Sorolla Museum

Joaquin Sorolla built this house in 1911 at the height of his fame as a painter of Mediterranean light, and his widow left it to the state on her death in 1925 with the contents intact. The studio is the centre of it: easels, palettes, brushes, furniture and unfinished canvases arranged as he worked, lit by high north windows. The rooms around hold the largest collection of his paintings anywhere, beach scenes from Valencia, portraits and garden studies, along with his collection of Spanish ceramics, sculpture and jewellery. The garden he laid out himself in three sections drawing on the Alcazar of Seville and the Generalife, with fountains, tiles and cypresses, and it appears in many of the late canvases.

What you actually see

• The studio - easels, palettes and unfinished canvases as he left them.
• The beach paintings - Valencia scenes from his best-known period.
• The Andalusian garden - three sections designed by Sorolla himself.
• The domestic rooms - family spaces with his collections in place.

When to go

Year-round; the garden is best in spring and autumn. The museum closes on Mondays, offers free entry in the last two hours on weekdays and all day Sunday, and is busiest then.

Honest expectations

The house is small and can be seen in ninety minutes. Free entry hours bring queues. The garden is compact and shares space with the entrance, so it is rarely quiet.

Nearby

Chamberi's quiet streets surround it; the Paseo de la Castellana and central Madrid lie east.