To a dedicated museumgoer, seeing these paintings exhibited in galleries with open-air circulation and no climate control is a little unsettling. The museum has about 350 works. On the first floor are over 20 portraits depicting scenes of St. Francis's life. The stairway to the second floor has some large, striking paintings, including Cabrera's Virgin of the Apocalypse and Arnáez's The Triumph of the Sweet Name of Jesus, which is an amusing propagandistic work showing the victory of Rome over the pagans and the Reformation. Highlights on the second floor include the organ loft, 14 oval paintings by Cabrera, 4 by Villalpando, and the surprising work of a local artist named Gabriel José de Ovalle, who distorts space and deforms human features in a style that seems much more modern than the 1700s. Guides are available for a tour of the museum and to view the Capilla de Nápoles (if the monks aren't celebrating Mass). Through much of 2009, the museum will be making some changes and restoring the buildings. The entrance will change, and there will be more exhibition space for art. The collection of antique cars that used to be in the building next door has been removed.
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