The Cerralbo is a state-owned museum pertaining to the Directorate General of Fine Arts and Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, which has a Foundation for its protection and support.
This house-museum originated in the legacy of Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa (1845-1922), the 17th Marquis of Cerralbo and a politician, academic, collector and archaeologist. It was completed with the donation of his step-daughter Amelia del Valle y Serrano (1853-1927), the Marquess of Villa-Huerta. Its two floors display the lifestyle of an aristocratic family of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Museum’s fundamental aim is to fulfil the Marquis of Cerralbo’s intentions with regard to his collections and the building that houses them; in other words, that his legacy should remain complete and inalterable and be used for study by science and art fans. It is therefore a vital task to facilitate the study and dissemination of these collections by means of their active technical treatment, holding temporary exhibitions and loaning pieces, without forgetting the scheduling of all types of activities that provide knowledge of the institution, its founders and its collections. However, another of the Museum’s important missions is to recover and preserve the original settings of the house, themselves conceived as heritage assets.
