"Aragon: Of Kings and Painters" 06/26/2011
Aragón: Of Kings and Painters Bordered on the north by the towering snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees Mountains; to the west by the open plains and golden wheat fields of Old Castile; to the east by the gently rolling hills of Catalonia; and to the south by the wildly surrealistic cliffs and forests of New Castile and the high country of Levante, the region of Aragón in north-central Spain boasts the most varied topography on the Iberian Peninsula. Comprised of the three provinces of Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel, Aragón has traditionally been a quiet underpopulated agricultural region in which most country folk still depend upon farming, livestock and forestry for their livelihoods. Interestingly, despite the area’s relative poverty, it gave birth to both the first king of what would one day become a more or less unified Spain, Ferdinand of Aragón, and perhaps Spain’s greatest painter, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes. The medieval town of Sos del Rey Católico in the province of Huesca was the birthplace of King Ferdinand of Aragón, husband to Queen Isabelle of Castile and León. Located near the foothills of the Pyrenees, Sos is truly one of the most picturesque villages in northern Spain. Every cobblestone street and alleyway that surrounds the Sada Palace (Ferdinand’s ancestral home) speaks of history. One can easily envision the candle-lit late night councils of war that the young king must have celebrated here with his queen and the noblemen of Aragón while planning his next battle in the seemingly eternal struggle against the Moorish invaders who dominated much of the Iberian Peninsula for 774 years. Born in the tiny rural village of Fuendetodos (province of Zaragoza) on March 30, 1746, Goya is considered one of the most renowned of Spain’s master painters and the Father of Modern Art. Over the 82 years of his life Goya rose from impoverished obscurity to become court painter during the reign of the Spanish monarch, Charles III, a position that he maintained throughout the life of Charles IV and on into the monarchy of Ferdinand VII. As the new millennium dawned at the end of the 18th century, Goya fell prey to a severe illness that left him deaf and eventually alienated him completely from the ostentation of the Spanish Court. It was during this dark and depressing period that Goya produced his famous “Black Paintings”. As any visitor to Madrid’s Prado Museum will attest, this series of shocking monumental oils depicts in terrible detail the horrors perpetrated by Napoleon’s troops as they took Spain’s capital city. I recently returned from a spectacular buying trip through Aragón (as well as Navarra, the Rioja wine region, northern Old Castile, the Spanish Basque Country and Catalonia). During my travels I was able to find and acquire over 150 stunning pieces of 17th to 19th C. furniture, pottery, architectural elements, accessories and oil paintings that will arrive at our Scottsdale and Santa Fe showrooms within the next few weeks. Period country furniture from Aragón was most often crafted in pine, the most abundant wood found in the region. Antique furnishings and doors produced at higher altitudes in the Pyrenees region of the province of Huesca were most often fashioned in red pine, a beautifully tight-grained and dense wood. Those pieces that hailed from the lower elevations of the more arid provinces of Zaragoza and Teruel tended to be made in honey pine. The deceptively simple oblique carving on most fine Aragonese pieces, the superb wrought iron work and the lustrous patinas of the woods make antiques from this region among the most sought-after of treasures by top Spanish dealers. If you take a look at the images of reference #4866-DL Pyrenees dowry chest, and the #4941-DL Two-door Pyrenees credenza with painted interior, both dated circa 1690-1710, you’ll see exactly what I mean. CommentsTB 06/27/2011 10:50
Thanks for providing the wonderfully rich context for an understanding of pieces from the Aragon region. We'll come by Mediterrania ASAP to see your collection first-hand. Michael Judd 07/01/2011 07:19
Thank you for the script regarding the Instituto Nacional de Cultura. Leave a Reply | AuthorI first arrived in Seville, Spain as an 18 year old student in August of 1970. Over the span of the past 41 years I've maintained an unabashed love affair with my adopted country, its people, language and artistic treasures. ArchivesApril 2012 Categories |
RSS Feed