[3] However, in September 1917, Elvira died suddenly[4] and Ricardo Augustin gradually abandoned the city, leaving the palace empty for much of the year.

In 1792 the Royal Basque Society kept a library and a collection of Roman tombstones in the old Seminary Church of Aguirre de Vitoria.

[citation needed] At the end of the 19th century, Federico Baraibar had gathered archaeological remains in what he called the "Incipient Museum" in the halls of the secondary school, which later served as the meeting place of the Basque Parliament.

The first step was taken in 1941 with the purchase of the Augustin Zulueta Palace, destined to accommodate, under the name of Casa de Álava, both collections related to fine arts and archaeology as well as the library and the archive of the province.

[10] The tour begins in the rooms of the ground floor dedicated to Basque art from 1850 to 1950, where you can see the evolution of the painting on the basis of pioneering artists such as Juan Angel Sáez (1811–1873), Antonio Lecuona, Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala and Jose Etxenagusia, among others.

The chronological journey allows you to follow the succession of stylistic trends used throughout his long career (realism, impressionism, expressionism).

Located in the zone corresponding to the Augustin Zulueta Palace, the collection of Spanish art from the 18th to the 20th century, shown through portraits, landscapes and scenes depicting local customs, illustrates the transition from classical and academic painting to more spontaneous romantic styles and painters from the realist movement.