It is the oldest museum in Colombia and one of the oldest in America. Most exhibitions are from Colombian history, however, there are works from Latin America and from other continents. Currently the museum has 25,000 works of all artistic types such as: Painting, drawings, prints, sculptures and colonial-type installations.

 

 

HISTORY

Taken from: revistadiners.com

It was designed in 1850 by Thomas Reed and its construction began in 1874. The space worked as a penitentiary until 1946, when the jail moved to La Picota. The museum has been operating in this building since 1948.

After being adapted as a Museum, the building was restored in two opportunities: between 1976 and 1977 a partial intervention was carried out and between 1989 and 2001 an integral restoration was carried out.

OTHER IMPORTANT PIECES 

"Aerolite of Santa Rosa of  Viterbo":
In 1940 the Smithsonian Institute called it Ataxita. It is composed of: Iron 93%, nickel 6%, cobalt 0.7%, carbon 0.2%, phosphorus, sulfur and chromium 0.1%.
It has a density of 7.70 and a weight of 411 kilograms.

"Death of General Santander":
This painting was done by Luis Garcia Hevia in oil on canvas. It is part of the remarkable works of the history collection.

 This is an exhibition called "Encounter with the sacred: the faithful and the images":
Reforms were established that transformed spaces destined for prayer and the encounter with the sacred. The paintings refer to the belief held in the years 1545 to 1563, some of these religious thoughts are still kept.

 

 

 

 "Maternity":

It is a representation of art that does not require other instruments other than polishing stone. The artist Miguel Sopó, made the calculations of proportionality in human silhouettes and from there began his work, without some kind of detail outside the silhouettes.

Why did we choose the museum?

Initially, we chose the museum because of its proximity to the university where we studied. We had no prior knowledge of the works or pieces on display. However, it is a place a great variety of collections that allows the learning of history and art through the different points of view of artists or historians. It is interesting to know that both the works and the museum keep their own history.

 If you are a person who wants to know Colombian history and know the good Colombian art, it is a good place to visit.