Lima Art Museum, Art museum in central Lima, Peru
The Lima Art Museum occupies the Palacio de la Exposición, a neo-Renaissance building designed by Italian architect Antonio Leonardi with a cast-iron structure made by Gustave Eiffel's atelier in 1870–1871. Its white façade has a raised central block inscribed "MUSEO DE ARTE" above a crest, three tall arched windows with dark grilles between fluted columns, and three arched doorways with carved wooden double doors; symmetrical wings repeat the pattern. Inside, 4,500 m² of galleries hold ceramics, textiles, colonial furniture and paintings spanning some 3,000 years.
The Palacio de la Exposición was built in 1872 for the Exposición Internacional de Lima, with an Italianate façade by Antonio Leonardi around a cast-iron structure designed by Gustave Eiffel's atelier in 1870–1871. The Patronato de las Artes, formed in 1954, received the building on renewable loan and began restoration in March 1956 with architects Héctor Velarde and José García Bryce. The museum opened in 1959 and was handed to the public on 10 March 1961 by President Manuel Prado y Ugarteche, who donated the collection begun by his brother Javier.
The acronym MALI comes from Museo de Arte de Lima, and the institution grew out of the Patronato de las Artes, founded in 1954. The Manuel Solari Swayne Library and the Peruvian Art Archive form the country's main art library, and the ARCHI digital platform shares Peruvian art and architecture with schools.
The building sits in the downtown area not far from the main square and is easy to reach on foot. The second-floor halls were renovated in 2015 and now offer better lighting and climate control.
The building's cast-iron structure was designed by Gustave Eiffel's atelier between 1870 and 1871, while Antonio Leonardi added the Italianate facade. The museum's contemporary collection of more than 1,000 works remains largely in storage, awaiting a new wing.
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