New museum of royal treasures displays Madrid’s Islamic origins

Archaeological remains that illustrate the origin of Madrid as a Muslim fort have gone on display in the Spanish capital in a new museum that brings together the riches of the country’s royal collections for the first time, in the fruit of decades of work.

The defensive wall and traces of a gate that served as an entryway to the Muslim fortress were excavated during the construction of the Royal Collections Gallery in Madrid, built on a site that has been at the heart of power on the Iberian Peninsula for centuries.

The archaeological remains have been preserved in place within the museum and went on show to the public this month as it opened its doors, three decades after work began to create a gallery of the treasures amassed by Spain’s royal dynasties over five centuries.

“We knew the remains were here, but we didn’t realise their full importance,” said Pilar Benito, head of conservation at the state body that manages Spain’s royal sites, Patrimonio Nacional. “It wasn’t just the wall that was here, but one of the city gates.”

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The excavation allowed archaeologists reconstruct a plan of the early origins of the city, which historians consider to be unique among European capitals for its Muslim roots.

The site commands a sweeping view across a river basin towards the mountains of Sierra de Guadarrama – a star feature of the museum’s award-winning architectural design today, but in centuries past was valued for its strategic purpose.

In 711, an army of Arabs and Berbers crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and began the conquest of much of the Iberian Peninsula in the service of the Umayyad Caliphate, a Muslim dynasty that ruled from its seat of power in Damascus.

The spot that would become Madrid was chosen to be the site of an Islamic fortress, built between 850 and 866 as an outpost to guard the de facto boundary between the emirate and the Christian kingdoms, which cut through current day Spain.

A town began to develop around the fort and, after it was conquered by the Christian king Alfonso VI in 1085, the site was developed into a Christian castle and then a palace. The city grew up around it over the centuries, ultimately becoming the site of the Royal Palace of Madrid and the heart of the Spanish capital.

The new museum was built on the site to put the flower of Spain’s royal collections on public display, with works including paintings by Goya, ornate royal carriages, ancient manuscripts and porcelain.

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Mostly collected between the 16th and 19th centuries, the collection serves as a chronological account of Spanish cultural history and illustrates how Christianity became the driving theme behind artistic creation.

“It is the history of artistic taste in Spain,” Benito explained. “The patron was the king, so the quality was always the very top. It’s the very best furniture, the very best paintings, the very best tapestries of their day.”

Curators chose 650 pieces from the 170,000 artworks and cultural objects that make up the state-owned royal collections from palaces and monasteries across Spain, and a third of the exhibits are to be rotated regularly.

Standout exhibits include Bernini’s Christ on the Cross, Caravaggio’s Salome with the head of John the Baptist, and a glittering crown commissioned by Queen Isabella II as a votive offering to the royal family’s patron saint the Virgin of Atocha after she survived an assassination attempt.

The important role of women as patrons is underscored throughout the collection, which also includes works by breakthrough women artists. These include the 1692 sculpture St Michael Smiting the Devil, considered the masterwork of Luisa Roldán or La Roldana, the first Spanish woman to be named “court sculptor”, and an influential 1589 painting of the holy family by the Italian painter Lavinia Fontana.

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The collection includes what may be the most significant collection of tapestries in Europe. Commissioned from Flemish master weavers, this form of decorative art was favoured by the royals because the court was itinerant, moving between palaces according to the seasons, and the tapestries could be easily rolled up and moved.

Work first got under way to choose which pieces should go on show in the 1990s, and Benito describes the process of selecting which pieces to leave out as one of the most difficult tasks.

“It’s a huge pride to see it open. It was a great feat of work by all the conservators,” Benito said. “Asking my favourite is like asking a parent to name their favourite child.”