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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 List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, originally a wing of the Buen Retiro Palace. The Salón de Reinos and the Casón del Buen Retiro are the only survivors of the original grand scheme of the palace. Built between 1630 and 1635, the Hall of Realms housed the largest paintings in the royal collection, now all in the
Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...
. It is named after its paintings of the
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of the 24 kingdoms which formed the Kingdom of
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
at the time of
Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 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 for his patronage of the ...
. 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 (, ) 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 by the typical Madrid ...
. 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 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 soirees, 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 (, , ) are a series of tasks carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised as Hercules. They were accomplished in the service of King Eurystheus. The ep ...
, comparing the exploits of the demi-god Hercules (then considered as the ancestor of the
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) with those of the king. The battle paintings juxtaposed examples by artists of the older generation such as
Vicente Carducho Vincenzio Carduccio (in Spanish language, Spanish, sometimes ''Vicencio'' or Vicente Carducho; 1576 or 1578–1638) was an Italians, Italian Italian painter, painter who spent his career in Habsburg Spain, Spain. Education and training ...
or Eugenio Cajés (who had both served
Philip III of Spain Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...
) with ones by younger artists trained in naturalism such as Juan Bautista Maíno, Zurbarán (summoned from
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for this very commission), Jusepe Leonardo, Félix Castelo (who did his first major work there), Antonio de Pereda 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 portraits 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 (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:
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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, Córdoba,
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, Galicia,
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, Jaén,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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, Toledo and
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(Philip IV also held the titles of Count of Habsburg,
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 ...
, and Lord of Molina, among others).


Paintings

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 (lost). * ''The capture of Rheinfelden'' by
Vicente Carducho Vincenzio Carduccio (in Spanish language, Spanish, sometimes ''Vicencio'' or Vicente Carducho; 1576 or 1578–1638) was an Italians, Italian Italian painter, painter who spent his career in Habsburg Spain, Spain. Education and training ...
. Oil on canvas (297 x 357 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * ''The Relief of Brisach'' by Jusepe Leonardo. 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 Jusepe Leonardo. Oil on canvas (307 x 381 cm), Museo Nacional del Prado. * '' The Surrender of Breda'', 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) were the only parts of the palace to survive the intense French bombardment between 1808 and 1814 during the
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
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
Alcázar of Toledo The Alcázar of 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 by the typical Madrid ...
, giving the Hall of Realms over to the Prado, 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
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 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, Madrid, about the work of the architect
Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...
. A comparison was drawn with an earlier project by the same architect, the
Carré d'Art The Carré d'art at Nîmes in southern France houses a museum of contemporary art and the city's municipal library. Constructed of glass, concrete and steel, it faces the Maison carrée, a perfectly preserved Roman temple that dates from the very ...
in
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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
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, 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:Hall of Realms 1635 establishments in Spain 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 Philip IV of Spain