Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando
The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal academies in the.
History
The academy was established by royal decree in 1752. About twenty years later, the enlightened monarch Charles III purchased a palace in Madrid as the academy's new home. The building had been designed by José Benito de Churriguera for the Goyeneche family. The king commissioned Diego de Villanueva to convert the building for academic use, employing a neoclassical style in place of Churriguera's baroque design.The academy is also the headquarters of the Madrid Academy of Art.
Notable alumni
The first graduate of the academy was Bárbara María Hueva. Francisco Goya was once one of the academy's directors. Its alumni include Felip Pedrell, Pablo Picasso, Kiko Argüello, Remedios Varo, Salvador Dalí, Margarita Manso, Antonio López García, Juan Luna, Fernando Amorsolo, Oscar de la Renta, Francesc Daniel Molina i Casamajó, Ricardo Macarrón, Alicia Iturrioz, Fernando Botero, and Melecio Figueroa.Notable academics
- Mariana de Silva-Bazán y Sarmiento, aristocratic figure, writer, painter, translator
- Juan Luis Vassallo, sculptor.