Picasso Museum Barcelona

Picasso lived in Barcelona from the age of fourteen to twenty-three and the museum, opened in 1963 on the initiative of his friend and secretary Jaume Sabartes, concentrates on that period: academic student work of remarkable technical assurance, the Blue Period paintings made partly in the city, and drawings and prints, with over four thousand works in all, many given by Picasso himself. The other set piece is Las Meninas, fifty-eight canvases painted in 1957 in which he worked through Velazquez's painting again and again, donated by the artist and shown together. The museum occupies five adjoining Gothic palaces on Carrer Montcada with courtyards and external stairs, worth seeing as buildings.

What you actually see

• The early academic work - student paintings showing his technical training.
• The Blue Period - canvases from his Barcelona and Paris years.
• Las Meninas series - fifty-eight variations on Velazquez, shown together.
• The Gothic palaces - five linked medieval buildings with courtyards.

When to go

Year-round; entry is timed and books out days ahead in season. Free evening slots and first Sundays draw long queues. The museum closes on Mondays.

Honest expectations

The collection is early work and the Las Meninas series; the famous mature paintings are elsewhere. Entry is timed and walk-up tickets are often unavailable. The galleries are cramped and crowded at peak times.

Nearby

Santa Maria del Mar and the Born quarter are alongside; the Gothic quarter lies west.