Ferdinand, Isabella, and All the Philips and Charleses Would Feel Right at Home

Earlier this summer a new museum opened in Madrid. The Gallery of Royal Collections, next to the Royal Palace, displays paintings, sculpture, textiles, furniture, armor, books, fans — it’s Spain — as well as nifty royal coaches. It’s run by the Patrimonio Nacional, a department of the office of the Spanish president controlling palaces, gardens, religious houses, and libraries either used by the king for ceremonies or closely linked to Spain’s royals as emblems.

Spain’s government created the Patrimonio Nacional in 1865 during the long, ups-and-downs reign of Isabella II, who otherwise might have sold Philip II’s palace, library, royal seminary — as well as the gold teeth of her predecessors interred at the Escorial.