The ''Salón de Reinos'' (translated as "Hall of the Kingdoms" or "Hall of Realms") or ''salón grande'' ("great hall") is a 17th-century building in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, originally a wing of the

Buen Retiro Palace Buen Retiro Palace (Spanish: ''Palacio del Buen Retiro'') in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell (c. 1590–1660) and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recrea ...

. The Salón de Reinos and the

Casón del Buen Retiro The Casón del Buen Retiro is an annex of the Museo del Prado complex in Madrid. Following major restoration work, which was completed in October 2007,Museo del Prado. It is named after its paintings of the coats of arms of the 24 kingdoms which formed the

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at the time of

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered ...

. The building served as the ''Museo del Ejército'' from 1841 to 2010 when the military collections were put on display at the

Alcázar of Toledo The Alcázar of Toledo ( es, Alcázar de Toledo, ) is a stone fortification located in the highest part of Toledo, Spain. It is a large quadrangular building measuring 60 meters on a side, framed by four large towers 60 meters high, each crowned ...

. The Prado Museum acquired the vacant building to display part of its collections and made its renovation the subject of an architectural competition. The brief was to redesign the space as part of the campus of the art museum for its 200th anniversary. It was won in 2016 by a scheme from the British firm

Foster and Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide ...

and the Spanish firm Rubio Arquitectura.

Decoration of the room

Originally intended as a place from which the king could watch and assist in theatrical productions in the courtyard, the Salón de Reinos was turned into a throne room when it was decided to turn Buen Retiro into a full palace. It was still used for spectacles and

soiree A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

s, so a balcony was added so that festivities could be viewed from above, but as a throne room it had to impress ambassadors and other distinguished members of the courts of Europe who visited the palace. This meant the room's decoration was the most sumptuous in the whole palace, well-illuminated by several windows between jasper tables and silver lions and with a ceiling covered in

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

s. There were also wall paintings full of political symbolism with the ultimate aim of glorifying Philip IV. The designer of the room's decorative programme is unknown, though ultimate responsibility lay in the hands of the conde duque de Olivares himself, along with Jerónimo de Villanueva (who gave the lions and effected the payments) and with the intellectual advice of Francisco de Rioja and of the painters closest to Philip and Olivares, Juan Bautista Maíno and Velázquez. The Salón de Reinos is rectangular in plan, with narrow doors on the two longer sides. On its north and south sides hung twelve paintings (one now lost) on the theme of the major battles won by the armies of Philip IV in the early years of his reign. Between these paintings, and above the Salón's windows, were ten paintings by Zurbarán showing the

labours of Hercules The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles ( grc-gre, οἱ Ἡρακλέους ἆθλοι, ) are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised ...

, comparing the exploits of the demi-god Hercules (then considered as the ancestor of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

) with those of the king. The battle paintings juxtaposed examples by artists of the older generation such as Vicente Carducho or

Eugenio Cajés Eugenio is an Italian and Spanish masculine given name deriving from the Greek ' Eugene'. The name is Eugénio in Portuguese and Eugênio in Brazilian Portuguese. The name's translated literal meaning is well born, or of noble status. Similar d ...

(who had both served

Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

) with ones by younger artists trained in naturalism such as Juan Bautista Maíno, Zurbarán (summoned from

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

for this very commission),

Jusepe Leonardo Jusepe is a masculine Spanish given name, equivalent to Joseph. Notable people with the name include: * Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Est ...

, Félix Castelo (who did his first major work there),

Antonio de Pereda Antonio de Pereda y Salgado ( – January 30, 1678) was a Spanish Baroque-era painter, best known for his still lifes. Biography Pereda was born in Valladolid, the eldest of three brothers from an artistic family. His father, mother and two ...

and especially Velázquez, Philip IV's favourite. At the east and west ends were portraits by Velázquez of the royal family. The series was made up of

equestrian portrait An equestrian portrait is a portrait that shows the subject on horseback. Equestrian portraits suggest a high-status sitter, who in many cases was a monarch or other member of the nobility, and the portraits can also carry a suggestion of chivalry ...

s of Philip III and his wife Margaret of Austria (both on the west wall) and equestrian portraits of Philip IV and his wife Elisabeth of France either side their son and heir

Balthasar Charles Balthasar Charles (17 October 1629 – 9 October 1646), Prince of Asturias, Prince of Girona, Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera, and Lord of Balaguer, Prince of Viana was heir apparent to all the kingdoms, states and dominions of the ...

(all three on the east wall). These five paintings' distribution and staggered positioning exemplified the concepts of hereditary monarchy and dynastic continuity. Based on the titles held by Philip IV, the hall also contained shields showing the coats of arms of the twenty-four kingdoms and realms that made up his monarchy: Aragon, Archduchy of Austria,

Lordship of Biscay The Lordship of Biscay ( es, Señorío de Vizcaya, Basque: ''Bizkaiko jaurerria'') was a region under feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between 1040 and 1876, ruled by a political figure known as the Lord of Biscay. On ...

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the ...

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

, Castile and León, Principality of Catalonia, Córdoba,

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Yp ...

, Galicia, Granada, Jaén,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Duchy of Milan,

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Navarre,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Toledo and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

(Philip IV also held the titles of

Count of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

Count of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised p ...

, and Lord of Molina, among others).

Paintings

La expugnación de Rheinfelden por Vicente Carducho

The layout of the portraits and battle paintings in the Salón, based on the reconstruction produced by Jose Alvarez Lopera, which is in turn based on the ''Silva topográfica'' by Manuel de Gallegos and the 1701 inventory, is as follows:

West wall (main entrance)

Three works by Velázquez: * '' Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV'' * '' Equestrian Portrait of Elisabeth of France'' * '' Equestrian Portrait of Prince Balthasar Charles''

East wall (behind the throne)

* '' Equestrian Portrait of Philip III'', by Velázquez and workshop * '' Equestrian Portrait of Margarita of Austria'', by Velázquez

North wall

* ''The expulsion of the Dutchmen from the island of San Martin by the Marquis of Cadreita'', by

Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanish ...

(lost). * ''The capture of Rheinfelden'' by Vicente Carducho. Oil on canvas (297 x 357 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * ''The Relief of Brisach'' by

. Oil on canvas (304 x 360 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * ''The relief of the Plaza de Constanza'', Vicente Carducho. Oil on canvas (297 x 374 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * ''The recovery of the island of Puerto Rico by Don Juan de Haro'', Eugenio Cajés. Oil on canvas (290 x 344 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * ''The recovery of the island of San Cristobal by Don Frederic of Toledo'', Felix Castelo. Oil on canvas (297 x 311 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado.

South wall

* '' The Recovery of Bahia'' by Juan Bautista Maíno. Oil on canvas (290 x 370 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * '' The Relief of Genoa by the second Marquis of Santa Cruz'', by Antonio de Pereda y Salgado. Oil on canvas (290 x 370 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * '' The victory at Fleurus'', by Vicente Carducho. Oil on canvas (297 x 365 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * '' The surrender of Juliers'' by

. Oil on canvas (307 x 381 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * ''

The Surrender of Breda ''La rendición de Breda'' (English: ''The Surrender of Breda'', also known as ''Las lanzas'' – ''The Lances'') is a painting by the Spanish Golden Age painter Diego Velázquez. It was completed during the years 1634–35, inspired by Velázque ...

'', by Diego Velázquez. Oil on canvas (307 x 367 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * '' The defense of Cadiz against the English'', by Zurbarán. Oil on canvas (302 x 323 cm). Museo Nacional del Prado.

Trials of Hercules

Over the windows were paintings of the trials of Hercules by Zurbarán, all 130 cm x 160 cm, all oil on canvas, all now in the Prado: * ''Hercules and the Cretan bull''. * ''Hercules's struggle with Antaeus''. * ''Hercules' struggle with the Erymanthian boar''. * ''Hercules diverting the river Alpheus''. * ''Hercules and Cerberus''. * '' Hercules wrestling with the Nemean lion''. * '' Hercules fights the Hydra of Lerna''. * ''Hercules closes the straits of Gibraltar''. * ''Hercules kills king Gerion''. * '' Death of Hercules''.

Later history

The Salón de Reinos, and the Salón de Fiestas (now the

Casón del Buen Retiro The Casón del Buen Retiro is an annex of the Museo del Prado complex in Madrid. Following major restoration work, which was completed in October 2007,Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

and the appearance of the buildings were transformed by post-war rebuilding. For a long time (since 1841) the Salón de Reinos housed the Museo del Ejército.

Restoration project

In the early 21st century the Spanish Ministry of Culture launched a series of studies and reforms to move the Army museum to a larger, better and more modern setting at the

, giving the Hall of Realms over to the

Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

, which already had responsibility for the Casón and which could then return the Salón de Reinos to its 17th-century appearance and reinstate the paintings originally meant for it. This would be all the easier since the wall paintings, ceiling paintings and

s were still well preserved. However, the initial proposal caused a debate on the building's final use, with some opposing it since it would separate works by Velázquez such as ''The Surrender of Breda'' from his other works in the Prado, and others since they felt that such a move was unjustified just to recreate a single room. The redesign of the building was the subject of a competition, and in 2017 displays relating to the winning proposal were shown in an exhibition in the

Telefónica Building The Telefónica Building, in Spanish ''Edificio Telefónica'', is a skyscraper in Madrid, Spain. It is located in Gran Via 28. At the time of construction it was the tallest European skyscraper with 89 m of roof height, until in 1940, when the ...

, Madrid, about the work of the architect

Norman Foster Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

. A comparison was drawn with an earlier project by the same architect, the Carré d'Art in Nîmes where he was working in proximity to an ancient temple. The team of Foster and Rubio envisaged the Salon stripped of some of its post 17th century accretions and combined with modernistic features. Completion of the restoration has been much delayed. The Museo del Ejército reopened in Toledo in July 2010. The works on the Salón de Reinos to convert it for the use of the Prado were originally expected to occur from 2010 to 2012, with a budget of 42.5 million Euros. In the aftermath of the

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

, deadlines went by, and in 2016 the project to add the building to the Museo del Prado’s campus was being presented as part of the Museum’s 200th anniversary celebrations which were scheduled for 2019. In the event, funding was put on hold until 2021. Pending the beginning of building work, there has been scope to give over the Salón de Reinos and its adjoining rooms to activities such as temporary exhibitions. In 2017 the artist Cai Guo-Qiang used the Hall of Realms for 8 works of art using gun-powder.

References

Bibliography

* PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, Alfonso E. (1992). ''Pintura barroca en España 1600-1750.'' Madrid : Ediciones Cátedra. . * BROWN y J. H. ELLIOT, Jonathan (1985). ''Un palacio para el rey. El Buen Retiro y la corte de Felipe IV.'' Madrid : Alianza Editorial. . * GARRIDO PÉREZ, Carmen (1992). ''Velázquez. Técnica y evolución.'' Madrid : Museo del Prado. . * LÓPEZ TORRIJOS, Rosa (1985). ''La mitología en la pintura española del Siglo de Oro.'' Madrid : Cátedra. . * Corpus velazqueño. ''Documentos y textos'' (2000), Madrid, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte,

External links

Salón de Reinos.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salon De Reinos Buildings and structures in Jerónimos neighborhood, Madrid Art museums and galleries in Madrid Museo del Prado Museums in Madrid Palaces in Madrid Royal residences in Spain Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid Buildings and structures completed in 1635 Herrerian architecture