From Leandro Bassano to Goya, six centuries of patronage in Alba's house

Malaga,

There are no numerous exhibitions that come to emphasize, through the exhibition of an extensive representation of their funds, the role played by European noble houses in the history of patronage and the collecting of works of art, in the past and also in more recent times, hence the exceptional nature of the exhibition that has just opened its doors in the Malaga headquarters of the Unicaja Foundation. The Andalusza institution teaches us a wide selection of the heritage treasure Morphology, history and composition.

The tour of this proposal begins with the portrait that Francisco de Goya made of María Gabriela Palafox and Portocarrero, Marquise de Lazán; With him a section centered on the family origins of the Dukes of Alba begins, of whom they preceded the collector’s work of this house in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. In that section we expect paintings by the Master of the Virgo Inter Virgines, Alonso Sánchez Coello, Simon de Vos, Juan Carreño de Miranda; Sculptures of Juan Bautista Monegro or Leone Leoni; Documents such as Fernando El Católico’s will, Tiziano letters, Sánchez Coello himself, the Queens Isabel I of England and María Estuardo or a Lope de Vega receipt related to his pension in charge of the house of Alba.

Patronage and collecting in the house of Alba. Unicaja Foundation, Malaga

Next, the exhibition in the collector’s performance of the Marquises of the Carpio, who possessed pieces by Leandro Bassano or Francisco Rizzi; or Duke Carlos Miguel, who carried out the Grand Tour and was made with compositions of Guido Reni, Luca Giordano, Battista Paggi or Giovanni Paolo Pannini; also with Imposition of Gold toison to Berwick Marshal by Felipe Vby Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ing, the only work of this French artist present in our country permanently.

We will also contemplate a set of busts and Greek vessels dated between the 5th century and I DC, and drawings and engravings of figures such as Durero and Rembrandt, in addition to a collection of miniatures dated between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries in which the Josefina and Eugenia de Montijo, Ana de Austria or Felipe III, sculptors such as Antonio Canova or Felipe Bertel Thorvaldsen, bankers such as Binndo Altoviti and other historical, mythological and religious figures.

Speaking of the Empress of the French, it has its own section the commitment to the arts and collecting in the house of Montijo, especially that of Eugenia. We will appreciate the portrait by Edouard Alexandre Odier de la Condesa on horseback dressed in Goyesca in the Sierra de Teba; Paints of Federico de Madrazo, such as the portrait of María Manuela, Countess of Montijo, born in Malaga; or from Andrés de la Calleja. Likewise, we will see letters of the Empress Sissi and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom to the same Countess, original furniture, porcelants of Sèvres or historical fans. It has sought to grant relevance to women artists in the funds of the Alba Málaga have arrived creations of Lavinia Fontana, Elisabetta Sirani, Isabella Bozzolini, Sophie Liénard or Emilia Carmena de Prota.

Finally, we will enter a chapter that studies the effort in the conservation of family heritage by Duke Don Jacobo and his daughter Doña Cayetana -with the portrait of Jacobo Fitz -James Stuart and Falcó, XVII Duke of Alba, which Joaquín Sorolla carried out in 1908 and works by Sargent, Ignacio Zuloaga, Mariano Benlliure Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, Romero de Torres, Anglada-Camarasa, Antonio María Esquivel and Gustavo Bacarisas-. And the exhibition ends with a selection of complete real uniforms that carried Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII, and Children’s Garments and Cristianar clothes of those monarchs.

The Foundation offers free guided tours for groups of maximum 20 people, Monday through Friday at 11:00, 12:00, 1:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Saturdays at 11:00, 12:00, 16:30 and 5:30 p.m., and on Sundays at 11:00 and 12:00. In addition, two passes in English are offered on Fridays at 5:00 p.m. and on Saturdays at 12:30 pm. Visits can be reserved in medacionculturalmalaga@fundacionunicaja.com or on the phone 952 62 48 62.