Museum of Spanish Colonial Art

Opened in 2002, this museum features breathtaking collections of Spanish art spanning five centuries and four continents. Displays include religious paintings and sculptures, ironwork, furniture and leather work. Educational programs and programs for children are part of the mix.

The 3,000 objects in the collections include devotional and decorative works and utilitarian artifacts, representing an artistic heritage of five centuries and four continents. The collections are unique in their global range; their representation of daily life in the colonial world; their historic importance as a repository of key research objects; and their incorporation of works by present-day Hispano artists of New Mexico. The collections are rich in retablos (religious paintings on wood), bultos (freestanding religious sculptures), furniture, textiles, fine metalwork, tinwork, straw appliqué, utilitarian objects (tools, weapons, cattle brands, spurs, strike-a-lights, candlesticks, tobacco flasks), objects of personal adornment (crucifixes and rosaries, necklaces, hair combs, fans) and colonial architecture. These objects originated in New Mexico, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, the Caribbean, the Philippines and Goa. Objects from France, Italy, Greece, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Morocco, China and Tibet also play a role in the collections as points of comparison for Spanish colonial art throughout the Americas.

Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
750 Camino Lejo
Museum Hill
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Phone: (505) 982-8486
www.spanishcolonial.org