Spain is a country with no shortage of beauty and cultural offerings, but the National Sculpture Museum offers a slightly different perspective, with pieces made of wood, bronze, stone, clay and ivory that span the years from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The diverse collection includes choir stalls, processional statues, altarpieces, funerary monuments and eerily lifelike statuary that resulted from the introduction of polychromed wood.

© Museo Nacional de Escultura. Valladolid.

Sculptors Juan de Juni, Alonso Berruguete and Gregorio Fernández are featured in separate, dedicated spaces. Among the collection’s most impressive works is Berruguete’s 16th-century Main Altarpiece of San Benito, and a 15th-century Altarpiece Depicting Christ’s Descent from the Cross created by an anonymous sculptor. Collections from the former National Museum of Artistic Reproductions are also on view. Housed in several buildings that include the Villena Palace and the Casa del Sol, the main museum building is located within a spectacular 15^th-century structure that was originally a training center for mystics, inquisitors and theologians. The museum buildings are closed on Mondays.