Museum of Decorative Arts

The Museum of Decorative Arts was created in 1972 and is located in the Taranco Palace, located in the Old City of Montevideo. The property it occupies was within the limits of the exterior defensive works of Fort San Felipe and Santiago de Montevideo. After the demolition of these buildings, in 1793, part of the property was adapted to house a theater: La Casa de Comedias. The San Felipe Theater was later built on top of it, which was also demolished at the end of the 19th century. The Ortíz de Taranco brothers acquired these lands to build their family home, identified over the years as Palacio Taranco. The building bears the signature of the renowned French architects Charles-Louis Girault (1851 – 1932) and Jules-Léon Chifflot (1868-1925), authors of the Petit Palais in Paris and the Arc de Triomphe in Brussels, among other recognized architectural works. The house, which today is a National Historical Monument (MHN), began construction in 1908 and has an exceptional garden space that functions as an articulator between the building and the public space. The formal language selected by the designers is inspired by the French styles of the 18th century. The museum has collections of painting, sculpture, furniture, tapestries, lighting and decorative objects, as well as an important collection of archi...

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