Facade of the Palace of the National Library and Museums on Paseo de Recoletos under construction

Glass negative with circular fade-out mask framing the image. It shows a facade of the Palace of the National Library and Museums under construction.
We see the wooden scaffolding and two temporary structures with gable roofs in the garden that may be the equivalent of modern site huts, as well as adjacent buildings (no longer in existence) and carriages and people on Paseo de Recoletos, an avenue where the wealthy residents of Madrid’s newly created Salamanca district enjoyed taking leisurely strolls.
Thanks to the envelope containing the negative, we know it is a snapshot taken in 1891, just a few months before construction works were completed and 25 years after Queen Isabella II laid the first stone of the palace designed by Francisco Jareño and Antonio Ruiz de Salces.