Built between 1798 and 1805, the building that houses the Museo Nacional de San Carlos is attributed to Manuel Tolsa, the former director of sculpture at the old San Carlos Academy. It formerly was the headquarters of the Tabacalera Mexicana in 1899, and subsequently housed the National Lottery and the No. 4 National Preparatory School, among others. By the year 1968, the building passed into the custody of the National Institute of Fine Arts, who took over caring for the enclosure’s collection of European art that had formerly been overseen by the National School of Fine Arts (formerly the Academy of San Carlos). The collection of the San Carlos National Museum covers a period of almost six centuries in which different artistic styles were developed, for which is the reason that this is one of the most important museums in Latin America. The pieces come from work done by teachers and students of the Royal Academy of the Three Noble Arts of San Carlos of New Spain, their trips to Italy, as well as those presented for the degree of academics. Other donations such as that made by the Mexican government during the first decade of the twentieth century, the Pani Collection during the twenties, and the Ministry of Finance in the thirties, have enriched the collection that is preserved here. Recent major acquisitions by quantity and quality, occurred in the seventies and eighties, thanks to the interest of the National Institute of Fine Arts, and domestic and foreign collectors. The museum is open Wednesday to Monday from 10:00 to 6:00. Closed on Tuesdays. Admission is $ 25 pesos, free on Sundays.

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