Museum of Decorative Arts
Museo de Artes Decorativas
Museum of Decorative Arts (Palacio Taranco, Plaza Zabala, Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo) – this museum has a collection of various paintings, sculptures, textiles, ornaments, and European furniture (including that of Louis XV, Louis XVI, Ribera, Teniers, Mierevelt, Van der Helst, Appiani, Pradila, Zuloaga, and Sorella. This museum also has a collection of Classical Art and Archaeology in its basement, consisting of artifacts of ceramics, glass, and bronzes and various items related to Greco-Roman and Near East art and archaeology. This, along with collections of various textiles, from Persian curtains to Flemish tapestries, and has various ointments, oils, and perfumes.
The museum itself is housed within a palace built during the early 20th century by French architects Charles Louis Girault and Jules Chifflot León (who also designed the Arc de Triomphe in Paris). With sections of this palace now used as a meeting place by the Uruguayan government, this palace was declared a national landmark in 1979.
Admission: free. Hours: 12:30 pm – 5:40 pm (Monday – Friday).