El Escorial’s Painting and Architecture Museums reopen after ten years
A €3.1 million renovation has returned the museums to public use, with a rehang of around 100 paintings tracing the formation of the Royal Collections across four centuries.
Patrimonio Nacional has reopened the Painting and Architecture Museums at the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial after a decade of public closure. CODART reports that the €3.1 million renovation was funded primarily through Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and introduced new displays in both museums.
The renewed Painting Museum brings together around 100 Italian, Flemish and Spanish works. Twenty-one paintings have entered permanent display for the first time, while nearly one-third of the works on view were restored specifically for the reopening.
The display traces the formation of the Royal Collections over four centuries, rather than presenting the pictures only as individual highlights. CODART says that Philip II established El Escorial as an artistic centre by bringing major religious works from his collection to the monastery. Later monarchs, including Philip IV, Charles II, Charles IV and Isabella II, enlarged the holdings with paintings from leading European schools.
The selection includes works by Tiziano, Tintoretto, Veronese, Luca Giordano, Jusepe de Ribera, Michiel Coxcie and Rogier van der Weyden. Highlights include Coxcie’s ‘Allegory of the Redemption’ diptych and van der Weyden’s ‘Calvary’, which CODART describes as notable for its technical mastery and innovative composition.
