Nel segno del genio. Velázquez in the records of the Archivio di Stato di Roma

The Museo Nacional del Prado, Royal Collections Gallery and Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando will temporarily house three manuscripts from the Italian archives that prove Velázquez’s influence extended beyond his legacy as a painter. The documents will be on view until 9 February 2025, each at a different museum, thanks to the project Nel segno del genio. Velázquez in the records of the Archivio di Stato di Roma.

The manuscripts contain information pertaining to the painter’s second visit to Rome, between 1649 and 1651, and illustrate his role as a cultural intermediary between Spain and Italy during the Spanish Golden Age. Specifically, the records describe several orders that Velázquez placed for bronze copies of classical Italian sculptures.

For the first time, this exhibition has assembled a series of priceless historical documents that shed light on Velázquez’s activities during his time in Rome. The documents, dated between 1649 and 1657, were found in the official records of Antonius Franciscus Maria Simius, a notary who worked for the Court of the Vicar General. The bulk of them are contracts with craftsmen and sculptors who had been commissioned to make plaster and bronze copies of antique monuments by Velázquez and his deputy, Juan de Córdoba Herrera.

The documents can be seen in two display cases in Room 15 A of the Villanueva Building at the Museo Nacional del Prado. One contains the contract from the Archivio di Stato di Roma, while the other shows three additional documents from the Prado’s own archives.

This joint exhibition was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Archivio di Stato di Roma, Patrimonio Nacional, Museo Nacional del Prado and Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. The initiative offers further proof that Spanish institutions are firmly committed to promoting art-historical heritage and to strengthening cultural ties between Spain and Italy.