English
Art collection
Description:
Like a museum, the works of art and some elements in the Abbey’s great history are displayed in the four rooms that form the permanent exhibition venue today.
The first room displays copies of the “leaden books”. Their content and their link to the Abbey are described in text. The importance of these findings at the end of the 16 th century, near the first Granada Christian Martyrs relics, is historically explained and interpreted: what they were, what they were meant to be, and what they are today.
In the second room, we find the history of the most notable canons and some relevant Papal documents, a full-size sitting portrait of the Abbey’s founder, Archbishop Pedro de Castro; and a splendid grand piece of tapestry, depicting a Biblical story, woven in Brussels in the 16 th century.
The third room displays the greatness of the Sacramental objects of cult, next to some
extraordinary ivory carved sculptures. Especially noteworthy in this room is the 15 th century Flemish painting “The Virgin of the Rose”.
The fourth, and last room, is devoted to the power of wisdom. In a small space for this task, it shows parts of the Abbey’s four centuries of Academic history and a modest representation of what its library contains: some incunabula books and mediaeval manuscripts, also in Arabic.
On the wall facing the exit door,
there is a portrait made by Francisco de Goya, the great Spanish painter, of Francisco de Saavedra, Spanish Diplomat and Secretary of State under the reign of Charles IV
who had been a collegiate student at the Abbey, and who donated his portrait to his Alma Mater.
Just a sample of what the Abbey’s heritage site has to offer; this short visit to its museum is absolutely impressive.
[kkstarratings]
