Past Exhibitions

Spain in the Age of Exploration, 1492-1819 Special Exhibition October 16, 2004–January 2, 2005 SAM Simonyi Special Exhibition Galleries

SAM’s magnificent exhibition Spain in the Age of Exploration 1492–1819 is one of the most ambitious undertakings SAM has ever initiated. Sixteen Spanish and American lenders, including our organizing partner, the Patrimonio Nacional, and the Museo del Prado, have agreed to temporarily part with precious historical works from their collections in order to help us tell some of the most captivating stories to emerge from the Spanish empire. Our focus is on the theme of exploration—how the royal court, beginning with Isabel and Ferdinand, used the enlargement of the Spanish realm not only to increase the crown’s resources but also to gather and harness knowledge that enriched human understanding of the wider world. This central subject is broken down into four themes that will help to organize the visitor’s experience.

The Image of Empire
Royal image making, through the strategic design of the court, accumulation of splendid objects, and carefully crafted royal portraits, communicated Spain’s global strength and invincibility. The international character of the royal collection, with scientific documents from the New World and masterpieces by Bosch, Titian, Velázquez, Bernini, Rubens and Goya, manifests royal dignity and taste for religious imagery; it also conveys Spain’s broad geographic sovereignty. Portraits of the monarchs in armor will be exhibited with the actual suits of armor depicted—both crafted to enforce an image of authority, power and divine right.

Spirituality and Worldliness
When Ferdinand and Isabel were given the title “the Catholic Monarchs” by Pope Alexander VI in 1492, the inseparability of church and state was made official. Subsequent kings incorporated religious thinking into policy decisions at home and abroad. The mingling of spiritual and earthly concerns is embodied in many works of art in the show, including El Greco’s Saint Ildefonso and Zurbarán’s The Savior Blessing. In the second example, the only thing that separates Christ from the viewer’s space is a large, realistic globe. A wooden cross leans against his left side. Together the cross and globe express God’s earthly dominion.

Encounters Across Cultures The exhibition gives the visitor a sense of various Spanish responses to the New World, whether in public policy, artistic expression or scientific investigation. One example from the Malaspina Expedition (1789–1794) is a Spanish portrait of the Nootka chief Maquinna, which depicts a carefully rendered whaling hat, woven with the image of a whale hunt. The Spanish also collected examples of the type of hat itself.

Science and the Court
Traditionally, historians have asserted that the Spanish court had no interest in innovative scientific activity. That outdated notion is disproved by the rich evidence seen in the show—scientific instruments used in navigation (fig. 4), pioneering maps, and exquisite botanical studies and ethnographic manuscripts that constitute an early natural history of the New World. In about 1725, the future King Charles III was portrayed engaged in botanical study, a personal interest throughout his life.

We will provide a variety of tools to help visitors absorb all the show has to offer: a bilingual (English and Spanish) audio guide for adults and families; bilingual labels with icons to help visitors identify themes; and an interactive kiosk on the theme of navigation. Our hope is that visitors will leave the show with a greater understanding of the richness of Spanish art and culture—and come to realize how our traditional ideas of what is “Spanish” must be broadened to reflect the breadth of international engagement during the three centuries of the Spanish empire.

After its debut in Seattle the exhibition will travel to its only other venue, the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla., where it will be on view Feb. 2 – May 1, 2005.

Spain in the Age of Exploration 1492-1819 will be accompanied by a fully illustrated scholarly catalog, with essays by Chiyo Ishikawa, Javier Morales, Richard Kagan and Benjamin Schmidt, Jesús Carrillo, Joaquín Yarza, Sarah Schroth, José de la Sota and Andrew Schulz. The catalog will be available in museum stores.

Wolfgang Groschedel
and Kunz Lochner
Equestrian armor for Philip II
ca. 1554
Etched steel, gold
Patrimonio Nacional, Real Armería, Madrid