Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
Eight centuries of European painting, from Renaissance portraits to twentieth-century modernism, in a former nobleman's palace.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid follows how a former Miss Spain, Carmen Cervera, married the shy industrialist Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza in 1985 and helped steer his family's private art collection, built up over generations at Villa Favorita on Lake Lugano, toward Madrid instead of Britain, Germany or the United States. It traces the failed building permit in Switzerland that set the move in motion, and the palace beside the Prado that the Spanish government offered the baron. Listen for what convinced Spain to buy the entire collection outright rather than risk losing it again.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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