Spain Travel Advice

Located on the A4 motorway between Madrid and Seville, Spain, Seville International Airport (SVQ), is about 12 kilometres from the centre of Seville. The airport is the second busiest of all Andalucía, just behind Malaga Airport.

Seville Airport Car Hire Advice

Seville City Centre

Car hire is one of the very best ways to see Seville. When on holiday in an unfamiliar place, often travellers worry about being able to get around the city, calculate bus fares, and make it to your stops in time. Holidays that include car hire take the guess work out of ground transport. In fact, guests can even request a satellite navigation or GPS system with their car hire to help them find their way to each destination without ever needing to unfold a map.

Car Hire at Seville Airport

Car hire at Seville Airport offers options from five on-site agencies. The agencies represented at Seville Airport are Atesa, Avis, Drown Car Hire, Europcar, and Hertz. For the best selection and to price-compare, try booking ahead online, remembering to make special requests such as car type, features, and add-ons before you arrive, to ensure a smooth experience.

Driving Directions to Seville Airport

Seville Airport lies along the A4 highway, which runs between Seville and the cities of Madrid and Cordoba. To reach Seville Airport, take kilometre marker 532 exit to the airport.

Seville Airport Contact Details

Seville Airport website is very useful, as it features information on flights, regulations, parking, car hire, and other practical information pertaining to your visit. Please visit http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Sevilla/en/ to view the main website. In addition, the airport can be reached by telephone at +34(0)954 449 000 or via email at informacion_sevilla@aena.es.

Address :

Seville Airport

Ctra Nal. 1V

Madrid-Cadiz KM 532

PAROUE DEL RETIRO
Madrid s most central green space
has been popular with the public for
more than 150 years.The Retiro, or
Retreat, extends over some 130ha
(320 acres), and its main gate is
opposite the huge Puerta de Alcala.
You can walk through the numerous
shady avenues and pathways, enjoy
the formal gardens or take a rowing
boat out on the lake. The park is peppered
with statues and monuments
of all kinds, and for this reason it
is often described as an open-air
sculpture gallery. The most unusual
monument (near the Rose Garden)
is dedicated to Lucifel the fallen
angel (hence the statue’s name-El
Angel Caido). lt is the 1878 work
of Spanish sculptor Ricardo Bellver
(1845-19241, and is said to be the
only public statue of the Devil in the
world. Note that the park should be
avoided late at night,
of fertility is seated on a chariot
pulled by two lions, which represent
the Spanish provinces of Castile
and Leon. Today’s square’s dates
from 1895, and it is surrounded by
buildings of architectural note.The
Palacio de Comunicaciones known
as Our Lady of Communications
because it resembles a cathedral,
was designed by Antonio Palacios
and Joaquin Otamendi in 1904
as the General Post Office. Partly
hidden from view by its gardens
on Paseo de Recoletos are the
General Army Barracks, built as the
Palacio de Buenavistain 1777 for the
Duchess of Alba, a renowned beauty
and former lover of the painter
Francisco de Goya W46-1828).
On the other side of the Paseo
is the baroque Palacio de Linares,
designed in 1872 by Carlos Collubi.
It is cunently the Casa de America
tickets must be reserved
one day before visit), showcasing
work of artists from Latin America.
Felipe ll chose this site as a focal
point of his new capital, but only the
Casa de la Panaderia was completed
during his reign. lt was the property
of the baker’s guild, and its fagade
has always been decorated with
frescoes. Felipe lll revived the
Plaza Mayor project in 1612 and
his bronze statue stands guard
over it. The square was designed
for processions, plays, pageants,
tournaments, public executions and
even bullfights.The most macabre
ceremony held here was the auto da
fd, the ritual burning of condemned
heretics before the judges of the
lnquisition, a practice that continued
until 1680. Plaza Mayor also served
as a marketplace.
Traffic is banned, so you can
wander at will. A stone s throw away
is the world s oldest restaurant,
Botin, foundedin 1125.The author
Ernest Hemingway loved its roast
suckling pig. Las Cuevas de Luis
Candelas is a traditional tavern
named after a 19th-century bandit
who took refuge in its cellars. Calle
deToledo, the old road toToledo,
has unusual shops-look for Casa
Hernanz (No. 18), which sells rope
espadrilles, mats and baskets.The
Christmas market in December has
a festive atmosphere.

PALACIO REAL
The Royal Palace is the official residence of the royal family. While only a
fraction of the 3,000 rooms are in daily use, around 25 of the state apartments
are open to the public. These are decorated with frescoes, gilded stucco,
Spanish marbles and silk wall-hangings, and are crammed with priceless
objets d’art.
The cunent Palacio Real stands on the site of the ninth-century Moorish
Alcazar (fort), which, with some modifications, became the prefened royal
palace after Felipe ll moved his court to Madrid in 1561. ln 1734 the palace
burned down, and it was rebuilt by ltalian architect Battista Sacchetti. lt
occupies a superb clifftop site overlooking the Rio Manzanares and the Casa
de Campo, and the views to the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains
are stunning.
THE ROOMS
The most impressive room on the tour is theThrone Room, designed by
Giovanni Battista Sacchetti and completed in 1772. The velvet wall-hangings
were made in Genoa and decorated with gilded silver thread. Covering the
ceiling is the allegorical masterpiece, The Apotheosis of the Spanish Monarchy,
by Giovanni BattistaTiepolo (1696-1770).TheThrone Room is still in use,
although the present King and Oueen prefer to stand during audiences.
The Gasparini Room, named after its Neapolitan designer, Matteo Gasparini,
was the king’s robing room. The restored silk hangings are embroidered with
arabesques to match the equally spectacular ceiling, which is encrusted
with stuccoed fruit and flowers. The Banqueting Hall dates f rom 1885. lt was
created for Alfonso Xll by joining together three rooms from the queen’s
apartments. The ceiling frescoes formed part of the original design, although
most of the contents were introduced later. The dining table seats up to 164
guests and can be dismantled for balls and receptions.
For a small extra fee (€1), visitors can admire the new Paintings Gallery,
which contains a f ine collection of works dating f rom the 15th century
PALACE PRECINCTS
The Royal Armoury (reached from the courtyard) has one of the finest collections
of arms and armour in Europe.

MUSEO SOROLLA

http://museosorolla.mcu.es

This house-museum is devoted
to the life and work of the artist
Joaqufn Sorolla y Bastida (1863-
1923). Born inValencia, Sorolla
trained in Madrid before making his
way to Rome on a scholarship in
1885. He exhibited his work allover
Europe, but was especially admired
in the United States.
His first NewYork show (in 1909)
attracted 160,000 visitors and won
him enough commissions to build
the house in Madrid where he
lived for the last 13 years of his life
with his wife and three children. lt
became a museum after his widow
Clothilde, donated it to the state and
it was opened in 1932.
The 250 paintings and drawings
on show here reveal why the
artist is often tagged ‘the Spanish
lmpressionist’ and ‘the painter of
light’. Though highly regarded as a
portraitist, he is best known for his
seascapes and for the gentle evocations
of a rural life that was already
fast disappearing in his lifetime,
for left and right feet were exactly
the same shape. Traditional regional
dress from different parts of Spain
is also represented, including typical
costumes of fishermen, shepherds,
tinkers and other trades.
You might have admired Goya’s
portraits of Madrid’s artisans in the
Prado: here you can see the neat
jackets and high-waisted skirts
of the typical Spanish majo and
maja. (Majos were usually people
from artistic, and often lower-class
backgrounds, who took great care
with their appearance. They appear
often in Goya’s works.)The exhibit
outlining the rise of haute couture
is largely dedicated to the great
20th-century Spanish designel
Balenciaga, whose original pieces
were almost sculptural in form. ln
a fun touch, visitors walk down a
‘catwalk’ as they exit.
The museum opened in 2004 in
a striking, revamped 1970s building
which once contained the national
contemporary art collection. Not
only was the interior attractively
modernized, but the exterior was
also refurbished and the museum
now overlooks pretty gardens
studded with fountains. The
restaurant Bokado is currently
one of the hottest in the city with
the fashionistas.
PAROUE DEL OESTE
This landscaped park is one of
Madrid s largest (98ha/242 acres)
and most attractive green spaces,
laid out at the beginning of the 20th
century to a design by the city s
head gardenel Cecilio Rodriguez.
Less fornial than the Retiro (see
below), it is one of the best places in
the city for a stroll in summer.
Visitors can walk along the leafy
pathways and avenues, admire the
Rosaleda (Rose Garden; created in
the 1950s), stop for a drink on one
of the tenace caf6s lining Paseo
de Pintor Rosales (this was the
prefened Madrid walk of US author
Ernest Hemingway) or go for a
ride on lhe telef1rico, the cable-car
linking the park with the Casa de
Campo. Also in the park
is the Egyptian Templo de Debod
Dedicated to the gods Amon and
lsis, the temple dates from the
fourth century BC. lt was installed
in Madrid in 1970, donated by the
Egyptian government in recognition
of work carried out by Spanish
archaeologists and engineers in
removing historic monuments from
Abu Simbel prior to the construction
of the Aswan Dam.

MUSEO DELTRAJE

http://museodeltraje.mcu.com

This museum is a must for anyone
interested in fashion and costume.
The collection offers a enticing
glimpse into the evolution of dress
throughout Spain’s history, from
earliest times until the present day.
Highlights include the superb, if
poignantly small, funerary outfit of
the lnfanta Dona Maria, who died
in 1235 at the age of five. Admire
a sumptuous, silvel silk-brocade
frock-coat, which dates from around
1140, and has a flaring skirt and
exquisite embroidery. The shoes are
also fascinating-impossibly tiny by
modern standards and curiously unformed.
In the 18th century, shoes.

Museothyssen
www.museothyssen.0rg

Displayed in a building specially adapted for the purpose, the collection is
arranged in chronological order to take you on a fascinating journey through
the history of Western art, from the 13th to the 20th centuries. The exhibition
has an overall coherence, making it less overwhelming than the Prado, and the
layout and clear signing make it easy to find your way around.
The tour begins on the second level, as the oldest paintings benefit most
from the low ceilings and natural light, while 2Oth-century art is found on the
ground level.

German financier and industrialist Baron HeinrichThyssen-Bornemisza began
collecting Old Masters in the 1920s, and by the time of his death in 1947 he
had acquired more than 500. His son, Hans Heinrich (who died in20021, shared
his father’s love of art and eventually diversified into modern movements,
including the 20th-century avant-garde.

ln 1988 some 775 paintings were loaned to the Spanish government, which
bought them outright five years later for the knockdown price of €350 million
(their true value was estimated at closer to €1 billion). Hans Heinrich’s wife,
Carmen Cervera, a former Miss Spain, has offered a substantial part of her own
collection of paintings to the museum.

WHAT TO SEE

THE BUILDING
The handsome 18th-century palace itself formerly belonged to the Duque
de Villahermosa, after whom it is named. lt was designed by Antonio L6pez
Aguado and is considered to be an impressive example of the Madrid neoclassical
style. The modern architect Rafael Moneo was responsible for restoring
and adapting the original palace building to the specific requirements of the
gallery in the late 1980s, and for this he won a design award from the Madrid
City Council.

SECOND LEVEL
Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoniby Ghirlandaio (Room 5l
Painted in 1488 by the Florentine master Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-94) this
is theThyssen’s most famous portrait. By the late 1sth century it had become
acceptable to portray secular subjects, and this is an idealized and serene
profile of a young girl, elaborately dressed and wearing a magnificent gown.
The text behind her back reads: ‘lf the artist had been able to portray the
character and moral qualities there would not be a more beautiful painting in
the world.

Young Knightby Garpaccio (Room 7l
One of the earliest full{ength portraits, probably painted around 1510, this
languid and beautiful young man is by the Venetian artist Vittore Carpaccio
{1460-1523). The plants, animals and figures that surround the central figure
are allegorical.

St. Jerome in the Wilderness by Titian (Room 1 1)
Painted about 1575, this is a late masterpiece by theVenetian painterTitian
(c1488-1576). lt reveals his unsurpassed handling of colour, tone and light
and is a superb example of his late work displaying clearly its almost impressionistic
brushwork.

FIRST LEVEL
Expulsion, Moon and Firelight by Thomas Gole (Room 29)
The Thyssen has one of the best collections of American painting outside the
USA and this huge landscape byThomas Cole (1801-48), a member of the
Hudson River school, perfectly highlights the vision of America as a virgin land
shared by 19th-century painters of this movement.
Les Vessenotsby Van Gogh (Room 331
Spanish museums are not, on the whole, strong on lmpressionism, but the
Thyssen’s superb collection goes far towards filling the gap. Vincent van Gogh
(1853-90) painted this vivid picture at Auvers-sur-Oise, northwest of Paris, in
the last year of his life; it displays the explosive colour and brushwork typical of
his late work.

GROUND LEVEL
Man with a Clarinet by Picasso (Room 411
This painting from Picassos Cubist period is a parallelstudy with the pictures
by Georges Braque and Piet Mondrian which hang on either side of it.

TIUSEO TACIOTIT CEIITRO DE ARTE REINAA SOFIA

Spain’s national modern art museum opened in 1992 and is the largest
exhibition space in Europe after the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Pride of place
goes to Picasso’s masterpiece, Guernica (1937), but the gallery also has an
exceptional collection of work by his contemporaries, including Juan Gris, Joan
Mi16 and Salvador Dali.
The austerity of the faqade is modified by the glass lifts (elevators), which
allow visitors a view over the rooftops. A stunning new extension, designed
by Jean Nouvel, opened in 2005. lt contains the library and is mainly used for
temporary exhibitions. The collection, in light and airy galleries, is arranged
chronologically and thematically, beginning on the second level with the
Basque and CatalSn schools of the early 20th century. Art from the post-war
period can be found on the fourth level, while the first and third levels are used
for temporary shows.

GUERNICA
The focus of the permanent collection is Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Most
visitors make a beeline for Guernica.This huge canvas was the artist’s
response to the aerial bombing of the town of Gernika-Lumo (tr 178) by the
Germans, who were allies of General Franco during the Civil War. The impact
of the painting was such that it still aroused controversy when it was first
exhibited here in 1992. A bulletproof screen was installed to protect the
painting against maverick right-wing attacks, but this was removed three years
later and visitors can now see the painting as it was meant to be seen.
Room 6 shows some of Picasso’s earlier work, including the Blue Period
painting Woman in Blue (1901).

WORKS BY OTHERARTISTS
The work of Madrid-born painter Juan Gris (1887-19211is in Room 4. The
whole of Room 7 is devoted to the CatalSn artist Joan Mir6 (1893-1983). The
artistic evolution of Salvador Dali(1904-1989)during the 1920s and 1930s is
explored in Room 10, where The Great Masturbator(1929) is representative of
his work during this period.

The post-war generation of Spanish artists is also represented, along with
European artists such as Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Max Ernst, Henry Moore
and Francis Bacon, and leading American artists Ellsworth Kelly, Barnett
Newman, Donald Judd and Bruce Naumann.

MUSEO CERRALBO
www.museocerralbo.mcu.es
When Enrique de Aguilera y
Gamboa, 17th Marquis of Cerralbo,
died in 1922, he left his palace and
its entire contents, including 30,000
works of art, archaeological objects
and curios, to the state. lt was
another 40 years, however, before it
opened to the public as a museum.
Apart from being a professional
politician, the marquis spent more
than 30 years of his life touring the
world in search of artistic treasures.
As a result, the rooms in this former
palace are crammed with furniture,
paintings, sculptures and oblefs.
the arts and insatiable collector
of paintings and objets d’art,
bequeathed his palatial home and
its contents to the state. The legacy
amounts to what must be one of the
most important private collections of
its type In the world. The collection
contains furniture, gold and silver
pieces, clocks and watches,
jewellery, various ornaments and
pieces of armour.
The Spanish paintings on display
include works by (or attributed to)
El Greco, 7urbar6n, Murillo, Claudio
Coello, Vel6zquez and Goya. There
are European paintings by Bosch,
Drlrer, Rembrandt, Van Dyck and
Rubens, and by the English artists
Reynolds, Constable, Gainsborough,
Turner and Lawrence. The museum
has recently been completely
overhauled.
Look for the 16th-century
rock-crystal cup that belonged to
Emperor Rudolph ll of Austria; the
second-century BC Celtic diadem
(headband) found at Ribadeo; and a
13th-century crozier (bishop’s staff)
from Limoges, France.

MUSEO CERRALBO
The museum is in the so-called GoldenTriangle of museums, which includes
the nearby Reina Sofia andThyssen-Bornemisza.
The main entrance to the centralVillanueva building is the Goya door at the
north end. The labyrinthine layout and continuing renovations of this vast space
result in constant room changes, so pick up a free floorplan as you enter.
Generally, however, the first level contains most of the must-see pieces, by
Vel1zquez, Goya and other major Spanish artists, while ltalian Renaissance
masters and sculpture are on the ground level. A separate exhibition space is
the revamped former Cason del Buen Retiro ballroom. ln 2007, Rafael Moneo’s
new extension, which incorporates the cloister of Los Jer6nimos, opened to
great acclaim. The new space now accommodates temporary exhibitions.
The Prado, which means ‘meadow’ in Spanish, is architecturally irnpreoorve
in its own right, built in a neoclassical style under architect Juan de Villanueva.
Although construction started in 1785, the building has been constantly
extended, most recently in 1918 and then again in the 1950s and 1960s.The
current renovation schedule has proved controversial, for although the Prado
has been notoriously under-resourced for decades, it is seen as a cultural
benchmark for Spain in general and Madrid in particular. (There was a national
scandal in 1993, when the museum’s roof developed major leaks in its key
exhibition rooms, putting the showpiec e Las Meninas at risk.) The core of
the collection was brought together over several hundred years by Spanish
royalty, in particular lsabel, CarlosV Felipe lland Felipe lV. ltwas Felipe lV
who commissioned Las Meninas and who sentVelszquez and Rubens abroad
to buy works by ltalian, Flemish and English artists. lt thus represents the
personal taste of the monarchs, making it much stronger in some areas than
others. There are also a large number of paintings here that were collected in
the late 19th century from convents and monasteries in and around the capital.
The Prado itself was established as an art gallery in 1819; it had originally been
intended as a museum for natural sciences. lt has had an eventful history, once
occupied by Napoleonic troops as a barracks, then looted by locals after they
left, and closed during the Spanish CivilWaf when its collections were sent
away for safekeeping.

Las Meninas by Veldzquez’ (Room 12)
This is court painter Veldzquez’ best-known work, painted in 1656 under the
original title of La Familia de Felipe /U which refers to the court companions
of the monarch’s children. Although the royal lnfanta Margarita is in the
middle (the work was originally intended to hang in the king’s private study),
Las Meninas is fullof endless interest, including plays on perception and
perspective, an aristocratic self-portrait placed cheekily close to royalty, and
copies of Rubens’ works within the painting. The proportions are so perfect
that Velazquez may have used a camera obscura to achieve the effect.

Black Paintings by Goya (Rooms 38 and 39)
The Pinturas Negras series of 14 works was never really meant for public
consumption, having been painted by Goya on the walls of his home after he
moved there in 1819; it was only long after his death that they were transferred
to canvas and bequeathed to the Prado. These violent and disturbing imagesincluding
TheWitches’Sabbath and Safurn Devouring One of his Sons-were
painted during Goya s later years when he was deaf. Like his Disasters of War
series and The 3rd of May 7808 (painted 1814; also in the Prado), they underline
his views on the atrocities of war and man’s inhumanity to man.

SECOND LEVEL
The Clothed Maja andThe Naked Maja by Goya (Room 891
These two matching versions of the same subject-a reclining woman, clothed
and then naked-were actually painted at different times (both c1800)and are
among Goya s most talked-about works (> 39). The sensual nature of the paintings
(the pose of the arms behind the head was a recognized sexual come-on)
attracted the attention of the lnquisition. The model was initially thought to be
the rich and powerful Duchess of Alba, with whom Goya almost certainly had a
passionate affair. Although this theory is now discounted, there is speculation
that the artist simply added a different ‘head’ to the Duchesss ‘body’. Whatever
the truth, the clothed maja (a term for a lower-class woman) was once hung
over the naked version to give a striptease effect when lifted.

MUSEO DEAMERICA

http://museodeamerica.mcu.es

This unusual museum, northwest of
central Madrid, gives a fascinating
insight into the native cultures of the
American continent as seen from a
Spanish perspective. The exhibition
is spread over two floors and divided
into five themed areas: the tools of
knowledge and understanding, from
the Age of the Dlscoveries to the
18th century; the societies as they
really were; the evolution of American
societies, from tribal communities
to nation states; religion; and
communications, from pictograms
to music. The majority of the pre-
Columbian objects on show here
were recovered in the 18th and 19th
centuries by scientists on overseas
expeditions, and the collections
embrace textiles, ceramics, tools,
weaponry, paintings and sculptures.
The Ouimbayas treasure in
Area 4 is the largest collection
of pre-Columbian goldwork ever
discovered. For most visitors, this is
the star exhibit. The collection, which
includes objects around 1,000 years
old, was donated by the Colombian
government in 1892.

Everything is exactly as the old
marquis left it, so you will also gain
an insight into the life and tastes
of a typical 19th-century Spanish
aristocrat.
The paintings on display in the
Picture Gallery and Billiard Room
include works by El Greco, Ribera,
Zurba16n, Titian, Tintoretto and
Veronese. The Ballroom is the most
opulent room in the mansion, and
is decorated with marble, mirrors
and a ceiling fresco, History of
the Dance, by M5ximo Juderias
Caballero (1867-1951). A 16thcentury
porcelain moulding of the
Nativity by ltalian sculptor Andrea
della Robbia (1435-1525) decorates
the Porcelain Room; The Ecstasy of
St. Francis by ElGreco (1541-1614)
hangs in the Sacristy (ground level);
and the marquis’ roll-top desk and
walltelephone are in the Red Room.

MADRID
Madrid sits high on a lofty plain in the very heart of Spain. This buzzy, vibrant modern capital offers visitors fantastic
opportunities for shopping, nightlife and culture, and is home to some of the finest museums in Europe. The greatest
of these is undoubtedly the Prado, newly renovated and expanded, with a magnificent collection of Old Masters.
Nearby, the fashionable Reina Sofia, also recently expanded with a sleek new annex, displays Picassos Guernica,
arguably the most important painting of the 20th century. The third museum of the so-called Golden Triangle, the
elegantThyssen-Bornemisza, offers a superb art collection which spans seven centuries.
The old kernel of the city is surprisingly small but deeply atmospheric, with a warren of narrow streets connecting
charming squares. Tucked away down hidden passages you’ll find ancient convents for blue-blooded nuns, tilelined
tapas bars, and oldjashioned restaurants serving the classic local stew cocido madrileno.To the west of the old
centre lies the glittering royal palace, the opera house, and the former royal hunting grounds of the Casa de Campo,
now a magnificent public park. The broad, busy Gran Via bisects the city from west to east, and is lined with grand
turn-of-the-20th-century buildings, most now converted into shops, cinemas and restaurants. To the north of Gran
Via lie the bohemian neighbourhoods of Chueca and Malasana, and to the south are the once-shabby, but now
rapidly gentrifying La Latina and Lavapi6s districts. The Puerta del Sol is the city’s transport hub, and the gateway to
the lively nightlife neighbourhood of Santa Ana, where historic theatres and literary haunts still survive among the
new fashionable bars and restaurants. The Parque del Retiro to the east is the city’s loveliest park, with a central
boating lake and manicured gardens. Beyond it is Salamanca, a chic district of smart avenues with elegant hotels and
expensive

IIOTASTERIO DE LAS DESCAUZAS REATES
The monastery has been a working convent since its foundation more than
400 years ago. The building was originally a palace, and in 1554 Felipe ll’s sister,
Juana de Austria, stayed here while acting as regent for her brother. She had
the palace adapted for use as a convent, and the Franciscan nuns who live here
were originally nicknamed las descalzas reales (‘the royal barefooted women’)
on account of their aristocratic backgrounds. The convent has an impressive
display of paintings, sculptures, tapestries, azulejoslpainted tiles) and gold and
silver liturgical objects. The only way to see them is on a guided tour.

OUTSTANDING FRESCOES
The Grand Staircase is one of the first stops, and one of its highlights. The
stunning frescoes that cover the walls, arches and balustrades were painted at
the end of the 17th century by Jos6 Xim6nez Donoso (1632-90) and Claudio
Coello (1642-93). To the right is the Balc6n Real (Royal Balcony), with a splendid
portrait of Felipe lV and his family. The staircase leads to the Upper Cloistel
which is surrounded by chapels. Look for the Chapel of the Virgin of Guadalupe,
which has 68 oil panels painted in 1653 by Sebastidn de Herrera Barnuevo.The
altar facing is made of wood, bronze and glass, and the statue of the Virgin,
though not the original, dates from the 16th century.

TAPESTRY ROOM
Next is the antechoir, with its late 1Sth-cenlury Virgin and Child, one of the
oldest works of art in the convent. You then go through the choir and to the
1Oth-century Redeemer’s Staircase, which leads to theTapestry Room. Here
is a superb set of 20 Brussels tapestries dating from the 17th century, not all
of which are on show. They were commissioned by the lnfanta lsabel Clara
Eugenia. The cartoons for the tapestries were prepared by Peter Paul Rubens
(1577-1640)and include the famous Triumph of the Eucharist(c16251.

PAINTINGS
The Spanish and ltalian Picture Room has an excellent collection of paintings,
among them St. Francis, attributed to Zurbar6n (1598-1664), and Ihe Tribute
Money byfitian (1490-1 576).