The Spanish Siglo de Oro, or ‘Golden Age’, is one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of Western art. Just when the most powerful nation in 17 th-century Europe was rapidly losing its hegemony and went into political decline, Spanish art experienced its greatest flourishing. It was the era of masters like El Greco (1541–1614), Velázquez (1599– 1660), Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664) or Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682). The exhibition presents both paintings and sculptures in a surprisingly diverse survey of the Siglo de Oro, on a scale previously unheard of and unseen outside of Spain. Apart from the well-known names, this is an opportunity to become familiar with such lesser known masters as Juan van der Hamen (1596–1631), Alonso Cano (1601–1667) or Claudio Coello (1642–1693). And for the first time in Germany, preeminent sculptors like Gregorio Fernández (1576–1636), Juan Martínez Montañés (1568–1649) and Luisa Ignacia Roldán (1652–1706) can be discovered. Around one hundred masterpieces from international collections will be on display, including loans from Madrid's Museo del Prado, the Museo Nacional de Escultura in Valladolid, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris. The exhibition points out, how the great masters’ creativity occurred during the reigns of Philip III (1598–1621), Philip IV (1621–1665) and Charles II (1665–1700). The most important centres of art were Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, Seville and Madrid. Paradoxically, Spain’s artistic upswing was closely linked to its political decline: sovereign defaults, doomed wars and the plague all took a heavy toll on the country. Therefore, the king and the church exploited art as a propagandistic device to signalise both strength and stability. Commissioned by the court, history painting and portraits were dedicated to representing the power of the monarchy. Opulent still-lifes were also an excellent means of flaunting a high social status. The Catholic Church commissioned the majority of works, putting painting and sculpture in particular to account as an artistic expression of its Counter- Reformation endeavours: religious depictions were designed to guide the populace towards the true faith. The key strategy was their emotional approach, even seeking to overwhelm the observer with extreme renderings of the sufferings of Christ and the Saints. To this day, the polychrome sculptures of this era in particular are so lifelike that their appeal cannot be eluded. The juxtaposition of realism and theatrical performance, earthly and heavenly spheres, the profane and the sacred makes Spanish art of this period so exceptional. In the early 17th century, there was still enormous regional diversity with regard to artistic production, while the cities of Madrid and Seville subsequently emerged as centres of art. The exhibition opens with El Greco's exceptional oeuvre in Toledo, the former Spanish capital, which remained a major religious centre even after the seat of government was relocated to Madrid in 1561. As in Valencia and Seville, ecclesiastical authorities were the primary patrons of the arts, thereby shaping their development. However, the artists in each city developed their own distinctive visual imagery. For example, the works of Francisco Ribalta (1565–1628), who lived in Valencia, and Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652), a Valencian by birth, are characterised by their extreme realism and dramatic chiaroscuro effects. The most populous city on the Iberian Peninsula at that time, Seville was a leader in trade with the colonies. Besides works for the monasteries and churches of the region, the city produced vast numbers for export to overseas territories. In addition to his religious scenes, Murillo also painted contemporary genre works of Sevillian street urchins, which earned him widespread renown during his lifetime. The painter and art theoretician, Francisco Pacheco, who worked in the Andalusian metropolis, was an important role model for the somewhat older generation of artists like Zurbarán, Velázquez and Cano: with the aim of enhancing art's emotional power by means of particularly lifelike representation, he established new depiction methods and innovative techniques for polychroming sculptures. His student and son-in-law Velázquez excelled from his early days in Seville, for example with his so-called bodegones (still-lifes, renditions of scenes in taverns and kitchens). The permanent establishment of the court in Madrid also led to the city's emergence as the artistic capital of Spain. As a patron of the arts, Philip IV continued the new era that his grandfather, Philip II, had introduced with his acquisition of artworks, decorating El Escorial with paintings by numerous Italian artists. In 1623, the young Velázquez was appointed court painter, his reputation as an outstanding portraitist rivalling the most influential court artist until then, Vicente Carducho (1576–1638). Towards the end of the 17th century, Madrid had become one of Europe's major art cities, while Spain's other metropolises had since suffered a decline. The exhibition is showing works from this Golden Age by the court painters of Charles II, like Francisco Rizi (1608– 1685), Juan Carreño de Miranda (1614–1685) and Claudio Coello, who followed in the footsteps of Velázquez and Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), to name but two. They were the last artists to be patronised by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs: Charles' death in 1700 also marked the end of the Siglo de Oro. The exhibition is being held under the joint auspices of His Majesty Felipe VI of Spain and Federal President Joachim Gauck. An exhibition cooperation with the Gemäldegalerie – National Museums in Berlin. Leonie Mellinghoff, T +49 (0) 89 / 37 82 81 62, [email protected] SPAIN’S GOLDEN AGE. THE ERA OF VELÁZQUEZ IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE OPENING HOURS daily 10 am–8 pm; 24.12.: closed, 31.12.: 10am–5pm every third Wednesday of the month 10am–10pm: 18.1.17, 15.2.17 and 15.3.17 DIRECTOR Roger Diederen CURATOR OF THE KUNSTHALLE MUNICH Nerina Santorius EXHIBITION CONCEPT Roberto Contini and María López-Fanjul y Díez del Corral (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin) PRESS ENQUIRIES Leonie Mellinghoff, T +49 (0)89 / 37 82 81 62, [email protected] PRESS IMAGES FOR DOWNLOAD www.kunsthalle-muc.de/en/exhibitions/details/spanish-painting-and-sculpture-of-the-17th-century ADMISSION FEES Standard: € 14 | Reduced fees: Senior citizens (60+): € 12 | Students (< 30 years) and unemployed: € 7 | Announced school classes: € 0,50 per pupil | Young people (6–18 years): € 1 Children under 6: free of charge | Family pass for 2 adults and their (grand-)children (< 18 years): € 24 | On Mondays: 50% discount on all admission fees (except: 26.12.16) GUIDED TOURS Guided tours for groups: Tue–Fri, 10am–8pm and Sat, 10am–8pm; guided tours in languages other than German: Tue–Fri, 10am–9pm and Sat, 10am–8pm. All tours must be announced. ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME Curator’s and thematic tours, guided tours in Spanish in cooperation with the Instituto Cervantes Munich; furthermore: lectures and concerts, “Re-Act! Harry Klein goes Kunsthalle” and AfterworkKH, Poetry Slam, “Mal Digital”, the art installation “Modevisionen” and a scholarly conference. Further information on our website: http://www.kunsthalle-muc.de/en CATALOGUE Hirmer Verlag, ca. 336 pages, ca. 206 colour illustrations, hardback, 24 x 29 cm, € 35 FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM facebook.com/kunsthallemuc, twitter.com/kunsthallemuc, instagram.com/kunsthallemuc #KunsthalleMuc and the official expo hashtag: #goldeneZeit .