Located on the site of the former Church and Novitiate of the Society of Jesus, founded at the start of the 17th century, stands this grand building of classicist academic design built by Narciso Pascual y Colomer. It was once the main site of the Universidad Central, and subsequently the Universidad de Madrid, both predecessors of the current Universidad Complutense. It currently houses the Instituto de España, a body that encompasses the Royal Academies.
The first project to adapt the novitiate to its new use as a university was designed by Francisco Javier Mariátegui; after his death he was replaced by Narciso Pascual y Colomer, who designed the auditorium, built in 1852 using the walls of the former Jesuit church, with an elliptical floor plan. The paintings in the Auditorium, depicting allegories that allude to university culture, are the work of Joaquín Espalter, and the sculptural elements are by Ponciano Ponzano
The university rooms were distributed around two courtyards, the former cloisters. The front gallery follows classical lines with regard to the arrangement of the central and side pavilions. On the main floor, bays with relieving arches are separated by Corinthian pilasters, breaking up the horizontal lines of the façade.
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