spain
The Royal Collections Gallery is an art museum in Madrid, next to the Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace, with its main façade in Gris Quintana granite. The building is structured on levels: level 0 for reception, level -1 for medieval dynasties and the Habsburgs, level -2 for the Bourbons, level -3 for temporary exhibitions, and level -4 for storage.
The idea dates to 1935-1936, when the Second Republic decreed a Museum of Arms and Carriages; the Civil War halted it, and revivals in 1950 and 1980 came to nothing. Patrimonio Nacional relaunched the project in 1998, Mansilla + Tuñón won the 2002 contest, and construction began in 2006, delayed by remains of a 9th-century Muslim settlement. It opened on 28 June 2023.
The gallery's name shifted from museum to gallery because the collection is not permanent or owned by the building: it is a rotating selection of goods from other royal sites. The display follows a chronological route by reign, with the medieval dynasties and Habsburgs on level -1 and the Bourbons on level -2.
The building is entered at level 0, at Plaza de la Armería, while the lower level -4 opens at Campo del Moro. Inside, the route descends: the Habsburgs and medieval dynasties on level -1, the Bourbons on level -2, temporary exhibitions on level -3, and storage at the bottom. The granite facade is Gris Quintana.
The museum regularly rotates portions of its collection among exhibition spaces, meaning returning visitors encounter different works on each visit. This approach allows the full scope of the royal holdings to be shown without displaying everything at once.
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