Barcelona Museu Frederic Marès

Barcelona Museu Frederic: MarèsKleptomaniac and magpie, Frederic Marès (1893-1991) 'collected' everything he laid his hands on, from hairbrushes to opera glasses and gargoyles. Unlike most private 19th-century collectors, Marès didn't come from a wealthy family, but he spent every penny he earned as a sculptor and art professor on broadening his hoardings. Even when the Ajuntament gave him a palace in which to display his collection (and house himself), it wasn't enough; the overflow eventually spread to two other Marès museums in Montblanc and Arenys de Mar.


The exhibits in the Barcelona Museu Frederic Marès are divided into three main sections. The basement, ground floor and first floor of the Barcelona Museu Frederic Marès are devoted to sculpture dating from the Pre-Roman era to the 20th century, including a vast array of polychromed religious carvings, tombs, capitals and entire church portals, exquisitely carved. On the second floor of the Barcelona Museu Frederic Marès sits the Sentimental Museum, with objects from everyday life; look out for the Ladies' Room, filled with fans, sewing scissors and perfume flasks, and the Entertainment Room, with mechanical toys, puppets and a room dedicated to smoking paraphernalia. Also on the second floor of the Barcelona Museu Frederic Marès, comprising the third main collection, is a room devoted to photography, and Marès' study and library. It's now filled with sculptures, many of them his own.

Address

Plaça Sant Iu 5-6
Area Barrí Gòtic
Transport Metro Jaume I .
Telephone 93 310 58 00
Open 10am-7pm Tue-Sat; 10am-3pm Sun.
Admission €3; €1.50 reductions; free under-16s. Free 3-7pm Wed, 1st Sun of mth.