Christmas at the Museum
In addition to Renoir: Intimacy (until 22 January) and Bulgari and Rome (until 26 February), during the Christmas period and at New Year visitors can enjoy a free-entry exhibition located on the Balcony Gallery and devoted to Francisco Bores’s illustrations for Edgar Allen Poe’s poem The Raven (until 5 February). All these exhibitions will be open during normal times, Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 7pm and Saturdays until 9pm, except for 24 and 31 December when the Museum will close at 3pm, and 25 December and 1 January when it is closed.
In addition, on display until 15 January in the Main Hall is an 18th-century Neapolitan Nativity Scene which is particularly notable for the dynamic, powerful figures of the angels, the principal figures in the Nativity scene – the Virgin, the Infant Christ and Saint Joseph – and the Three Kings, as well as the elaborate setting that illustrates daily life at the time: street sellers, musicians, travellers, passers-by, figures making purchases, tavern keepers and others representing a wide range of trades, all of them animating the Birth of Christ with their lively expressivity.
With regard to activities, this year’s Christmas workshop-visit is entitled Fugue in red and is aimed at families with children aged between 7 and 12. Participants will discover the connections between music and painting through works in the permanent collection, followed by a practical session in the workshop using visual and auditive skills.
Finally, during the holiday period the Café-Restaurant and Bookshop-Gift shop will also be open during normal hours, the latter offering a wide range of items inspired by the Museum’s exhibitions and by works in the collection, offering original Christmas gift ideas. Another excellent gift is a Friend of the Museum card.