Once the Madrid residence of the Duke of Villahermosa, this typically neoclassical building on three floors is nowadays home to the art collections of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

The Villahermosa Palace is one of the most important buildings in Madrid’s repertoire of palatial architecture. Although it was built at the beginning of the 19th century, its origins date from the early 17th century, when the first structures emerged at the intersection of the Paseo del Prado Viejo and Carrera de San Jerónimo. During the 18th century this part of the city would gradually develop into the new court area opposite the Buen Retiro Palace. A long time ago, the high-ranking aristocrats linked to the Crown would seek closer proximity to the monarchs by situating their retreats in the area, which was open and spacious and thus ideal for building stately mansions with extensive grounds and parks. Hence, the Villahermosa Palace was abutted on one side by the Palace of the Duke of Lerma, later the Duke of Medinaceli (the present-day Palace Hotel), and on the other by the Palace of the Duke and Duchess of Béjar (the present-day Bank of Spain), on the corner of the Calle de Alcalá.

Situated at the epicentre of this area, the Villahermosa Palace also has a long history associated with cultural circles, thanks to the patronage of the arts exercised by its various owners and tenants. After its purchase in the late 18th century by the Duke and Duchess of Villahermosa, its halls hosted important intellectual gatherings along the lines of the Enlightenment “salons”. It was also the seat of Madrid’s Lyceum of Arts and Letters – one of the main cultural institutions during the Romantic period – and, at the turn of the century, of the city’s most famous salon, hosted by the Marchioness of Squilache. Throughout the century, the most prominent artists, writers, politicians and thinkers would gather regularly at the palace. This cultural genealogy burgeoned again in the second half of the 20th century when the building served as an annexe to the Prado Museum, and culminated in 1989 when it was turned into the headquarters of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

In the 16th century, this area lay on the outskirts of Madrid and was given over to crop-growing and manufacturing. However, during the latter years of that century and throughout the 17th century it underwent urban development and became the court district of the city. This transformation began in the year 1606 with the definitive relocation of the Spanish Court to Madrid, the royal family’s occupation of the Monastery of San Jerónimo el Real and the construction in 1635 of the Buen Retiro Palace as the monarchy’s summer residence. Following the fire at the Alcázar, or royal palace, from 1734 to 1764 this palace served as the permanent residence of the royal family while the New Royal Palace was being built. The immediate vicinity was developed in keeping with its importance and the junction of Prado Viejo and the Carrera de San Jerónimo became the focal point of the area, an obligatory part of the route for all official processions and the stage for official royal ceremonies.

At the beginning of the 17th century the site now occupied by the Thyssen Museum was divided into multiple properties. These were bought, sold, inherited and disputed throughout the century but were eventually unified into a single estate. The first house was built in the mid-17th century and is reproduced in the painting by Kessel which hangs in the Central Hall of the museum. Designed in keeping with the style established by the Madrid architect Gómez de Mora, the house first belonged to the Count of Galve and then to the Count of Frigiliana (brother-in-law of the former, who inherited it from his sister, Galve’s widow). It was the Count of Frigiliana who, at the beginning of the 18th century, became the sole owner of all the sections of the estate that currently accommodate the museum (including the additional facilities at 19-21 Calle del Marqués de Cubas), plus the sections between Marqués de Cubas and the Paseo del Prado that stretch to the plot on which the Bank of Spain now stands, which until then had been gardens and crop fields. The property remained unaltered until the mid-19th century.

In 1746 the house and all the aforementioned lands were purchased by the widowed Duchess of Atri, who secretly married Alessandro Pico de la Mirandola two years later. The couple built a much larger, more palatial home with Baroque décor, designed by the architect Francisco Sánchez, and the result was a two-storey building with attics.

In 1777 the Atri House was purchased by Juan Pablo Aragón-Azlor, the 11th Duke of Villahermosa. From Aragon and descended from King John II of Aragon, the Villahermosas were one of the oldest and most important families in the Spanish aristocracy. They also owned the largest amount of land, principally in Aragon and Navarre. Attached to the Court, the Duke of Villahermosa held diplomatic posts and was a learned encyclopaedist (he lived in Paris as a young man, where he participated in Enlightenment salons and became friends with d’Alambert and Voltaire). His interest in the house was due to the fact that it was the best-situated property in the Court, being flanked on one side by the Buen Retiro Palace, opposite the Palace of the Duke and Duchess of Medinaceli (his wife was the duchess’s sister), and on the other by the avenue along which the official royal processions passed. His purchase of the property in 1777 was clearly the result of a meditated decision, although he did not actually occupy it until 1783.

From the outset, the duke and his wife, María Manuela de Pignatelli, were keen to undertake alterations and enlarge the house. Although the details of the process are still a mystery, there are records of the remodeling and extension projects commissioned from Juan de Villanueva (rejected as too costly) and Manuel Martín Rodríguez (aided by his then apprentice, Silvestre Pérez), who seems to have been responsible for the first alterations to the palace façade and interior to adapt them to the new Neoclassical taste.

However, the major remodeling and extension of the palace took place in 1805, and the exterior dating from this time has survived to the present day. The project on this occasion was drawn up and supervised by Villanueva’s disciple, Antonio López Aguado, the Chief Architect of the Madrid City Council and the author, among other works, of the Puerta de Toledo Gate, the initial project for Madrid's Royal Theatre, and the completion of the Prado Museum after the War of Independence. Carried out after the death of the 11th Duke of Villahermosa by the widowed duchess and her son José Antonio de Aragón-Azlor, the 13th Duke of Villahermosa (1785-1852), the remodeling virtually doubled the floor plan of the building along the Paseo del Prado and added a third story. Meanwhile, the façades adopted the Neoclassical style that characterized Madrid’s palaces.

In addition to their relations with the Court, the Duke and Duchess of Villahermosa showed a lively interest in the arts and letters. Their palace not only contained a vast library but also hosted a literary gathering led by Tomàs de Iriarte. José Antonio Aragón-Azlor played an equally important role in the Court, in particular as an ambassador, and continuing the family tradition he befriended and championed writers, painters and architects such as Aguado, Vicente López and Madrazo, fellow students at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. In 1823, during the duke’s sojourn in France, the Duchess of Villahermosa provided shelter at the palace for the Duke of Angoulême, the general at the head of the French army (“The Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis”) that invaded Spain to support the restoration of absolutism under Ferdinand VII.

Its angular façade is typical of the 18th and 19th century's neoclassical architecture, though modern extensions were added in 2004. In the 1980s, it had been used as an exhibition hall for the Prado Museum.

It was originally built by Antonio López de Aguado for María Pignatelli y Gonzaga, the Duke of Villahermosa's wife, and the couple used the building as their residence in the capital in the early 19th century. During this time, the house was a focal point for social events, and Franz Liszt is said to have played at a soirée given there by the Duke and Duchess. In the 20th century, it was turned into office space for a bank, but was later bought by the State for use as a museum.

Interestingly, during its heyday, it is where the Duke of Angouleme, exiled heir to the French throne, came to stay when he was asked by the Spanish King Fernando VII to help him lead an attack on liberal factions in 1823. The French army he brought with him was known as the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis.

The attacks successfully restored an absolute monarchy in Spain, and the Duke of Angouleme went on to become the last Dauphin of France when his father became Charles X in 1824. He himself has the dubious reputation of being the world's shortest reigning king, when he became King Louis XIX for twenty minutes only in 1830, before he abdicated in favor of his nephew.

The main façade of the building faces the gardens, and still bears both the family crest and the name of the Duchess who commissioned the building, Maria Pilar Azlor de Aragón y Guillamas. The building's original architect, Antonio López de Aguado, was trained in Spain, Italy and France, and most of his important work was done in Madrid, including the Puerta de Toledo and the Teatro Real. His life spanned the typically neoclassical period of architecture in Europe, and he died in 1831.

The building is situated in the Paseo del Prado, and is a short walk from the Prado Museum and the Buen Retiro Park in one direction, and the Plaza Cibeles in the other. The nearest Metro stations are Retiro and Banco de España. You can get there via flight to Madrid.