The Museo Cerralbo is special in that it is one
of the few examples in Madrid of a 19th-century
mansion which preserves its original décor. It was
the residence of the 17th Marquis of Cerralbo, don
Enrique de Aguilera (1845-1922), and his family,
comprised of his wife, doña Inocencia Serrano y
Cerver (1816-1896), widow of don Antonio del
Valle, who brought two children to the marriage,
don Antonio del Valle y Serrano (1846-1900), 1st
Marquis of Villa-Huerta, and doña Amelia (18501927), Marquise of Villa-Huerta upon the death
of her brother.
As a House-museum it is a must-see for learning
about the lifestyle of the aristocracy in Madrid in
the late 19th century and the early 20th century.
Moreover, as a collector’s Museum it reflects the
artistic tastes of its time, a collection that was
considered, at that time, to be one of the most
important private collections in the country and,
without a doubt, the most complete of its time.
THE MUSEUM
The building, built between 1883 and 1893, was designed from the
outset as a residential home and as a place to exhibit art, antiques
and curiosities in a harmonious way, which were brought together
due to the owners’ liking for collecting. The former mansion, now a
museum, has four floors: lower ground floor, mezzanine, first floor
and attic areas. The lower ground floor and the attic areas, which
were once the service areas of the home, such as kitchens, larders, the
carriage garage, stables, harness rooms, boiler rooms and servants’
quarters, are now the auditorium and the areas for the internal use of
the Museum: offices, restoration laboratories and storerooms.
The tour covers the two other floors: the mezzanine, devoted to the
everyday life of the Marquis and Marquise, and the first, or main,
floor devoted to social life.
The seemingly unchanged nature of the house over time is misleading,
since alterations were naturally made to the residence due to changes in
family circumstances, which occurred first with the terrible events of
the Spanish Civil War and, later, with the museographic refurbishment
of the 20th century.
Since 2002 detailed work centred on the recuperation of the original
atmospheres of the mansion in its day has been carried out. This means
the sacrifice of the individual appreciation of the works of art in favour
of the global interpretation of the rooms, now considered to have
artistic interest in themselves.
5
MEZZANINE FLOOR
It was on this floor that the everyday life of the family
transpired; where visits from family and good friends
took place.
Its domestic use and family and historical circumstances
resulted in successive transformations to the floor.
The first took place after the death of don Antonio,
in 1900, and affected, fundamentally, the left wing.
A large number of the rooms comprising his private
chambers were transformed into studies and summer
sitting rooms.
However, the most radical change without a doubt
took place in the 1940s and meant the sacrifice of the
bedrooms and other everyday and service rooms, at
that time lacking in museographic interest, in favour
of several galleries where, in a clear and educational
way, artistic collections could be displayed.
This is the reason for which the exhibition proposal
of this floor has been undertaken from a recreational
standpoint and not from the faithful recovery of
the spaces, as has occurred on the Main Floor. This
recreation of atmospheres has been done, whenever
possible, with the pieces which were originally
found in these rooms; however, the spaces have been
complemented with pieces from the Villa-Huerta
collection (coming from the Marquises’ mansion in
Santa Mª de Huerta, Soria) or even, although to a lesser
degree, with purchases on the antiques market.
6
MEZZANINE FLOOR
1
2
Summer Reception Area and Gallery
Garden
3
4
Red Room
Yellow Room
5
6
7
8
9
Pink Sitting Room
Bedchamber of the Marquis of Cerralbo
Corridor
Main Doorway and Main Staircase
Winter Reception Area
10 Parlour
11 Dining Room
7
1
Summer Reception Area and Gallery
The reception area in the summer wing was, before the death of don Antonio del Valle, the
place to receive guests which was connected to his private rooms. From 1900, this area
of the home came to be used by the Marquis of Cerralbo and his step-daughter Amelia,
due to the advantage that its positioning and opening onto the garden gave, in spring and
early summer, before the annual move to the stately home of Santa Mª de Huerta in Soria.
The reception area extends to a gallery with a door to the garden in which paintings of a
religious subjet are exhibited. This gallery used to be a long corridor which included an
internal staircase communicating with the Main Floor and which disappeared during the
refurbishment of the 1940s.
Allegory of the Eucharist
Saint Augustine and Saint
Monica
Spanish school
Second half of the 17th century
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 939
Girolamo Muziano
1580-1590
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 4905
The Spanish and Italian schools predominate in
the Museum’s painting collection. The Spanish
works are mainly religious paintings from the
17th and 18th centuries. This painting shows a
mystic vision, the apotheosis of the Eucharist,
which has been associated with the painter
from Córdoba, Acisclo Antonio Palomino.
This painting is very similar to the one in the
church of Sant’ Agostino in Perugia, the work
of the same painter who did two versions of
this composition for Saint Peter’s basilica in
Rome and three more which were destined
for other Italian churches.
Saint Joseph with the
Child Jesus
Wall clock
J.Wats. London
18th century
Iron, bronze
Inv. No. VH 4838
Italian school
1600-1630
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 1
The anonymous author of this work was inspired
to paint the figure of the Child sleeping on the
saint’s lap by a Madonna and Child done by the
painter Guido Reni, a master of the school of
Bologna.
This is an English model for an alarm clock
for domestic use, which works with weights,
known as a lantern clock. It is the oldest of the
seventy clocks in the Museo Cerralbo. Those
that are part of the décor of the rooms still
work perfectly.
9
2
Garden
The garden’s current appearance is a recreation dating from 1995. Hardly any documentation
pertaining to the original garden remains except a note by the Marquis of Cerralbo himself.
That project involved a transverse axis which divided the space into two triangles and joined
the façade of the home with the corner of the belvedere or pavilion-viewpoint, located at
the corner of the fence and, in the centre, a large irregular space lined with curved paths.
The construction in the 1940s of a pavilion, identical to the home itself, for the internal
use of the Museum, broke the axis conceived by the Marquis. The garden thus underwent
an alteration from which it has been impossible to recover. However, the work which was
done enables us today to enjoy a landscaped space in a classical-romantic style, in which
the intention of the Marquis can be imagined. In the central space is a pond, acting as a
mirror of water, in which different sculptures are reflected which, along with the busts of
Roman emperors adjacent to the garden walls and those of the home, manage to create an
atmosphere typical of certain Italian gardens adorned with classical elements, while the
curved paths and thick vegetation bring us closer to the melancholic English-style garden.
Bust of a Roman woman
th
to the collection of classical sculptures of Per
Afán de Ribera, viceroy of Naples. It is a copy
of the Roman wild boar from the Florentine
gallery of the Uffizi, which in turn reproduces
an ancient Greek work.
th
Italy, 18 and 19 centuries
Marble
Inv. No. VH 1026
The classical busts which are exhibited in the
garden are those which decorated the garden
of the palace of Santa María de Huerta (Soria),
the property of the Marquise of Cerralbo and
her children, where the family lived during the
summertime and where the Marquis studied
the archaeological material he had excavated
from the sites in the Alto Jalón region.
Roman capital
Arcobriga (Monreal de Ariza,
Zaragoza), end of the 1st
century AD
Carved sandstone
Inv. No. 6143
Wild boar
This Corinthian capital belongs to a corner
pilaster situated in the portico of the courtyard
of a Roman house. It was found in the first
excavations done by the Marquis of Cerralbo
between 1908 and 1911 in the CeltiberianRoman city of Arcobriga.
Florence, 16th century
Marble
Inv. No. VH 894
This piece comes from the Medinaceli palace
in Madrid, demolished in 1890. It belonged
10
3
Red Room
This is the first in a series of three rooms with views to the garden which owe their names,
following the custom of the time, to the shades of their tapestries and wall hangings.
The vivid colour of this room is completed in the lower part of the walls with a frieze of
wallpaper, an alternative to the skirting board in fashion at the end of the 19th century.
This room was used as an office, where the Marquis received administrators and suppliers
without them having to pass through the rest of the house. The existence of these rooms,
located on the ground floor, in which the owner worked on the administration of his
properties, and managed his income and his business dealings, was common in the urban
mansions of the nobility and haute bourgeoisie.
Fernando de Aguilera y
Gamboa, 15th Marquis of
Cerralbo
Ericsson telephone
1890-1900
Wood, bakelite, metal, silk
Inv. No. 7262
Valentín Carderera
1833
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 496
A private intercom, model BC 1300 (405),
which would most probably have been
connected to a similar telephone found in the
tower where the archive was located, around
1900, on the attic areas of the house.This model
appears in the 1897 Ericsson catalogue.
Portrait of the great-uncle of don Enrique de
Aguilera, founder of this Museum, painted in the
same year he was appointed as Master Equerry
at the beginning of Isabella II of Spain’s reign.
Don Jaime in Uniform on
Horseback
Singing Angels
A. Mayer (studio)
Austria, around 1893
Gelatin/Collodion
Inv. No. 6177
Ludovico Carracci
1600-1610
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 490
Attributed to the painter from Bologna’s last
period and probably a fragment of another
painting, this work shows large faces from a
choir of angels in a cluttered composition, but
clearly defined by the pronounced lines and
the strong chiaroscuro.
This is a photograph of the son and heir of don
Carlos de Borbón in the style of a court portrait
with a certain regal look to it; the young man
in uniform sits majestically in the saddle of his
standing horse. It is lovingly dedicated to the
Marquise of Cerralbo.
11
4
Yellow Room
This was a dining area as well as a private study, as the furniture itself tells us, comprised
of a solid crotch mahogany table surrounded by six upright chairs with the characteristic
central backrest with fretwork and another set of ‘study’ chairs which include various
seats, armchairs, chairs and sofas arranged in groups for conversation, sprung, low and
cosy, and covered in yellow silk damask, matching the balcony curtains.
The walls are decorated with the original wallpaper, the only example of it remaining in
the entire home. This paper, printed by a mechanical process, in fashion during the middle
of the 19th century, was a practical solution compared with older and much more expensive
hangings, and a good example of the application of industrial processes in the decorative
José de Aguilera y Contreras,
16th Marquis of Cerralbo
Agustín de Aguilera y
Gamboa in Uniform
Vicente López or Bernardo López
Around 1840
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 502
Otero y Colominas (studio)
Havana, 1888-1889
Albumen
Inv. No. VH 982
The portrait of don Enrique de Aguilera’s
grandfather was done by either Vicente López
or his son Bernardo, who painted in the same
style as his father and who, like him, was the
court painter to Isabella II and a portrait painter
fashionable with the haute bourgeoisie and the
aristocracy.
This photographic portrait of one of the Marquis
of Cerralbo’s brothers, Agustín de Aguilera y
Gamboa, Count of Alba de Yeltes, was taken in
a famous Cuban studio. He is wearing a rayadillo
uniform (colonial uniform) and adopts the
classic pose for a military portrait.
Lamp
Inocencia Serrano y Cerver
Dressed in Typical Salamanca
Costume
Bohemia or France, second
half of the 19th century
Glass, gilt bronze
Inv. No. VH 1006
Poujade y señora (studio)
Salamanca, 1878-1896
Gelatin/Collodion illuminated
Inv. No. VH 984
This is an example of the 19th century evolution
of one of the sumptuary creations of Bohemian
glassmakers. The doubled-walled glass, with
an outside layer of gold ruby crystal or glass,
etched and cut on the whetstone, was, from
1830, replaced with copper red glass, thus
reducing production costs.
This illuminated photograph is of the Marquise
of Cerralbo in typical Salamanca costume. The
work of a French photographer who was active
in various Spanish cities along with his wife, the
exquisite illumination signed ‘Ch. de Bar.’ was
probably done in Paris.
12
5
Pink Sitting Room
Unlike the two previous rooms, in which the original decoration has been restored,
this space has been recreated as the Marquise of Villa-Huerta’s study with some of the
furniture bequeathed by her to form part of the Museum. The recreation has been done
in the style of the small visiting rooms very much to the taste of 19 th century ladies, in
which a comfort chair, where the lady of the house could be seated comfortably and
informally, was essential. It is easy to imagine Miss Amelia here in the company of a
friend, chatting while they contemplated the springtime flowering of the plants through
the balcony opening onto the Garden or embroidering while they read out loud in turns,
or on her own, seated before the lady’s writing desk which bears her initials, writing
letters, invitation cards or thank you notes.
Jewellery box
Inocencia Serrano y
Cerver with her Daughter
Amelia
Around 1880
Glass, gilt metal
Inv. No. 26975
Spanish school
Around 1855
Watercolour on cardboard
Inv. No. 505
This example of a jewellery box in the form of
a book is based on the boxes made with pieces
of rock crystal during the Renaissance, the
period to which the arabesque designs etched
on the clasps also correspond. It contains
several medals and a woman’s cross of the
Order of Isabella the Catholic.
Antonio María del Valle
with his Son Antonio
Antonio María del Valle
y Angelín
Spanish school
Around 1855
Watercolour on cardboard
Inv. No. 506
J. Heigel
1830
Watercolour on cardboard
Inv. No. VH 504
This is a miniature-portrait of the first husband
of Inocencia Serrano y Cerver the Marquise
of Cerralbo. It is signed by Joseph Heigel,
a German miniaturist established in Paris
between 1817 and 1837.
These two portrait miniatures show the Valle
Serrano family in two pairs: Inocencia (18161896) and her daughter Amelia (1853-1927),
and Antonio del Valle (who died in 1863) with
her son Antonio (1846-1900).
13
6
Bedchamber of the Marquis of Cerralbo
In a society in which exhibition and appearances were of the utmost importance, the personal
bedrooms were designed with substantial austerity in contrast to the opulence and showiness
of the visitors’ rooms. Such is the case with this bedroom, recreated from the inventory of
the house, which includes some of the original furniture and some pieces acquired on the
current antiques market. The room has, as was usually the case, a bed and mattress, which
could be filled with flock or wool, a tall bedside table to store the chamber pot, a wardrobe
and a commode with drawers where stiff collars, undergarments, vests or gloves were kept,
which in this case has the double function of being a writing desk. Regarding daily hygiene
we find a shaving mirror –an adjustable tilting mirror for shaving and taking care of one’s
moustache– and a printed ceramic wash set comprised of a jug and washbowl.
The Marquis died in the Isabelline armchair at the foot of the bed on 27 August 1922.
Bed
Alarm clock with light
Majorca or Catalonia,
19th century
Ebonized wood
Inv. No. 28016
France (?), second half
of the 19th century
Wood, metal
Inv. No. VH 1122
This is a portable table clock which ran on six
of the first batteries in France. It is equipped
with an alarm with an on-off switch, an
incandescent light bulb to see the time, and a
petrol lighter with electric ignition, also with
a switch.
The bed was recently acquired on the art
market to complete the furniture of this room.
In the Baroque tradition, the headboard and
footboard are formed of several crosspieces
turned on the lathe, ending in pinnacles.
Chest of drawerswriting desk
The Marquis of Cerralbo in
Full-dress Uniform
Spain, probably Madrid,
around 1815
Pine, walnut, gilt brass
Inv. No. 5144
Manuel Compañy
Madrid, 1885-1909
Gelatin/Collodion
Inv. No. 6181
This is a photographic portrait of the Marquis
of Cerralbo in full-dress uniform of which
the shako and the dress sword are especially
noteworthy. Manuel Compañy was one of the
best-known photographers in Madrid at the
end of the 19th century, with as many as three
studios working simultaneously.
A piece of furniture with a dual purpose, it
is composed of four drawers, the three lower
ones for keeping clothes in and the top one
for housing a writing desk. The front of the
top drawer folds out for use as a desktop to
write while standing and at the back there are
small drawers for storing the ink, paper, pens,
sealing wax and stamp.
14
7
Corridor
It was this corridor connected to the old service staircase that the servants from the kitchens
on the lower ground floor moved along in order to serve the dining room. Recently, some
of the Carlist souvenirs in the house related to the Marquis’ political affiliation have been
gathered together here.
Don Carlos de Borbón
and doña Berta in
Traditional Attire
The District Council
of Igualada
J. Sagristá
Igualada (Barcelona),
around 1892
Albumen
Inv. No. FF 2673
G. Contarini
Venice, 1896
Albumen
Inv. No. 6173
This photograph is dedicated by the members
of a Junta (council), the Carlists’ fundamental territorial organization. As the political
representative of don Carlos, the Marquis
actively travelled around Spain encouraging
his supporters, managing to create a modern
political party.
This photograph is dedicated to the pretender
to the Spanish throne, Carlos de Borbón,
wearing a Carlist uniform, and his second wife
Berta de Rohán, who wears a Spanish mantilla.
Contarini had a studio in Venice, where the
couple had their official residence.
Don Carlos de Borbón
y Austria-Este, Duke of
Madrid
Group in the Gardens of
Santa María de Huerta
Santiago Oñate
Calatayud (Zaragoza),
1870-1900
Albumen
Inv. No. 6176
G. Atam
Venice, around 1890
Charcoal
Inv. No. 5379
In this image we can identify the members
of the family, Enrique, Inocencia, Antonio
and Amelia, in the gardens of their summer
residence in Santa María de Huerta (Soria).
The Aragonese photographer worked regularly
with the Marquis.
This portrait was sent from Venice to the
Marquis of Cerralbo by don Carlos de Borbón
in 1893 in gratitude for services rendered.The
duke wears the Captain General’s uniform
with beret and his figure is drawn with such
precision in the chiaroscuro technique that it
looks like a photograph.
15
8
Main Doorway and Main Staircase
The hall has, like many other doorways in Madrid, two enormous twin doors whose purpose,
today forgotten, was to allow guests’ and suppliers’ carriages to enter through one and leave
through the other, thus facilitating the complicated manoeuvres with horses. In contrast, the
house carriages continued the journey to the foot of the stairs and, once there, the ladies and
gentlemen could get out of the carriage comfortably while the driver went on to the inner
courtyard where the stables and harness room were.
The Main Staircase was one of the most scenographic spaces in these 19th-century mansions;
it was important here to praise the social prestige of the owners of the house. Of particular
note along the staircase in the Cerralbo mansion are the wrought iron banister which belonged
to the old monastery of Las Salesas Reales, founded by Queen Barbara of Braganza, and the
large coat of arms representing the Cerralbo marriage, framed by two tapestries from the 17th
century: one from Brussels with partitioned shields representing the Carvajal, Padilla, Acuña
and Enríquez houses, and another from Pastrana with the arms of Silva, Mendoza and Cerda.
Roman Midwife
Saint Dominic in Soriano
nd
Second half of the 2 century AD
Marble
Inv. No. 44
Antonio de Pereda
Around 1655
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 56
A young midwife with her head uncovered
to highlight the recognition and liberty that
Roman women were gaining with the passage
of time. We can see several restorations in the
form of staple marks from Antiquity, and 19th
century additions.
This painting belonged to the retable in the
chapel of the Marquis of La Lapilla, destroyed
in the fire that devastated the Colegio de Atocha
in Madrid in 1872. Don Enrique de Aguilera,
patron of the chapel, retrieved this piece
representing the miracle that occurred in 1530
in the Dominican convent of Soriano, Italy.
Tapestry of the 3rd Duke
and Duchess of Pastrana
Coat of arms
Pastrana workshop
Around 1625
Wool and silk
Inv. No. 55
Around 1893
Stuccoed plaster
To the right, the arms of the Marquis of
Cerralbo, Spanish Grandee, who also held the
titles of Marquis of the Holy Roman Empire,
of Almarza and of Campo Fuerte, and count of
Alcudia, of Villalobos and of Foncalada. To the
left, the arms of Soler y Cerver, the ancestors
of his wife.
This is a magnificent example of the scarce
production conserved of the tapestry workshop established in Pastrana (Guadalajara) by
Francisco Tons, a master tapestry maker from
Antwerp, to whom this hanging is attributed
due to its similarity to the only two tapestries
that bear his mark.
16
9
Winter Reception Area
This is the reception area in the part of the residence that belonged to the Marquis and
Marquise of Cerralbo and their daughter Amelia, and which was later turned into the winter
wing. It is soberly decorated, in line with the everyday use of the floor, with several pieces
of furniture characteristic of 19th-century reception areas: a console table flanked by two
chairs and a full-length mirror set in a decorative base; in this case, what’s more, it has a shelf
for placing indoor plants. These large mirrors, going by the French term trumeau, allowed
visitors to check their appearance and make any touch ups before being received, and also
allowed the residents of the house to take a final look at themselves before leaving. This
rooms leads directly to the chapel, the parlour and, in the past, to the internal corridor that
led to the rooms for private use.
Philip III
Wall clock
Spanish school
1600-1630
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 434
Germany, 1870-1900
Wood, alabaster, metal,
porcelain
Inv. No. VH 270
This painting repeats the pattern of the court
portrait in the style of the portraits painted
by Pantoja de la Cruz’s followers, such as
Bartolomé González, Rodrigo deVillandrandro
and Andrés López Polanco.
The cuckoo clocks made by the clockmakers of
the Black Forest were very popular in the second
half of the 19th century. A cuckoo that is pushed
out by the wind from bellows still marks the
hour of this clock with its song and then returns
to its position behind a small window.
Margaret of Austria
Cane stand
Spanish school
1600-1630
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 433
Daniel Zuloaga
1888
Glazed ceramic
Inv. No. 27068
Forming a pair with the previous one, this kind
of portrait repeats a long-standing model that
survived in the 17th century due to the repeated
copies commissioned by the Spanish nobility in
order to form their own portrait galleries, like
the royal galleries of El Alcázar and El Pardo.
The stand was decorated by Daniel Zuloaga
in the La Moncloa factory with a candelieri
design in neo-Renaissance style. This great
ceramist, trained in Sèvres, was responsible
for the ceramic decoration of several turn-ofthe-century buildings in Madrid, such as the
Velázquez palace in El Retiro and the Ministry
of Agriculture.
17
10
Parlour
This is the reception room on the main floor and as such some of the most striking decorative
objects are found here. The term parlour, within the confines of 19th-century formality, refers
to the room in which visitors were received whether they were close friends and family or
formal visits, or the days when visitors were received without the necessary formal attire
and paraphernalia belonging to gala receptions. This room is connected to the Marquise of
Villa-Huerta’s last bedroom.
Without a doubt, eye-catching pieces are the large Murano crystal lamp, acquired by the
Marquis and Marquise on one of their trips to Italy and, below it on the centre table, a
collection of Meissen porcelain, also from the 19th century, comprised of two pitchers and
two vases dedicated to the four natural elements, Water, Fire, Earth and Air.
Girls bust
Cheval glass or psiqué
Meissen factory
Around 1885
Porcelain, glass, wood
Inv. No. 533
Antono Frilli (dead in 1902)
Marble
Around 1900
Nº inv. VH 510
Representative of the author´s virtuosity,
specialized in feminine marble and alabaster
portraits, although he also produced funerary
sculpture. Frilli stablised his workshop in
Florence in 1860, and we can find his works in
famous cemeteries of the city, as Porte Sante
or Allori.
He participated in the Universal Exhibitions of
Philadelphia (1876) and Melbourne (1880).
One of the objects in the Dresden or Saxony
style that decorate this room, adorned with the
porcelains preferred by 19th-century society;
from 1850 the Meissen factory produced
furniture and other neo-Rococo pieces based
on their exclusive 18th-century porcelain.
Inocencia Serrano y Cerver
and Amelia del Valle y
Serrano in Eastern Attire
Zarf set
Abdullah Frères (studio)
Istanbul, 1889
Albumin
Inv. No. VH 702
Turkey, around 1890
Silver
Inv. No. VH 678 to 680
Cup-shaped stands used in eastern countries
to hold cups without handles for hot coffee.
The Marquis and Marquise and their children
probably purchased inTurkey the zarfs exhibited
in the ‘Travel souvenirs’ display cabinet.
Taken during a family trip to Turkey, this
photographic portrait shows us mother and
daughter in local attire posing on a couch. The
three Armenian brothers known as Abdullah
Frères were renowned photographers with
studios in Istanbul and Cairo.
18
11
Dining Room
This is both a dining and living room situated in one of the warmest areas of the home thanks
to being situated near one of the boiler rooms, to having a fireplace with a cast-iron hearth,
which helps combustion and reduces the consumption of wood and coal, and to getting all
the afternoon sun due to its positioning. The circular centre table, which is extended by
adding supplementary panels, was used, aside from dining, for conversation, reading, sewing
or playing cards. Next to the fireplace is a comfortable divan for sitting and having coffee
after meals and in front of one of the balconies is a writing desk for reviewing the daily
accounts, making to-do lists for the housekeeper, or writing and replying to correspondence,
the preferred way of communicating in 19th-century society.
Further along we come to the music room, which was called the ‘bay window room’ in the old
inventory of the house because of the glass cased-in balcony. It was here that the Marquise of
Villa-Huerta did her piano practice.
Outdoor Still Life with
Vase with flowers
Fruit, Flowers and
Jan Baptiste Boschaert
Vegetables
1715
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 469
Giovan Battista Ruoppolo
Around 1680
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 455
An exceptional example of the Museum’s
still lifes with flowers, Boschaert’s signature
was found whilst it was being restored. The
Italianate style of this Flemish painter’s work
is due to the admiration that Neapolitan flower
paintings aroused in Europe.
The author of this painting, the Neapolitan
Ruoppolo, popularized a kind of large outdoor
still life with plenty of fruit, vegetables and
flowers seen on their respective fruit trees or
plants, or piled up on the ground, which were
highly valued in Spain and Italy due to their
decorative effect.
Bouquet of Flowers with
Large Mask
Matilde de Aguilera y
Gamboa, Lady of Fontagud
Gabriel de la Corte
Around 1670-1680
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. VH 461
Federico de Madrazo
1873
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 28025
This is a portrait of one of the Marquis’ most
beloved sisters, who died at an early age,
which was donated to the Museum in 2008 by
his great grandson Jaime Parladé. Madrazo, a
portrait artist from Madrid in fashion during
the period in which he did this work, recreated
the beauty of the subject in a pose unique for
its delicacy.
The group of paintings with flowers hanging
from a large bronze mask was done by one
of the greatest flower painters at the court of
Charles II in Madrid. In them, the traditional
garland of Renaissance origin brims over
in an exuberant cascade, full of vitality and
naturalism.
19
MAIN FLOOR
The First, or Main, Floor devoted to protocol and
decorated in the most sumptuous and artistic way
mirrors the economic and social position of the
proprietors. Its organisation reflects the 19th-century
mentality where appearance, above all else, was of the
utmost importance and it is here that the finest areas
were reserved for guests. In fact, it was only used for
receptions, parties and balls.
There is a similar distribution here to the Mezzanine
Floor with a series of rooms, one after the other, in
addition to three large galleries around an internal
courtyard, so that all the spaces compose a common
area well connected by doors and corridors, perfect for
accommodating a large number of guests and distributing
the artistic collections in a harmonious way.
Its apparent resistance to the passage of time is the
result of the efforts of a multidisciplinary team of
professionals that has worked to recover the original
atmosphere of the place.
20
MAIN FLOOR
12 Armoury
13 Bathroom
21 Billiard Room
22 Chamfered Corner Room
14 Arab Room
15 Sunroom
23 Office
24 Library
16
17
18
19
20
25
26
27
28
Corridor of Drawings
Small Columns Room
Dressing Lounge
Empire Sitting Room
Banquet Room
21
First Gallery
Second Gallery
Third Gallery
Ballroom
12
13
Ar moury
Bathroom
This was the place designed for the reception of guests where the greeting ceremony, the
gentlemen kissing the ladies’ hands, took place. The atmosphere evokes the armouries of the
Middle Ages and transports us to the time of noble deeds in which the ancestors of the family
took part. The decorative motifs of the console table with a mirror were also inspired by the
Gothic style, as were the galleries over the doors, a style which the two chairs of honour
beside the door share in trying to emulate the throne room of a medieval castle. Weapons
and armour line the walls and form harmonious groups that, along with the heraldic coats
of arms on the ceiling, in painted plaster, and the felt hanging give much information about
the ancient ancestry of the proprietors of the home.
Leading directly on from the armoury is the Bathroom, a room in which exhibition takes
priority over the practical. It is important to remember that until the late 19th century
bathrooms that were designed as independent rooms were not common. Having an exclusive
room with a marble bath, hot and cold taps and a drain meant a display of comfort that the
owners of the house wanted to show off.
Suit of armour
Helmet
Around 1650
Wrought iron
Inv. No. 100
Germany, 16th century
Engraved steel
Inv. No. 103
According to tradition, the suit belonged to
one of the Marquis of Cerralbo’s ancestors,
don Pablo Fernández de Contreras, 1st Count
of Alcudia, Admiral of the High Seas, famous
for his galleon’s heroic victory over three
Dutch ships in 1635.
One legend attributes this helmet to
Emmanuel Phillibert, Duke of Savoy, the victor at Saint-Quentin in command of Philip II’s
Spanish troops, and known by the nickname
‘Ironhead’.
22
Jesus Sentenced to Death
Stirrups (Abumi)
Francisco de Herrera, el Mozo
Around 1670
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 295
Japan, Edo period
(1614-1868)
Iron, silver, lacquer
Inv. No. 464-465; 466-467
Trained in Seville and Italy, Herrera worked
at the Spanish court as a royal painter. This
Museum possesses both of the paintings on
the Passion of Christ that he painted for the
Colegio de Santo Tomás de Atocha, destroyed
in 1872.
These samurai stirrups bear the craftsman’s
signature on the pin of the buckle. The exterior is decorated with silver, forming floral
motifs; on the inside we see the pieces of
lacquered wood where the feet rested.
Sedan chair
Pistol
France, around 1750
Pine and oak, linen, silk
Inv. No. 396
Belgium, around 1790
Wood, iron
Inv. No. 453
Rococo in style, the panelling is lined with
serge painted with bouquets of flowers and
motifs in oils that imitate bois unis (joined
wood) veneer, which was fashionable in French
furniture around 1750.
This pistol, which was for civilian use, has a box
trigger. It has a double priming pan, duplicated
for the lower barrels, which is made to face the
hammer by turning a lever located on the lefthand side of the weapon.
Hunting harquebus
The Martyrdom of Saint
Sebastian
Miguel Cegarra
1768-1783
Iron, gold, wood, ivory
Inv. No. 445
José Antolínez, 1657
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 519
With a trigger in the Madrid style, its markings indicate that it comes from the Royal
Armoury and belonged to the Infante don
Gabriel de Borbón, according to an inscription
damascened in gold. The gunsmith Cegarra was
harquebusier to King Charles III.
This painting represents the moment before
he was martyred, when the saint, one of
Diocletian’s praetorian guard, now stripped of
his clothes, is tied to a tree before being shot
with arrows in the presence of the Roman
emperor on horseback.
23
14
Arab Room
The names Oriental study or Turkish room, and other similar options to describe the same
kind of space, fashionable throughout Europe in 19th century, were associated with smoking
tobacco and, therefore, essentially masculine use. The walls covered with kilims (flat tapestrywoven carpets) and the floors and furniture covered with carpets were intended to evoke the
jaimas (tents) of the desert nomads. There was also space here for curiosities and collectables,
especially weapons and armour, but also, as is the case here, musical instruments or the
remains of rare specimens, such as the appendage of a sawfish. The neo-Arabic decoration of
the hangings and the objects gathered together in this study or fumoir from China, Japan, the
Philippines, Morocco or New Zealand are, therefore, the result of the taste for the exotic
inherited from Romanticism. Exoticism and Orientalism are two qualities combined in the
décor of these rooms, which were to become prolific in Madrid until well into the 20th,
imitating the Arab Study designed by Rafael Contreras for the Royal Palace in Aranjuez.
Opium smoking set
Bento
th
China, Qing dynasty, 19 century
Glazed pottery, metal
Inv. No. 554
Japan, Meiji era (1868-1911)
Lacquered wood
Inv. No. 566
This constitutes yet another curiosity among
the objects exhibited in this Eastern room
and, together with the pipe used for the same
purpose, is an exotic allusion to the common
use of Arab rooms, in fashion in European
houses at the end of the 19th century, where
the gentlemen gathered to smoke.
This set of containers was used to store
and transport food prepared for later
consumption. The use of boxes or containers
which can be placed one on top of the other
began in Japan in around 1610 and continues
to this day.
24
Suit of armour
Dagger (Kris)
Japan, Edo period (16141868)
Iron, copper, lacquer, fabrics
Inv. No. 585
Philippines (Sulu Islands),
19th century
Steel, wood
Inv. No. 642
The suit of armour is composed of the kabuto
(helmet), ho-ate (mask), nodu-wa (gorget), do
(cuirass), sode (shoulder guards), ko-te (arm
guards) and sune-ate (shin guards). At the end
of the Edo period in Japan, samurai suits of
armour were made based on old models as
artistic and commemorative objects.
A weapon in use for thousands of years in
Southern Asia, this kris, used by the Muslims
in the Philippines, was also considered to
be an object that brought good or bad luck.
Specialised craftsmen forged the blade, usually
flame-shaped or wavy, and performed mystic
rituals to endow it with spiritual powers.
Two-string violin (Erh-hu)
Moroccan musket
Shanghai (China),
19th century
Cane, snakeskin
Inv. No. 652
th
Morocco, 19 century
Wood, metal
Inv. No. 588
This musket was used in the war in Melilla
and was taken in the El Jemis de Beni-BuIfrur marketplace on 30 September 1909.
It was the Rif Moroccans’ preferred firearm
due to its easy handling and because if the
ammunition ran out it could be loaded with
stones.
Some of the objects shown in this room were
acquired by the Marquis of Cerralbo in Paris,
where the collection of musical instruments
belonging to Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the
saxophone and the owner of this violin until
1877, was auctioned.
Sabre (Wakizashi)
Ligua
Japan, Edo period (1614-1868)
Steel, bronze, wood, shagreen,
lacquer and fabrics
Inv. No. 731
th
Philippines, 19 century
Iron, wood
Inv. No. 609
This battleaxe was given to don Enrique
de Aguilera by the intendant general of
the Treasury in the Philippines along with
other weapons pertaining to the Muslims
of Mindanao and the Igorrotes on the island
of Luzon.
This samurai weapon was used in duels and
hand-to-hand combat, and for the ritual act
of suicide known as hara-kiri or seppuku. Its
size is the biggest that the wakizashi can be.
25
15
Sunroom
It was originally designed as a conservatory for protecting exotic and indoor plants from
the elements. It was very much a favoured space in urban mansions during the second half
of the 19th century as an adaptation of the kind of pavilion or cold serre which had become
common in parks and gardens since the presentation of the glass and iron pavilion built by
Paxton at the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851. The Marquis can’t have seen any
advantage in this glass structure, designed by the architects of the mansion, which wasn’t
very practical for a climate such as that in Madrid, with its peaks of hot and cold weather,
and condemned the windows by covering them up with tapestries like curtains. The room,
then, was converted into an authentic collector’s study, where materials, styles and periods
were mixed with archaeological objects. Of the latter, the examples of Neolithic axes and
fabrics from the Palaphitic cultures of the Swiss great lakes, the bell-shaped vessel from
Malpartida de Plasencia (Cáceres), the Attic and Italic Greek vessels and the Iberian weapons
are particularly noteworthy. All of these objects, the majority of which were acquired by the
Marquis of Cerralbo on the antiques market, have nothing to do with his own discoveries,
the fruit of archaeological and palaeontological excavations, which the Marquis bequeathed
to the Museo Nacional de Arqueología and the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales.
Bust and hands of an
apostle
Pilgrim’s phial
Egypt, 6th-7th centuries
Made in the mould
Inv. No. 848
Castilian school
Around 1700
Polychromed wood
Inv. No. 799
This ceramic bottle was originally used to
hold the oil with which to light the lamps in
the sepulchre of Saint Menas at Abu Mena
(Alexandria, Egypt) and later offered to the
pilgrims as a souvenir of their journey.
The image to be dressed was a kind of
processional sculpture that abounded in Spain
during the Baroque period. In this example, the
bust and hands were connected by a structure
hidden under the cloth tunic that the figure
was dressed in for worship or for being taken
out in procession.
26
Tondo with the Adoration
of the Virgin
Jardinière
Japan
Meiji era (1868-1912)
Porcelain
Inv. No. 947
Florence, first third of the
16th century
Maiolica
Inv. No. 811
The purpose of this flowerpot stand is in
keeping with the design of this room as a
sunroom or greenhouse. It is a piece that was
made for export after the Universal Exhibition
in Paris in 1878, where the Japanese blue and
white porcelain with birds and flowers was a
great success.
This is a noteworthy example of the kind
of religious sculpture created during the
Renaissance by Lucca della Robbia, modelled
in fired and glazed clay, with figures in white
and polychrome garlands. It is attributed to
one of Andrea della Robbia’s followers or to
the Buglioni workshop.
Falcata
Greek skyphos
Necropolis of Las Angosturas. Illora
(Granada), 3rd-4th centuries BC
Wrought iron, damascened
decoration
Inv. No. 1306
Apulia (Italy), middle of
the 4th century BC
Red figure technique
Inv. No. 902
This is the characteristic sword of the Iberian
warrior, whose hilt is in the shape of a horse’s
head. The hilt is decorated with plant motifs
in threads of silver, and there is a fantastical
animal (a dragon?) on the blade.
This receptacle for drinking wine shows a
deceased young man as Dionysus, to whom
a Nike offers funeral ribbons, and a Maenad
who joins him in a Bacchic dance. The rhyton,
or drinking horn, contains the sacred wine of
the celebration.
Still Life with Fruit and
Cooking Utensils
Semi-pedalis of the LegioVII
Gemina
Luis Meléndez
Around 1760-1765
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 905
León, 238-244 AD
In the mould, mark
stamped
Inv. No. 1400
A brick, half a Roman foot long, made by the
Roman legion stationed in the present-day
city of León. They not only ensured peace and
the collection of taxes, but also participated in
the Romanization of the conquered territories
thanks to their industrial production.
This work by the most remarkable Spanish stilllife painter of the 18th century is characterized
by the exceptional capturing of the particular
texture of each object and by the low point
of view from which they are seen, as if the
painter had been sitting and working very
close to them.
27
16
Corridor of Drawings
This corridor, which was once for the service–as it was here that the servants stood waiting
to attend to the people in the banquet room–, was decorated by the Marquis with part of his
collection of drawings, 80 out of a total of 558. Its location in a place without direct natural
light was not accidental: don Enrique undoubtedly knew the danger of photo deterioration to
art done on paper.
What are currently exhibited are exact reproductions of the originals and their passepartout
frames, keeping the old attributions and framing them in their original and restored mouldings,
while the originals themselves are perfectly conserved in the store rooms.
Of the drawings, “Cheap Covered Carriage” by Goya is worthy of note, a work that was
completed between 1824 and 1828 during his ‘exile’ in France. Apart from this important
drawing, notable works are also preserved by others painters, such as Francisco Bayeu, José
del Castillo, Salvador Maella and Manuel Salvador Carmona, as well as masters from other
European schools. From the Italian school there are pieces by Confortini, Pietro da Cortona,
Palma “the Young” and the Tiepolos. From the French school the studies by Charles Mellin,
Nicolas de Platmontaigne and Antoine Ranc deserve mention, while from Northern Europe
the compositions by Willem van Nieuwlandt, Adriaen van Ostade and Jan Ykens stand out.
Cheap Covered Coach
Lady Seated at a Table
Francisco de Goya
1824-1828
Pencil lithograph
Inv. No. 4711
Jacobo Confortini
1634-1666
Black pencil and sanguine
Inv. No. 4713
This work was part of the album that Goya
drew in Bordeaux whose pages are filled with
different means of transport or locomotion
used by the poor and beggars; this drawing,
No. 25 in Album G, shows a cripple pulling a
wheelbarrow to the concealed amusement of
three women.
This sketch is a study for one of the figures
included in The Wedding at Cana, which this
Florentine painter from the early period of the
Baroque did in the refectory of the convent of
the Santa Trinità in Florence in 1631. Due to
the fluency of the lines and the relaxed pose of
the model, it seems a study drawn from life.
28
Portrait of a Boy
Monarch Receiving an
Emissary
Manuel Salvador Carmona
Around 1790
Black pencil and sanguine
Inv. No. 4698
Federico Zuccaro
1542-1609
Pen and brown ink with touches
of white crayon and sanguine
Inv. No. 4705
This sketch by the master engraver to King
Charles III could be of one of his sons, Juan
Antonio, from his second marriage to Ana
María Mengs, the eldest daughter of the
painter Antonio Rafael Mengs.
This drawing is the work of the great Mannerist
painter who worked for the foremost 16thcentury patrons of the arts in Italy, England,
Holland and Spain. He took part in the
decoration of the Royal Monastery of El
Escorial between 1586 and 1588 under the
patronage of Philip II.
Project for the decoration
of a church
Frederick V Arriving in
Bohemia
Francisco Rizi de Guevara
1614-1685
Black pencil, brown ink and
watercolours
Inv. No. 4763
Adrien Pieters Van de Venne
1613-1618
Pen and brown ink
Nº inv. 4744
This is a sketch for the mural decoration of
one sector of the elevation of a lady chapel in
a church. Francisco Rizi learnt the quadrattura
technique from the Italians Agostino
Mitelli and Angelo Michele Colonna with
mock structures, which he applied in the
decoration of lady chapels in several convents
in Madrid.
Preparatory drawing for the print engraved
by Van de Venne, published by his brother Jan
in Middelburg in 1618. It shows the arrival
in Flushing in 1613 of the English fleet that
carried the Elector Palatine of the Rhine,
Frederick V, and his wife Elizabeth, princess of
England, to their new kingdom of Bohemia.
Jugurtha Bound and
Handed Over to Silanus,
who Takes Him to Marius
Saint (Martina?) Being Led to
Her Martyrdom
Mariano Salvador Maella
Around 1772
Pen and brown ink
Inv. No. 4746
Pietro da Cortona
Around 1634
Black pencil, pen and brown ink
Inv. No. 4766
Preparatory drawing for plate number XXX,
engraved by Manuel Salvador Carmona, in the
book The Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jugurthine
War, by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust),
published by Joaquín Ibarra in 1772, one of
the most beautiful Spanish editions of the 18th
century.
This is a preparatory sketch for a work
probably planned for the church of Saints
Luke and Martina in the Forum in Rome,
belonging to the Academy of Saint Luke,
directed by Cortona in 1634; the renovation
of the crypt was begun that year and the relics
of the saint were discovered in it.
29
17
Small Columns Room
This room, witness to the Marquis de Cerralbo’s zeal as a collector, was used as a fumoir,
a place where gentlemen met to talk business or speak about the events of turbulent 19thcentury politics while they smoked. The name ‘The Room of Little Columns’ is due to
the collection on the central table. There is a wide variety of figurines coming from the
Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman cultures, together with others from the Middle
Ages, done in terracotta, marble and bronze, which are mounted on as many small agate,
alabaster, coloured marble and gilded wood columns like small monuments. The opulence
and abundance of objects, along with the paintings completely covering the walls –in the
past, wallpaper in imitation of embossed leather– transport us to the rooms of the 17th
century. The pictorial collection is centred on, essentially, the Baroque school in Madrid.
It is also the Baroque style that predominates in the furniture: the Neapolitan cabinets on
stands with ebony and shell insets –in pairs, in accordance with the custom of placing this
furniture in twos–, the writing desk in the style of Salamanca and the Venetian mirror with
mother-of-pearl inlay above the fireplace.
Bust
Lid of Canopic jar
Sèvres factory
Around 1770
Soft biscuit porcelain
Inv. No. 4656
Egypt, 1st millennium BC
Marble
Nº inv. 4646
Probably a portrait of the Dauphin of France,
done during the period when the French
royal porcelain factory’s sculpture workshop
was directed by the painter Jean-Jacques
Bachelier.
A human head belonging to the god Amset,
one of the four sons of Horus, depicted on the
four Canopic jars that contained the entrails of
the mummified deceased in ancient Egypt; in
this case the liver.
30
Our Lady of the Angels
Young Man With Basket
On His Head
Bartolomé González
Around 1613
Oil on canvas
Nº inv. 4593
Sebastiano Ricci
Around 1722
Oil on canvas
Nº inv. 4605
Also entitled “Heavenly Concerto”, it is a
replica of the painting on the high altar of
the convent church of the Capuchins at El
Pardo (Madrid), which was commissioned to
Bartolomé González by Philip III, for whom he
worked as court painter and portraitist.
At the end of the 19th century the Marquis of
Cerralbo acquired, probably in Italy, this work
that has turned out to be a fragment of the
“Supper at Emmaus”, painted by Ricci for the
church of Corpus Domini in Venice.
The Assumption of Our
Lady
Cabinet on stand
Spain or Naples, around 1660
Wood dyed black, shell,
bronze
Nº inv. 4529
Eugenio Caxés
Around 1615-1620
Oil on canvas
Nº inv. 4601
A work by the best painter at the court in
Madrid in the period going from the death of
his father, the Italian Patricio Caxés, to the
arrival of Velázquez. His style falls within the
tradition of the Late Italian Mannerism.
A quality piece of furniture in a standard
model of the second half of the 17th century,
originally Neapolitan, although also made in
Spain. Of the type called “papelera”, as it had
no front lid, it was used for keeping documents and small objects in.
The Birds’ Concerto
Piece of furniture
(folder)
Attributed to Juan de
Arellano
Around 1650-1670
Oil on canvas
Nº inv. 4604
Spain, 19th century
Wood, metal, silk velvet
Nº inv. 4547
In a garden with a rich variety of flowers, birds
of different species sing as a choir, conducted
by the owl; the subject, Flemish in origin, is
not without its irony, as it seems that the voice
of the peacock imposes itself, as beautiful as it
is useless at singing.
An original piece of furniture in use in offices
in the19th century, in this room it was used for
keeping a selection of drawings and engravings
in, which the Marquis probably showed to his
guests, along with the analogous works on display in the adjoining corridor.
31
18
Dressing Lounge
Conceived with the same sense of representation in mind that many of the rooms in this
mansion are imbued with, it was designed as a dressing room for the Marquis of Cerralbo,
thus it is a masculine space in contrast to the Marquise’s, which it is directly connected to. It
assumes the survival, although on a merely symbolic level, of the custom, in courtly circles
and in the way of kings and queens, of dressing or composing oneself before an entourage
of assistants in rooms designed for this purpose, and, even, receiving people in them. The
oak wardrobe, finished with French gilded carvings from the 18th century, the collection of
court swords and sabres from the 18th and 19th centuries lavishly placed on the centre table
and the washstand recycled as a dressing table contribute to this idea. Objects and souvenirs
done in tiny mosaic and crystal brought from Venice are scattered over its marble top and the
shelf which hides the tank where the water was stored when it was used as a washstand. Two
armchairs, upholstered in velvet and Chinese embroidered silk, typical of the 19th century,
invite enlightened conversation around the fireplace.
Mantel clock adorned with
candelabra
Armchair
France or Spain,
around 1890
Wood, silk
Nº inv. 4175
Marquis à Paris
2nd Empire (1852-1870)
Gilt bronze
Nº inv. 4219 to 4221
Corresponds to the type of seats called of
confort, completely upholstered with padded,
sprung materials, in fashion in the second
half of the 19th century in the lounges, where
the visits of relatives or close friends were
attended to, in boudoirs or dressing rooms
and in bathrooms.
This clock’s case and the matching candelabra
were cast in gilt bronze covered in powdered
gold by Marquís, one of the many Parisian
foundries making ornamental bronzes for
clocks. It has Paris pendulum movement and
the hours and half-hours are chimed by a
bell.
32
Pouffe-firewood container
Sword of honour
th
Spain, 19 century
Wood, silk
Nº inv. 4229
Tomás de Ayala
Around 1800
Iron
Inv. No. 4332
The sprung seat of this stool opens like the lid
of a box, inside which the wood for the fire
in the hearth was kept. Its use was habitual
in middle-class and aristocratic households in
the second half of the 19th century.
While the blade is signed by one of the
representatives of a famous line of Toledo
swordsmiths, the hilt is composed of rows of
faceted steel beads, giving the appearance of
gemstones, a technique created in Matthew
Boulton’s factory (Birmingham, England).
Flowerpot stand
Mirror
China, Qing dynasty,
around 1750-1825
Copper, silver, bronze,
enamelling, jade, glass
Nº inv. 4211
Venice, around 1890
Glass
Inv. No. 4251
The group of several mirrors and two
jewellery boxes arranged on the washbasin,
adorned with mosaic composed of tiny
tesserae of cristallo, are souvenirs of the city
of Venice, visited frequently by the Marquis
of Cerralbo to discuss matters of importance
with don Carlos de Borbón.
A Chinese object classified as a ‘curiosity’; it
consists of a flowerpot stand that presents
a grotesque scene composed of figures and
objects in miniature: two monkeys holding a
support formed by lotus flower petals and a
phoenix posing between a magnolia tree and a
plum tree in flower.
Presentation sabre
The Conversion of
Saint Paul
Spain, around 1810
Blued and gilt iron
Inv. No. 4195
Juan Antonio de Frías
y Escalante
Around 1660-1670
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 4271
This is a Spanish officer’s presentation sabre,
with decoration in the form of a stirrup. The
blade is partly engraved with the Spanish coat
of arms and gold-coloured military trophies,
in reserve on the background of blued iron.
A truly Baroque work,it copies the picture card
engraved by Bolswert of Rubens’ The Conversion
of Saint Paul. A common practice among the
Spanish painters of the 17th century was to use
as models the engravings that made the works
of other artists known.
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19
Empire Sitting Room
This room, originally the Marquise’s dressing room, was redecorated around 1900 as a study
with mirrors and was given the name ‘The Little Empire Room’. Its positioning between
the Dressing Room and the Banquet Room allows us to assume that it was a place to pass
through, where ladies paused to touch up their hairdo or rest briefly on the comfortable
divans. A bright lively space, painted in pink and white, far removed from the pompous
solemnity of the adjacent rooms, it evokes the sumptuousness of French mansions in the 18th
and early 19th centuries. Here, a concept of very feminine luxury is recreated, expressed
through the Rococo or Louis XV, neoclassical or Louis XVI styles, and to a lesser degree
the Empire Style, both in the décor and the furniture; this eclecticism was characteristic of
the late 19th century. Boiseries (paneling) with neoclassical borders comprise a French-style
atmosphere in which mirrors abound, of gilded wood and Venetian crystal, hanging on the
walls and mock chamfers. The console tables and the pedestal table are home to a wide
variety of ornamental objects: clocks, vases, plant-pot holders, as well as bronze, crystal and
porcelain candlesticks. Floral design predominates in the curtains, valances and upholstery.
The paintings done by José Soriano Fort and Máximo Juderías Caballero, artists protected
by the Marquis, who worked on the decoration of their patron’s mansion, are framed on
the inside of the doors. The flowers and allegories of the four seasons heighten with their
beauty the uniqueness of this small room which came about in honour of the Marquise of
Cerralbo.
Pedestal table and lamp
Vase
Russia, around 1850
Malachite, bronze
Inv. No. 4167
Paul Millet & Fils, Sèvres
Around 1890
Porcelain, bronze
Inv. No. 4102
The tabletop and the lamp are formed of
mosaics of malachite plates, a material that
cannot be carved in monolithic blocks. The
technique was perfected by the Russian
lapidaries who cut pieces for furniture and
other sumptuary objects in marbles and hard
stones from the Urals.
The private company Millet, Céramique d´Art
worked in Sèvres between 1866 and 1945,
in the vicinity of the prestigious French state
factory, from which it copied this type of vase
with a flamée or flame-decorated bottom, at the
forefront of the Art Nouveau style prevailing
around 1900.
34
Vase with
‘A Sacrifice to Cupid’
Empire-style vases
France, around 1810
Porcelain
Inv. No. 4088-4089
Etruria factory
Around 1785-1790
Wedgwood jasper
Inv. No. 4123
The scene on the first vase evokes the meeting
between the Austrian emperor Francis I
and Napoleon two days after the battle of
Austerlitz in 1805; represented on the other
one are popular types of the German principalities that gained independence from Austria
through the Treaty of Pressburg, signed by the
two emperors.
This two-coloured vase with neoclassical
reliefs represents a European trend in the
decoration of interiors designed at his
Staffordshire factory by Josiah Wedgwood,
the creator of a ceramic material he called
jasper because of its hardness, which looks
similar to biscuit porcelain.
Carnations and roses
José Soriano Fort
Around 1895
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 4071
Vase
th
19 century
Enamelled glass
Inv. No. 4119
Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Valencia,
Soriano Fort worked in this palace doing several
murals and some paintings, like this group of
cheerful canvases of flowers on the bush in the
garden, with a delicate, decorative style.
A clear glass cylinder fits inside this vase which
can be removed, and which was probably used
as a lamp. The light it gave was toned down by
the exterior matt surface, polished with sand,
highlighting the garland of flowers effect.
Miniature mantel clock
Allegory of Winter
France, first half of the
19th century
Gilt bronze, steel
Inv. No. 4085
Máximo Juderías Caballero
Around 1895
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 4075
The panels of the door that leads to the dressing
room feature four female figures representing
the seasons. Winter, Spring and Autumn are
by Máximo Juderías Caballero, a painter from
Aragon who did part of the mural decoration
and some sculptures in the rooms on the main
floor of this House-museum.
As opposed to the English ones, the French
clocks of the 18th and 19th centuries have a
different kind of machinery and cases with
sculptures cast in gilt bronze. This clock is
remarkable for its size and for the Cupid on
a chariot that forms its case, a theme rarely
represented.
35
20
Banquet Room
Here, formal dinners took place and splendid buffets were served on the nights when balls
and parties were thrown. The idea of a large dining-room table, which emerged in England
in the late 18th century, took some time to spread through Spain. We find the first examples
well into the 19th century in the aristocratic mansions which included, in purpose-built
rooms, these big tables linked to the ritual of formal dinners. Diners had to combine their
participation in general conversation, guided by the hosts, with paying attention to their
immediate neighbours. The choice of French-style protocol placed the heads of the table in
the centre of the two longest sides, framed, in the case of this dining room, by two facing
mirrors, one above the fireplace and one between the balconies.
Regarding the ways of serving in this house, the French style was also followed, as the various
menus from different celebrations (preserved in the archives) tell us. Each diner could
choose from a variety of dishes spread on the table at the same time. This practice continued
in Spain until the end of the 19th century, although little by little Russian-style service was
being introduced, in use in Europe since the beginning of the century. This consisted of a
menu of several dishes, the same for all the diners, which the servants served one after the
other, always serving to the left, and clearing away from the right. The side tables or ‘serving
tables’ constituted the support to the table service. Pieces of silver-plated metal crockery
are shown in the sideboards, among which the samovars and the curious dishes with lids and
kerosene burners to keep the food warm stand out.
The original lighting combined the first electric lights with candles and was amplified by the
careful placing of mirrors. The balcony windows remained almost permanently closed, formerly
covered with curtains made from tapestries of coats of arms, which were moved to the Cerralbo
funeral chapel in Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca) on the express wishes of the Marquis.
Bottle cooler
Plate
Around 1900
Optical glass and silverplated metal
Inv. No. 3927
Talavera de la Reina
Around 1743-1750
Tin-glazed earthware
Inv. No. 3978
A piece designed by Gisela Von Falke, a pupil
of the Vienna Workshops of the Secession and
a follower of the founders Koloman Moser
and Josef Hoffmann. Produced for sale in
large department stores, the glass features
Moser’s Meteor design.
Its exquisite Bérain-style decoration in blue
chiaroscuro reveals the hand of a painter trained
at the factory at Alcora (Castellón de la Plana),
possibly José Causada, who temporarily moved
to Talavera (Toledo), introducing the decorative
styles of Alcora ceramics to its pottery.
36
Fable of the Snake
and the Porcupines
Kitchen still-life
Cristoforo Munari
Around 1710
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3876
Frans Snyders
1625-1650
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3900
An example of Munari’s best painting, it is
similar to the six still-lifes that decorated
La Ferdinanda, the villa of the Medicis, his
dealers in Florence. It is characterised by the
representation of rustic objects, the strong
three-dimensional modelling of the shapes and
the wise mastery of the colour.
The genre of painting showing live animals
was a speciality of Flemish painting of the
17th century, a genre mastered by the painter
Snyders, whose works were much appreciated
by Philip IV and the Marquis of Leganés, to
whom this painting originally belonged.
Bunch of Grapes
Still-life with
watermelons,
pumpkin and flowers
Miguel de Pret
Around 1630
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3898
Giuseppe Recco
Around 1675
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3868
The banqueting room exhibits twenty-four
still-lifes in the same places they were hung
by the Marquis of Cerralbo. These bunches
of grapes were highly appreciated in the 17th
century for their singular naturalism; This
picture, attributed to Juan Fernández “El
Labrador” until 2013, it´s been confirmed as a
work by Miguel de Pret by the lasts studies.
A work by one of the most renowned
Neapolitan still-life painters of the 17th
century, it shows a strong contrast in the light
between the background and the objects,
and the combination of glazing or transparent brushstrokes and opaque, very thick
brushstrokes, in relation to the natural texture
of each fruit.
Still-life with grapes
and cakes
Wall clock
Le Faucher / Paris et Amant à Paris
18th century
Wood, gilt bronze, tortoise
shell (?), porcelain
Inv. No. 3884
Juan de Espinosa
Around 1630-1640
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3866
This is a work by one of the greatest Spanish
still-life painters of the 17th century, active in
Madrid between 1628 and 1659. A contemporary of El Labrador, he takes from him the
naturalistic recreation of the grapes, although
he also depicts cakes and red ceramics,
following the tradition of the still-lifes of Juan
van der Hamen.
This is a type of wall clock originally placed on
a bracket. The case is Boulle inlaid, with brass
and tortoise shell; the bronzes represent the
passage of time. The face and the movements,
of square Paris Movement, were made by
clockmakers in the reign of Louis XV.
37
21
Billiard Room
This room must have been used as a help area for the service to the dining room; evidence
of this is the pulley that communicated with the big kitchen in the basement and which is
still kept today behind a narrow door between the divans, as well as the presence of a water
filter topped with a carved alabaster cup.
However, more important than the practical use of the room was that of recreation and
leisure, centred on the game of billiards, a favourite pastime of 19th-century gentlemen.
A spectacular cannon billiard table dominates the room. The rest of the furniture is placed
around the table, with high chairs or, canapés de billar with retractable footrests, thanks
to which the women could comfortably watch the events of the game. The light from a
horizontal lamp falls evenly on the whole table, and concentrates, thanks to its lampshades,
all the attention on the baize, leaving the rest of the room in the half light.
Portraits of ladies and gentlemen from different periods and schools and of varying degrees
of mastery cover the walls.
Billiard table
Portrait of a Boy
France, around 1855
Fine woods, bronze,
baize
Inv. No. 3825
Italian school
1600-1630
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3771
Originally a table for playing billard à blouses
or billards, it was later adapted to the French
game of carom billiards. Around 1900, in
the reports that described the rooms of the
Marquis of Cerralbo it said that it was the
table on which easy caroms had been prepared
for King Ferdinand VII.
The naturalism of the representation, the
everyday familiarity of the figure and the
tenebrist chiaroscuro effect are aspects that
make it possible to catalogue this magnificent
portrait as a work from the early 17th
century.
38
Portrait of a Lady in
Hunting Dress
Giulio Cesare Procaccini
Around 1624
Oil paint on wood
Inv. No. 3731
Spanish school
17th century
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3808
Self-portrait painted at a date close to his
death. It stresses his status as a painter by
drawing the attention to the brush and the
palette, instead of to the gold medal that
hangs on his chest, given to him by Grand
Duke Cosimo de Medici.
An anonymous work attributed to the school
of Velázquez by José de Madrazo, painter and
director of the Museo del Prado, collector of
a prestigious gallery of paintings from which
numerous works in this Museum come.
François-Joachim, Duke
of Gèvres
Portrait of Louis XIV
in a Cuirass
French school
1725-1750
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3755
Workshop of Hyacinthe Rigaud
1701-1715
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3729
It derives from the two full-body portraits
that Rigaud painted in 1701 of the Sun King
at the age of sixty-two (Musée du Louvre and
Museo del Prado) although due to its size, it
falls within the type of high-quality workshop
paintings, which spread the royal image in
smaller-size bust portraits.
A ceremonious court portrait, its style
is close to the work of Jean Marc Nattier
(1685-1766). The figure is surrounded by all
the objects that represent his high social and
military rank.
Portrait of a gentleman
Luis I, Prince of Asturias
Tintoretto
Around 1555
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3740
Miguel Jacinto Meléndez
1712
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3814
Portrait of the first son of Philip V and Maria
Luisa Gabriella of Savoy, at the age of five,
holding the sceptre and touching the chain
of the Order of the Golden Fleece, on a table
next to the crown. He was king of Spain for
eight months in 1724.
A work by the great Venetian painter, it
probably depicts Agustino Doria, a member
of the important family of Genoa. The
personality of the subject is reflected in
his face and in the rhetorical gesture of his
hand.
39
22
Chamfered Cor ner Room
Moving on from the Billiard Room is another room devoted to recreation and leisure which
owes its name to the shape of the wall which is a result of the building being on the chamfered
corner of Ferraz and Ventura Rodríguez streets.
It is a room designed for discussions, whispering and resting between dances.
The plastic decoration was the responsibility of Máximo Juderías (1867-1951), the author
of the sculptural motifs and the majority of the pictorial scenes, both those on the ceiling,
alluding to Music and Painting, and those on the walls which show the midday rest during
harvesting, the sunrise on the shores of the Jalón River and the garden at the Santa Mª de
Huerta mansion in Soria, the Cerralbo family’s summertime destination; while the traditional
dance of the Valencian farmland is the work of José Soriano (1873-1937).
The regency-style seating favoured discussions in small groups.The flooring done in hydraulic
floor tiles, a technical innovation that burst onto the scene in 19th-century bourgeois interiors,
is covered with a carpet from the 19th-century French manufacturer Aubusson, where the
valances on the balconies also come from.
The atmosphere, inspired by the French 18th century, is completed with European and
oriental porcelains.
Bowl
Clock
Canton (China), Qing
dynasty, 19th century
Porcelain
Inv. No. 3616
Second half of 19th century
Porcelain
Inv. No. 3620
It was modelled on the wheel in the potteries
of Jingdezhen and decorated in Canton in a
style used for Chinese porcelain for export,
characterized by the cluttered composition
of Buddhist and Taoist motifs and the predominance of a deep pink enamelling (purple
of Cassius), which is European in origin.
The case of this clock is of porcelain from
Saxony or Dresden, as both the porcelains
from the factory at Meissen and their French,
English and German imitations were called in
the 19th century, which enjoyed widespread
acceptance on the sumptuary objects market.
40
Allegory of Summer
and Autumn
Tray
Japan, Meiji era
(1868-1911)
Lacquered wood
Inv. No. 3646
th
19 century
Porcelain
Inv. No. 3623-3625
The tray is lacquered in black (roiro) with
decoration in relief (takamakie) and flat
(hiramakie) in gold, silver and with touches
of red lacquer, representing a plum tree
in flower with phoenixes (ho-oo). It sits on
a trestle of gold-coloured wood imitating
bamboo cane, made in the West.
Ceres with a sheaf of corn and Bacchus with
a bottle represent both bread and wine and
Summer and Autumn. The sculpture model
was created in El Buen Retiro around 1785,
although in this case it is a forgery of excellent
quality, set on a pedestal from the Madrid
factory.
Bell
China, Qing dynasty,
around 1800
Bronze with cloisonné
enamelling
Inv. No. 3649
Vase
Japan, Edo period or Meiji era,
around 1870
Lacquered porcelain
Inv. No. 3614
This is an ornamental object made for
exportation. Fine sheets of metal make up
the design and separate the different coloured
enamels, representing plum tree, peony and
chrysanthemum branches (winter, spring
and autumn) although the lotus flowers symbolizing summer are missing.
This vase shows a technique unusual among
the Japanese porcelains for export. Its ceramic
material is hidden by a layer of black lacquer
decorated with gilt motifs stylised as the body
of the vase, given a light appearance due to the
sinuous shape of a double pumpkin.
Female bust
Inocencia Serrano y Cerver,
Marquise of Cerralbo
Aristide Petrilli
Aound 1890
Marble
Inv. No. 3641
Last quarter of 19th century
Illuminated albumen
Inv. No. 3651
Signed by Professor Petrilli in Florence, it
is inspired by the Florentine busts of the
Renaissance, although it coincides with the
Art Nouveau aesthetic in the stylisation of the
model and the slight turn of her neck. The
sculptor perfected the engraving technique
for drawing decorative motifs on the
marble.
This is a photographic portrait taken in the
studio with the albumen technique, then illuminated with transparent colours that enhance
the copper-red hair and the blue eyes of the
subject, wearing an evening dress with a train
and pearl earrings.
41
23
Office
This is the room most closely connected to the Marquis of Cerralbo’s personality, designed
as a room for entertaining and the reception of illustrious visitors, without any sense of the
practical. The Ferdinand-style roll-top writing desk is full of a wide variety of objects which
have a sumptuary or anecdotal value rather than a practical one. The idea is reinforced by
the enormous number of pieces both on the centre table, full of Carlist mementos, such as
pistols featuring the emblem God, Motherland and King, and in the rest of the room and which
tell us about Cerralbo’s different interests: archaeology, his liking for antiques and collecting,
focusing particularly on painting. It is in this very room that some of the works which the
Marquis considered the most important in his entire pictorial collection are found, such as
the portrait of Alessandro de’ Medici by Bronzino’s workshop –attributed by the Marquis
to Andrea del Sarto– next to the fireplace, or the portrait of Marie deMedici by Van Dyck’s
workshop above the desk with a chest of drawers. The coats of arms carved in stone and the
armour belonging to the second Marquis of Cerralbo speak of the varied and noble ancestry
of the owner. In the doorway to the library is a clock with a glass face of the kind called
‘mysterious’, which hid the mechanism in the hands.
Pair of vases
Sword with pistiliform blade
Paris, around 1845
Porcelain
Inv. No. 3251-3252
Alhama de Aragón (Zaragoza),
1150-1050 BC
Bronze cast in a mould
Inv. No. 3562
Vases in the shape of amphorae were used in the
19th century for the decoration of the reception
areas of large houses. In Louis XVI style, the
floral decoration corresponds to the tastes of
the period when Louis-Philippe I reigned in
France (1830-1848).
Characteristic of the metalworking activity of
the period known as the Late Atlantic Bronze
Age, it comes from Brittany. It was used as a
symbol of power and exchange among the
elites that controlled the trade in raw materials
in Western Europe.
42
María Luisa de Aguilera
y Gamboa, Countess of
Torrepalma
Juan Vázquez de Mella,
dedicated to Cerralbo
Kaulak
Madrid, around 1915
Gelatin, chemically developed
Inv. No. 3439
Around 1863-1868
Fired clay
Inv. No. 3523
A photograph taken by the famous Antonio
Cánovas del Castillo, better known as Kaulak.
The subject, the traditionalist politician Juan
Vázquez de Mella, alludes with his friendly
dedication to the archaeological activity
carried out by the Marquis.
Portrait of one of the sisters of the Marquise
of Cerralbo, made with the photosculpture
technique, a system patented by François
Willème in 1860.The bust was modelled with
the aid of a pantograph from the projection
of 24 negatives taken simultaneously in a
tenmetre diameter.
Alessandro de’Medici
Bronzino and workshop
Florence, around 1540-1553
Oil on panel
Inv. No. 3180
Drum-top writing desk
France, 1775-1800
Oak and mahogany
Inv. No. 3553
One of the best versions of the portrait of the
first Duke of Florence painted by Pontormo
in 1534, most of them done by Bronzino,
responsible for the face of the subject in this
painting. Alessandro was the son of Giulio
de’Medici (later Pope Clement VII) and a
black slave woman.
With a quarter-cylinder shaped top, the writing
surface, lined with green morocco leather, can
be pulled out forwards. This type of bureau
was for the exclusive use of gentlemen and
corresponds to the French neoclassical style.
Commemorative plaque
Portrait of a Lieutenant
Colonel
Masriera Hermanos-Barcelona
(Masriera Brothers)
Around 1890
Silver and other enamelled
metals, sheepskin and walnut
Inv. No. 3178
Spanish school
Around 1800
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 3416
This work is not by Goya although its cartouche says that it is, in black lettering
on gilt wood. Similar cartouches with the
painter’s name largely reflect attributions
now obsolete, but they have been kept as
decorative elements of this Museum’s original atmosphere.
In the inscription framed by a wreath of laurel
and oak leaves it reads that this plaque was paid
for by the Catholic and monarchic community
as a tribute to the Marquis of Cerralbo after
the events of 10 April 1890, the date when, in
Valencia on a Carlist propaganda visit, he was
stoned by the republicans.
43
24
Library
In contrast to the sumptuousness of the Office, the Library is a place of study and intellectual
concentration, which can be perceived from the kind of objects that are spread over the
table, few in number but useful, and the general sobriety that the room full of books is
enveloped in. Around 10,000 volumes from incunabula to editions from 1922, in addition to
manuscripts of great artistic, literary and scientific value comprise this library, considered
in its day to be one of the most complete in the country on the subjects of numismatics and
archaeology. Other areas of study, bearing witness to don Enrique’s intellectual interests,
are also represented here: we see books on travel, history, geography, religion, law, politics
and literature in just the way he arranged them. In the display cabinets, a concise display of
the large collection of stamps, coins and medals is on show, comprising more than 24,000
pieces, which Cerralbo and his stepson the Marquis of Villa-Huerta collected.
The stamp collection is comprised of papal and royal stamps and dies. The coin collection
is largely made up of Hispanic examples; the obsidional (siege) coins which belonged to
Prosper Mailliet, acquired by Cerralbo in a Parisian auction in 1886, are of particular note.
The medals and commemorative, papal and celebratory reproductions cover the 16th to the
20th centuries chronologically. Among them, the Renaissance medals by Jacobo Trezzo and
Pompeo and León Leoni stand out.
Mystery clock
Table clock
Henri Robert / Paris / Horloge
mystérieuse
Around 1878
Glass, metal
Inv. No. 3155
Augte. Meyer à Paris
1800-1850
Gilt bronze
Inv. No. 2546 to 2548
From the library we see the back of this
clock, ‘mysterious’ because its movement is
not easy to understand at first sight. A technical advance on the clock-making of its time,
the prototype of this model was presented
by Henri Robert at the Exhibition of French
Products held in Paris in 1878.
The figure on this Charles X style clock represents Apollo, wreathed with laurel, playing the
lyre, an instrument that identifies him as the
mythological god of music. The movement is
round Paris Movement, with a pendulum, the
bell chiming the hours and half-hours.
44
Letter
Royal seal of Alfonso X
the Wise
1912
Paper, ink
Inv. No. 6135
Crown of Castile, 1252-1284
Lead and silk
Inv. No. 2834
On 16 May 1912 Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo
congratulated the Marquis of Cerralbo for having
obtained the prestigious Martorell prize for his
work Páginas de la Historia Patria, a compendium
of his early archaeological excavations.
The collection of royal seals and papal bulls
covers the 13th to the 18th centuries. Used
chiefly to validate documents, they were also
used to seal letters and reliquaries, authorize
messengers, or to mark loaves of unleavened
bread at the Jewish Passover.
The Execution of Marie
Antoinette
Half of a Ekualakos
Copper commemorative
plaque
Inv. No. 3059
c. 180-146 BC
Bronze
Inv. No. 2726
Reproduction of the reverse of the medal
designed in 1794 by C. H. Küchler for the businessman M. Boulton. The original medal was
made due to the British demand for objects
and souvenirs related to the French Revolution
taking place at that time.
A Hispanic coin from Ekualakos, a city located, probably, between the Upper Duero
and the Jalón basin. It was a coin used to pay
for everyday necessities and to pay salaries; the
silver coins were used for the payment of taxes
to Rome.
The Supremacy of Catholic
Doctrine
Thirty-two stuivers
Giovanni M. Hamerani
Roma, 1673
Cast copper
Inv. No. 3004
Friedrich Pithan
Jülich, Germany, 1621
Silver
Inv. No. 2641
Medal of Clement X made by G. Hamerani
(1649-1705), a member of the most outstanding medal-making families that worked
in the Papal mint in Rome. It belonged to
the old collection of Tomás Fr. Prieto (17161782), purchased by Charles III for the Casa
de la Moneda in Madrid.
These were issued by the city of Jülich due
to the lack of coinage during the six-month
siege by the troops of the Spanish general
Ambrosio de Spinola, under the command
of Enrique de Bergh. This conquest was
Philip IV’s first great military victory after
the Twelve Years’ Truce.
45
25
First Gallery
The three galleries which are distributed around the inner courtyard complete the space
made up of the three previous rooms, lined one after the other, with balconies looking onto
Ventura Rodríguez and Ferraz streets, and surround the Ballroom, creating a common space
for large celebrations. These galleries were envisaged by the Marquis of Cerralbo himself, in
imitation of those in Italian mansions, to make it easier for his guests to move around as they
contemplated the most important artworks in his gallery, placed, even, on the roof, such as
the paintings from the 17th century by Francesco de Ruschi and Francesco Maffei.
In the first gallery, paintings of ancestors and the ladies and gentlemen of the house are
mixed with porcelain vases, clocks, divans and console tables, and compete with jewellery
and curiosities in the centre display cabinet.
The Designation of a Cardinal
Don Manuel Isidoro
Aguilera y Galarza, Marquis
of Cerralbo y Almarza
Jacopo Negretti, Palma,
the Younger
Around 1590
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1769
Spanish school
Around 1800
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1795
This painting represents the investiture of a
cardinal, traditionally identified as Francisco
Pacheco y Toledo, ancestor of the Marquis of
Cerralbo, who was designated by Pius IV in
1561. However, the picture was painted by
Palma at the end of the 16th century.
This painting shows don Enrique de Aguilera’s
grandfather, also the count of Fuenrubia, with
a powdered wig, blue dress coat and the Cross
of the Order of Calatrava. It makes a pair with
the other oval portrait that shows his wife, doña
María Ruiz de Contreras Vargas Machuca.
Doña Inocencia Serrano
y Cerver, Marquise of
Cerralbo
Doña Luisa de Gamboa y
López de León, Countess of
Villalobos
Ricardo Balaca
1859
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1814
Antonio Mª Esquivel (?)
Around 1835
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1750
The portrait shows the Marquise dressed in
the Isabelline style, with the mantilla on her
head and holding the missal in one hand, before or after attending a religious service. On
her right wrist we see the miniature-portrait
of a gentleman; in 1859 she was married to
don Antonio María del Valle Angelín.
This portrait had great sentimental value for the
Marquis as it shows his mother, still a young lady,
dressed and with a hairdo in the Isabelline style.
Married in 1842 to don Francisco de Aguilera y
Becerril, count of Villalobos, she was the mother
of three children, Enrique being the first-born.
46
Table clock
Golden Fleece
Brocot factory
Paris, second half of
19th century
Marble, alabaster, gilt bronze
Inv. No. 1779
19th century
Enamelled gold
Inv. No. 2187
The base of this magnificent clock houses a
musical box that no longer works, formed by a
series of tubes or organ of flutes. Its movement
is exposed escapement, as it is located on the
face. The vase crowning it is a feature added to
the original clock.
The rank of Knight of the Order of the Golden
Fleece was bestowed upon the Marquis of
Cerralbo in 1895 by Carlos de Borbón, Duke
of Madrid, who acted as Grand Master of
the Order, as he considered that this right,
traditionally attributed to the king of Spain,
legitimately corresponded to him.
Vase with ‘May Flowers’
Cross
Meissen factory
Around 1890
Porcelain
Inv. No. 1742
Spain, 1610-1620
Enamelled gold, green glass
Inv. No. 2419
The two pairs of vases from Meissen in this
gallery show one of the Saxon factory’s most
appreciated specialities; from the 18th century
it uninterruptedly produced ornamental vases
with pictorial decoration combined with sculptural decoration of applied figures and flowers.
One of the oldest pieces in this Museum’s
jewellery collection dates from the period
in which the use of large pectoral crosses
waned, in fashion in the 16th century.The glass
gemstones imitate the Colombian emeralds
of the richest crosses.
Don Enrique de Aguilera
y Gamboa, 17th Marquis of
Cerralbo
Cuff links
19th century
Gold and gilt metal
Inv. No. 2194
José Soriano Fort
Around 1900
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1807
This is an official portrait of the Museum’s
founder, dressed as a senator of the Kingdom,
with the condecorations granted him by Carlos
de Borbón. The books and objects piled up
on the desk allude to his collections and his
investigations as a historian and archaeologist.
Two staters of Alexander III the Great (336323 BC) were mounted on laminas decorated
with threads of filigree to compose this jewel,
a gift from King George I of Greece (18631913) to don Carlos de Borbón, Duke of
Madrid, and from him to Cerralbo.
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26
Second Gallery
In the second, furnished with a collection of Italian pieces inspired by Florentine Baroque
production –table, chairs and display cabinet– made at the end of the 19th century in
ebony-covered wood with decorative motifs veneered in ivory, the dominant element is the
painting The Pietà, done around 1600 by Alonso Cano and, on the other side, an Allegory
of the Death that Comes to Us All by Pietro Paolini (1603-1682), believed to be a work by
Caravaggio in the Marquis’ time as the original plaque attests.
The Martyrdom of Saint
Sebastian
The Immaculate
Conception
Juan de Peralta
Around 1430
Oil on panel
Inv. No. 1827
Francisco de Zurbarán
Around 1655
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1649
According to the Museum’s old inventory,
this Gothic painting belonged to the chapel
of San Sebastián de Montuenga (Soria). The
donors, kneeling before the martyrdom of
the saint, are identified in the inscription as
the sons of Luis de la Cerda, third count of
Medinaceli.
A late work by the painterof the painted of
Fuente de Cantos (Badajoz), from whom
we know of numerous versions on a theme
he began painting in 1613, when this city
society expressed itself en masse in favour
of the belief in the Virgin conceiving free of
original sin.
The Resurrection of Christ
Pietà
Corrado Giaquinto
1755-1762
Oil on copper
Inv. No. 1630
Alonso Cano
Around 1660
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1648
A unique work by Corrado Giaquinto, it is
attributed to the painter because it shows
similarities to the canvases of the Passion
of Christ that he painted during his stay in
Spain at the service of Charles III and which
decorated the King’s chapel in the defunct
palace of El Buen Retiro in Madrid.
The scene represents the grief of the Virgin
and Saint John before the body of Christ,
taken down from the cross, lying with his
head in his mother’s lap. A much-loved theme
in the 17th century, its Baroque composition
is based on the Pietà painted by Van Dyck
around 1636.
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Table
The Regent’s vases
Milan, around
1860-1870
Pine and ebony, ivory
Inv. No. 1623
18th-19th centuries
Porcelain
Inv. No. 1624-1625-1637-1638
This type of table in an eclectic style won
many prizes at the Universal Exhibitions of
the 19th century. It combines the French style
in the shape and the Italian in the decoration,
based on the Neapolitan furniture of the late
Renaissance.
The group of vases in the Chinese Imari
style belonged to Antoine d’Orleans, Duke
of Montpensier. It shows the coat of arms of
his lineage, like the vases of this same type
ordered for the first time from China by
Philippe II d’Orleans, Regent of France, at
the beginning of the 18th century.
Chair
View from Portugalete
Italy, around 1860-1870
Walnut, palo santo, bone,
mother of pearl, metals
Inv. No. 1833
Luis Paret
Around 1785
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1934
Historicist in nature, its shape recalls the
old chairs with a scissor-shaped backrest,
called ‘Dantesque’ in the 19th century. The
marquetry is based on the Italian furniture of
the Renaissance and the Baroque.
Belongs to the series of the Puertos de la
Mar Oceána or views of Cantabrian ports,
commissioned to Paret in 1786 by Charles
III. It shows a place in the vicinity of the
old beach at Portugalete which has been
identified with Peñota; the town seen in the
background would be Santurce.
Allegory of Death
Diana the Huntress
Pietro Paolini
1640-1680
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1918
Clunia (Peñalba de Castro,
Burgos), 2nd century
Marble, metal
Inv. No. 1937
A 19th-century montage made using a Roman
torso. It was originally a copy of the model
created by the Greek sculptor Leochares
(4th C BC) presenting the goddess equipped
with a bow and a quiver full of arrows on
her back.
A work by the painter from Lucca (Italy), a
follower of Caravaggio’s tenebrist chiaroscuro
and naturalism, it shows men and women of
different ages and social conditions gathered
around the skull held by the eldest one of
them, who seems to be meditating on the
meaning of Death.
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27
Third Gallery
In the third gallery is the guests’ bathroom with a curious wooden chamber pot lid and a
marble washbasin. Distributed throughout this last gallery are writing desks in the style
from Salamanca which alternate with neo-Renaissance chests, coffers from different places,
marble busts and large mirrors with gilded wooden frames. The balconies looking over the
staircase encouraged the more punctual guests to gather and contemplate the gradual ascent
of the rest of the guests, while at the same time allowing the sounds of the orchestra sitting
on the rostrum in the nearby Ballroom to waft over them.
Vase
Casket of the Bull
‘Pía Sentencia’
Japan, Edo period or Meiji era
Around 1870
Bronze
Inv. No. 1527
Polychromy attributed to the
workshop of Antonio de Pereda
Around 1661
Oil on wood, metal
Inv. No. 1533
This vase was cast in a mould with reliefs
inspired by ancient Chinese bronzes. It was
probably acquired in the Hôtel Drouot in Paris
in 1877 and shows the esteem with which the
Japanese decorative arts came to be held in
as collectable objects in Europe during that
time.
According to the tradition and the inscriptions
on this casket, in it the bull granted in 1661
by Pope Alexander VII was brought to
King Philip IV. It permitted worship of the
Virgin’s Immaculate Conception through the
mediation of Luis Crespi de Borja, bishop of
de Orihuela, depicted on the lid.
The Appearance of the Child Jesus
before Saint Anthony of Padua
Pair of Corinthian capitals
19th century
Porcelain
Inv. No. 1950 and 2003
Mariano Salvador Maella
Around 1787
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 2014
The Museum keeps two of the sketches of the
three paintings that Maella did for the parish
church of Casa de Campo, which are in the
Museo de Historia de Madrid. The church was
reconstructed during Charles III’s reign, the king
professing great devotion to Saint Anthony.
Of exceptional size and technical quality,
they combine different textures in the finish
of the porcelain, glazed and unglazed. They
have been attributed to the factory of Sèvres
or to the Madrid factory of El Buen Retiro.
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Diana and Calixtus
The Martyrdom of
Saint Menas
Attributed to Federico
Cervelli (?)
1665-1670
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1969
Spanish school
1600-1630
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1566
Painting that shows a mythological story,
inspired by Liberi’s Diana and Calixtus conserved in the Hermitage Museum, although
done by a follower of the Paduan painter,
perhaps the Milanese Cervelli, a painter of
the Venetian school.
This painting, attributed to Bartolomé or
Vicente Carducho, belonged to the church of
San Ginés and is a copy of the work by Paolo
Veronese (Museo del Prado), erroneously
interpreted in 1657 as the martyrdom of
Saint Genesius of Arles, although the saint,
according to the inscription on the original
painting, is the Egyptian Menas.
Pietà
Saint Francis in Ecstasy
Sebastiano Ricci
1691-1706
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1574
El Greco and workshop
Around 1600
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1982
This painting is a finished work, not a sketch,
though it appears to be due to its small size.
The diagonal perspective, the gesticulation
of the figures and the heavy chiaroscuro are
resources used by Ricci, a famous painter of
the Venetian school, to stress the dramatic
quality of the subject.
Signed Doménikos Theotokópulos epoiei, it is one
of the versions painted by the great Cretan
painter of the miracle of the stigmata or
wounds of Christ that Saint Francis of Assisi
received in his retreat on Mount Alvernia, in
the presence of Brother Leo.
Jacob with the Flocks
of Laban
Clock
John Taylor, London
18th century
Mahogany, metals
Inv. No. 2008
Workshop of José de
Ribera
Around 1638
Oil on canvas
Inv. No. 1576
Its movement, via a pear-shaped pendulum
and pin-pallet escapement, is characteristic
of the English clocks of the ‘bracket’ type. It
is signed on the face by John Taylor, a wellknown London clockmaker whose ‘brackets’
were especially imported to Spain.
Thanks to this copy we know the complete
composition of a work painted by Ribera in
his Neapolitan workshop, of which only a
fragment is kept in the National Gallery in
London. It shows Jacob (Israel) next to the
flock of speckled sheep that enabled him to
form his own tribe.
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Ballroom
Decorated with panels of agate from Granada, marble from the Pyrenees and large
Venetian mirrors which infinitely multiply light and reflections, the Ballroom is the last
jewel of our tour.
The oil paintings on the ceiling by Juderías Caballero done between 1891 and 1892 are some
of the few concessions to contemporary art found in the Mansion. However, as we can see,
this contribution ascribes to a profoundly academic style, far removed from the paths of the
most advanced painters of the time, but which goes perfectly with the historicist atmosphere
of the mansion and helps to create a particular atmosphere of splendour and brilliance in a
place designed for enjoyment, in which everything is designed with dancing in mind. The
central scene represents the dance of the gods and around it are interpretations of dance
throughout history. This idea of a ‘temple of dance’ is reinforced with the inclusion of
Roman-style busts placed among the seating: divans and cane-bottomed chairs upholstered
in silk from Lyon. Also in this room, important archaeological and numismatic exhibitions
and literary gatherings took place.
Clock with neoclassical
sculpture
Borne
Around 1885
Gilded wood, silk
Inv. No. 2512
Barbedienne; Cíe Des Marbres
Onyx d´Algérie, Paris
Around 1870
Silver-plated bronze, marble
Inv. No. 2495
The structure of this divan features an eclectic
composition of diverse elements probably
designed by the Marquis of Cerralbo, who
personally took charge of directing every
detail of the decoration of the rooms on the
main floor of the Museum.
A ‘Mystery’ clock with conical pendulum
designed by Farcot, which makes the heavenly
sphere turn upon being pulled by an arrow
mounted on the pedestal that conceals the
movement. The sculpture was done in the
famous foundry of Ferdinand Barbedienne.
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Figure-candelabrum
Allegory of Dance
France, 1850-1900
Bronze or zinc with black
and gold patina
Inv. No. 1799
Máximo Juderías
Caballero, 1891-1892
Oil on canvas stuck to
the wall
An allegory of the earthly world; the boy
carries an entomologist’s case slung across his
shoulder from which emerge the insects that
crawl over his body. Its style recalls Baroque
sculpture, one of the sources of inspiration
for the French sculptors of decorative bronzes
for lamps or clocks.
In the vault, Juderías Caballero’s academy
style translates into a romantic evocation of
the history of dance, whose sequences, some
of a veiled eroticism, revolve around the
dance of the gods on heavenly Olympus.
Chair
1875-1900
Gilded wood, silk
Inv. No. 3606
The Marquis of Cerralbo himself is portrayed in
one of the corners, dressed in a red frock coat,
playing the role of the perfect host attending to
the guests invited to the ball in that ideal world,
a replica of the high-society figures who in this
room danced the ‘galop’, a very popular dance
in which, going round in a circle, they jumped
in imitation of galloping horses.
Chaise volante, easy to carry because of its light
weight, typical of ballrooms, which guests
took with them around the floor to rest or
discreetly join different groups conversing.
Bust
18th century
Marble
Inv. No. 2501
The iconography of the figure portrayed,
possibly a Greek philosopher, ascribes this work
to the tradition of a type of portraits created
in classical Greece during the 4th century BC,
recovered in the time of the Early Roman
Empire and renewed during neoclassicism, at
the end of the 18th century.
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