The women of European royal houses played a decisive role in the founding and preservation of the Museo del Prado, as well as the formation of its collections. There were a great many of them and they were so crucial to this institution that it would be impossible to explore the joint work they carried out in a single route. That is why we began this project, following a chronological order and focusing on those women whose actions coincided with the years between the birth of Isabella the Catholic and the death of Isabella Clara Eugenia (1451-1633). In this second edition, we now move into the 17th century, turning our attention to new art promoters whose lives are framed between the figures of Isabella of Bourbon and Maria Anna of Neuburg (1602-1700).
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625). The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, ca. 1615. Oil on canvas. Floor 2. Room 80
These queens, regents, governesses and empresses, the patronage they undertook, and their relationship with the formation of the Museo del Prado’s collections comprise this new exhibition route, which begins by introducing visitors to the first section entitled “Art Patrons of the Museo del Prado”.
Here the protagonists of this journey are presented through a selection of portraits that allows us to examine the construction of the image of female power among some of the century’s most powerful women and their relevant work in the exchange of portraits between the European courts of the Baroque.
Sébastien Bourdon (1616-1671). Queen Christina of Sweden, ca. 1653. Oil on canvas. Floor 1. Room 19
The following sections are dedicated to Mariana of Austria, Elisabeth of Bourbon and Christina of Sweden who, together with Isabel Clara Eugenia, stand out as the art promoters of this period who have a closer connection to the Prado’s collections. Presented in this order to make it easier to follow the route, we examine the construction and evolution of the image of power of Queen Mariana of Austria; we analyze artistic exchanges and female cultural networks through the commission that Isabella de Bourbon entrusted to Isabel Clara Eugenia in 1623 to decorate the Queen’s Tower at the Alcázar of Madrid; and we explore the patronage of Christina of Sweden, an extraordinary lover of art and culture and one of the most noteworthy collectors of the Modern Age, to whom we owe the most valuable collection of classical sculpture held by the Museo del Prado.
This second edition of The Female Perspective route gives us the opportunity to learn about new stories involving some of the main art promoters of the 17th century in Europe, women who, once again, contributed significantly to the formation of this Museum’s collections.
