Iberian sculpture dialogues. The Louvre Museum at the MAN

From 18 November to 10 May 2026, the National Archaeological Museum will for the first time in its history be home to ten exceptional sculptures from the Louvre Museum, exhibited in Rooms 11, 12, 13 and 17.

The exhibition brings together, in an exceptional dialogue, the Iberian sculpture collections of the National Archaeological Museum (MAN) and the Louvre Museum. Coming from the same archaeological sites in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, these works allow us to rediscover the close ties that have united these two institutions since the late 19th century. Thanks to the pioneering work of José Ramón Mélida and Léon Heuzey, Iberian art was recognised as one of the most unique manifestations of ancient Spain.

Visitors will be able to admire emblematic pieces such as the sphinxes of Agost, the ashlars of Osuna, and the heads of Cerro de los Santos, testimony to the symbolic thinking and spirituality of Iberian culture. These sculptures, linked to ritual and funerary contexts, represent fantastic beasts, processions, or ex-votos that evoke the protection of the soul and the transition to the afterlife. This encounter between the collections of the MAN and the Louvre offers a unique opportunity to contemplate the technical mastery and symbolic depth of Iberian art.