Painting, Upstairs Palacio Real, Arenas de San Pedro, Avila, Castilla y Leon, Spain
The Palace of La Mosquera, also known as the Palace of the Infante Don Luis de Borbón, is a neoclassical palace from the end of the 18th century, located in the municipality of Arenas de San Pedro, province of Ávila, Spain. It was built by the Infante Don Luis Antonio de Borbón y Farnesio, sixth son of Felipe V and brother of Carlos III who, exiled from the Madrid court after contracting a morganatic marriage with María Teresa Vallabriga, moved his residence from the Boadilla del Monte Palace in Madrid to the town of Arenas de San Pedro.
History
The prince arrived with his family in Arenas de San Pedro in 1778, and decided to settle at first in the Lletget house, then in the Old Palace, the Palace of the Ladies, in addition to carrying out the works to channel the Guisete stream.1 In 1779 he commissioned the project of a new palace to the renowned architect Ventura Rodríguez.2 The Madrid architect would supervise the completion of the project, but delegated its execution to four collaborators:3 the architect Mateo Guill, the master builder of the Infante Alfonso Regalado , and the brothers Ignacio and Domingo Tomás.3 The scale of the project and the advanced age of Don Luis meant that the project was never completed.
The eight years that the Infante lived in this Palace were the period of greatest cultural splendor in the town. The Infante, a great lover of art, history and science and considered one of the most important patrons and collectors of the kingdom, made an important contribution to national art and the development of Arenas de San Pedro, summoning distinguished European travelers and numerous artists: composers such as Luigi Boccherini, architects such as Ventura Rodríguez and painters such as Francisco de Goya, who would immortalize the magnificent surroundings of the Sierra de Gredos in his paintings. Don Luis gathered in the Arenas palace a rich, original and varied collection of paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures. A lover of history and science, he created a complete Natural History Cabinet and a splendid library, which undoubtedly must have made a great impression on visitors at the time.
The prince died in Arenas de San Pedro on August 7, 1785. The palace was emptied of all its contents between 1785 and 1796, occupied by Napoleonic troops in 1809 during the Spanish War of Independence and converted into a minor seminary between 1868 and 1869 , was sold by his heirs and destined for a seminary until 1972, a period during which it underwent important changes in its internal distribution. The palace was finally bought in 1988 by the Arenas de San Pedro City Council, which proceeded to rehabilitate and enhance the entire complex. In recent times, the palace and its surroundings have been used as an exhibition gallery,4 catwalk for fashion shows5 or as a stage for dance festivals and concerts.6
Description
The building, built between 1780 and 1783, is characterized by its neoclassical layout. Following the characteristic order of palatial architecture, it presents a closed plan, articulated around an interior patio whose center is occupied by a pyramidal fountain. The plan is arranged in five bays parallel to the main façade, the central one being where the stairway and patios are located. In turn, these bays are cut by other perpendicular ones, ordering and dividing the plan into well-proportioned quadrilateral rooms, completely regular, where the axis becomes the protagonist. The façade shows the obvious traces of an unfinished building that uses characteristic materials from its surroundings such as gray granite and Tiétar sand plaster.
On the outside, the palace stands out for its elegant proportions, ordering its three levels with clearly palatial horizontal lines. The towers that rise above the roof and finish off the corners give the palace an El Escorial appearance, reminiscent of the one projected by Ventura Rodríguez in his palace in Boadilla del Monte. Initially, four towers were planned, one in each corner, but finally only two of them could be built. This sober and orderly character characterizes its exterior, where the portico stands out for its monumentality. The main entrance to the palace is through this beautiful portico of classical proportions designed by Ignacio Tomás in granite stone, conceived as a triumphal arch made up of three arches with six Doric columns and a balcony with a balustrade and which gives access to the hall. The hallway allows access to the stair space, a double-height square space covered by a vault and delimited by a perimeter archway with balconies, which is configured by its elegant proportions as one of the fundamental pieces of the palace.
The palace limits to the west with the Casa de Oficios and the stables. The Casa de Oficios, intended for the servants of the Infante, is inspired by the project designed by Ventura Rodríguez for the Post Office in Puerta del Sol in Madrid. Built in masonry and brick, initially divided into thirteen apartments, this parallelogram comprises a ground floor and a top floor. The lower floor is articulated around a central courtyard. In the basement of the House, were the stables of the palace, where a simple fountain designed by Ventura Rodríguez was also planned.
An important part of the project was made up of the gardens, whose design presented a typology close to the ornamental gardens of the Farm, planted with “broderie” flower beds, articulated around circular fountains of very elaborate typology, such as the fountain of the dolphins, in preserved part, designed by Ventura Rodríguez.
In addition to its wealth of heritage, Arenas de San Pedro is a site of tourist interest due to its famous Águila Caves, discovered in 1963 and located just six kilometres from the town.
Population: 6,454 (2018) National Statistics Institute
In the centre, the impressive Don Álvaro de Luna castle can be found, with its large keep, along with a Gothic church from the 16th century, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, with a magnificent bell tower, and the Infante don Luis de Borbón palace.
Wikipedia
Painting, Upstairs Palacio Real, Arenas de San Pedro, Avila, Castilla y Leon, Spain
The Palace of La Mosquera, also known as the Palace of the Infante Don Luis de Borbón, is a neoclassical palace from the end of the 18th century, located in the municipality of Arenas de San Pedro, province of Ávila, Spain. It was built by the Infante Don Luis Antonio de Borbón y Farnesio, sixth son of Felipe V and brother of Carlos III who, exiled from the Madrid court after contracting a morganatic marriage with María Teresa Vallabriga, moved his residence from the Boadilla del Monte Palace in Madrid to the town of Arenas de San Pedro.
History
The prince arrived with his family in Arenas de San Pedro in 1778, and decided to settle at first in the Lletget house, then in the Old Palace, the Palace of the Ladies, in addition to carrying out the works to channel the Guisete stream.1 In 1779 he commissioned the project of a new palace to the renowned architect Ventura Rodríguez.2 The Madrid architect would supervise the completion of the project, but delegated its execution to four collaborators:3 the architect Mateo Guill, the master builder of the Infante Alfonso Regalado , and the brothers Ignacio and Domingo Tomás.3 The scale of the project and the advanced age of Don Luis meant that the project was never completed.
The eight years that the Infante lived in this Palace were the period of greatest cultural splendor in the town. The Infante, a great lover of art, history and science and considered one of the most important patrons and collectors of the kingdom, made an important contribution to national art and the development of Arenas de San Pedro, summoning distinguished European travelers and numerous artists: composers such as Luigi Boccherini, architects such as Ventura Rodríguez and painters such as Francisco de Goya, who would immortalize the magnificent surroundings of the Sierra de Gredos in his paintings. Don Luis gathered in the Arenas palace a rich, original and varied collection of paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures. A lover of history and science, he created a complete Natural History Cabinet and a splendid library, which undoubtedly must have made a great impression on visitors at the time.
The prince died in Arenas de San Pedro on August 7, 1785. The palace was emptied of all its contents between 1785 and 1796, occupied by Napoleonic troops in 1809 during the Spanish War of Independence and converted into a minor seminary between 1868 and 1869 , was sold by his heirs and destined for a seminary until 1972, a period during which it underwent important changes in its internal distribution. The palace was finally bought in 1988 by the Arenas de San Pedro City Council, which proceeded to rehabilitate and enhance the entire complex. In recent times, the palace and its surroundings have been used as an exhibition gallery,4 catwalk for fashion shows5 or as a stage for dance festivals and concerts.6
Description
The building, built between 1780 and 1783, is characterized by its neoclassical layout. Following the characteristic order of palatial architecture, it presents a closed plan, articulated around an interior patio whose center is occupied by a pyramidal fountain. The plan is arranged in five bays parallel to the main façade, the central one being where the stairway and patios are located. In turn, these bays are cut by other perpendicular ones, ordering and dividing the plan into well-proportioned quadrilateral rooms, completely regular, where the axis becomes the protagonist. The façade shows the obvious traces of an unfinished building that uses characteristic materials from its surroundings such as gray granite and Tiétar sand plaster.
On the outside, the palace stands out for its elegant proportions, ordering its three levels with clearly palatial horizontal lines. The towers that rise above the roof and finish off the corners give the palace an El Escorial appearance, reminiscent of the one projected by Ventura Rodríguez in his palace in Boadilla del Monte. Initially, four towers were planned, one in each corner, but finally only two of them could be built. This sober and orderly character characterizes its exterior, where the portico stands out for its monumentality. The main entrance to the palace is through this beautiful portico of classical proportions designed by Ignacio Tomás in granite stone, conceived as a triumphal arch made up of three arches with six Doric columns and a balcony with a balustrade and which gives access to the hall. The hallway allows access to the stair space, a double-height square space covered by a vault and delimited by a perimeter archway with balconies, which is configured by its elegant proportions as one of the fundamental pieces of the palace.
The palace limits to the west with the Casa de Oficios and the stables. The Casa de Oficios, intended for the servants of the Infante, is inspired by the project designed by Ventura Rodríguez for the Post Office in Puerta del Sol in Madrid. Built in masonry and brick, initially divided into thirteen apartments, this parallelogram comprises a ground floor and a top floor. The lower floor is articulated around a central courtyard. In the basement of the House, were the stables of the palace, where a simple fountain designed by Ventura Rodríguez was also planned.
An important part of the project was made up of the gardens, whose design presented a typology close to the ornamental gardens of the Farm, planted with “broderie” flower beds, articulated around circular fountains of very elaborate typology, such as the fountain of the dolphins, in preserved part, designed by Ventura Rodríguez.
In addition to its wealth of heritage, Arenas de San Pedro is a site of tourist interest due to its famous Águila Caves, discovered in 1963 and located just six kilometres from the town.
Population: 6,454 (2018) National Statistics Institute
In the centre, the impressive Don Álvaro de Luna castle can be found, with its large keep, along with a Gothic church from the 16th century, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, with a magnificent bell tower, and the Infante don Luis de Borbón palace.
Wikipedia