Liria Palace
| Liria Palace | |
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Native name Spanish: Palacio de Liria | |
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North-east façade of Liria Palace | |
| Location | Madrid, Spain |
| Architect | Ventura Rodriguez, Edwin Lutyens |
| Official name: Palacio de Liria | |
| Criteria | Monument |
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The Liria Palace (Spanish: Palacio de Liria) is a neoclassical palace in Madrid, Spain. Built around 1770 to a design by the architect Ventura Rodríguez, it was commissioned by Duke of Berwick who was also Duke of Liria. In the early 19th century it passed to the inheritance of the House of Alba. Eugénie de Montijo, last empress consort of the French, died here in exile in 1920. All but the facades were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War.[1] It was subsequently rebuilt by Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 17th Duke of Alba and his daughter Cayetana. The British architect Edwin Lutyens provided some designs for the interior, and the reconstruction, although it took place after his death, used his plans.[2]
According to a 2012 article in the New York Times, main resident of the palace was Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 14th Duke of Huéscar, the son and heir of the 18th Duchess of Alba.[1] Although the Duchess' official residence was the Liria Palace, she preferred the Palacio de las Dueñas in Seville where she died in 2014.
Art collection
The building is protected under Spanish heritage law as a listed monument,[3] and some of the moveable art works it contains are also protected as Properties of Cultural Interest.
The palace contains a remarkable private collection of European art. In 2012 there was an exhibition of works from the art collection in the Cibeles Palace. Usually, it is necessary to apply to visit the Liria Palace to see its art collection.[4]
The collection includes:
- Paintings by Fra Angelico, Pietro Perugino, Titian, Palma il Vecchio, El Greco, Anthonis Mor, Goya, Murillo, Zurbarán, Rembrandt, Jacob van Ruisdael, Ribera, Rubens, Francesco Guardi, Ingres, Joshua Reynolds, Renoir, Henri Fantin-Latour, Eugene Boudin and Marc Chagall.
- Engravings by Dürer, Mantegna, Lucas van Leyden and Van Dyck.
- Sculptures: marble and bronze figures from the Roman Empire to the neoclassical period, including one portrait of Gioacchino Rossini by Lorenzo Bartolini.
- Old documents and books: more than 9,000 books (including one first-edition copy of Don Quixote) and manuscript documents (including the Alba Bible, bulas from the Vatican, the last will of King Philip II of Spain and letters by Christopher Columbus, Titian and Rousseau).
- Archeological finds and decorative arts: Greek painted ceramics, old armor and weapons, 18th-century tapestries from the Gobelins Manufactory, Sèvres porcelains and empire style furniture.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Minder, Raphael (November 2012). "Unmasking a Family's Treasures". New York Times. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
- ↑ "Lutyens in Spain". AA Files No. 3. Architectural Association. January 1983. Accessed 27 May 2014 via JSTOR www.jstor.org, (subscription required).
- ↑ Palacio de Liria. Database of Bienes culturales
- ↑ A visit to the Liria Palace. Lopez Linares
External links
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