This building is a characteristic Castilian Plateresque palace that was designed by architects Diego Sillero and Juan Bautista de Toledo in the early 16th century, blending decorations of Mudéjar tradition with tiles and plasterwork and the new Renaissance forms. During the following century, the interiors were adorned with large Baroque paintings that aimed to overwhelm anyone who beheld them. The space occupied by the monastery was of great dimensions where monastic dependencies, orchards, and spaces for worship could be found. Las Descalzas Reales owes its name to the numerous princesses and infantas who used to spend time in its "Royal Quarters" such as the Empress María -Juana's older sister- or Isabel Clara Eugenia -daughter of Philip II, which is why the convent has traditionally received large endowments and donations that have turned it into a true museum. Today, we can find works such as the praying statue of Princess Juana by Pompeo Leoni, the monumental staircase decorated with frescoes by Claudio Coello, Antonio de Pereda, or Francisco Rizzi, a recumbent Christ by Gaspar Becerra, and numerous tapestries designed by Rubens, among others.