Palacio Baburizza (Valparaíso Museum of Fine Arts)
Valparaíso's municipal fine arts museum in an art nouveau mansion on Cerro Alegre.
The palace was built in 1916 for the saltpetre businessman Ottorino Zanelli to designs by the Italian architects Arnaldo Barison and Renato Schiavon, in an art nouveau manner unusual for Chile, with curved gables, stained glass and a corner tower. In 1925 it was bought by the Croatian-born nitrate magnate Pascual Baburizza, who lived there until 1941. His foundation later gave the house and his picture collection to the city, and it opened as the municipal fine arts museum in 1971.
The collection centres on European painting of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries assembled by Baburizza, together with Chilean artists and a group of works depicting Valparaíso and its port. After years of deterioration the building was closed for a long restoration and reopened in 2012 with new display and climate systems. It stands on the Paseo Yugoslavo above the Ascensor El Peral, within the UNESCO-listed historic quarter of Valparaíso.
Highlights
- Art nouveau mansion of 1916 overlooking the bay from Cerro Alegre
- European paintings collected by the nitrate magnate Pascual Baburizza
- Chilean works and harbour views of nineteenth-century Valparaíso
- Reopened in 2012 after a lengthy restoration of the house
