National Museum of Fine Arts, Manila

The National Museum of Fine Arts occupies a grand neoclassical former legislative building near Rizal Park in Manila. Its galleries hold the country's most important collection of paintings and sculpture, headlined by the vast 19th-century canvas depicting the martyrdom of Christian captives that won its creator international acclaim. Works by generations of Filipino masters trace the national artistic tradition. The restored halls, marble staircases, and coffered ceilings make the building itself worth study.