Spain and the Hispanic World Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library

Diego Velázquez, Portrait of a Little Girl, ca. 1638-1642, The Hispanic Museum & Library, New York.

Founded in New York in 1904, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library is home to the most extensive collection of Spanish art outside of Spain. This exhibition presents over 150 objects from its collection to provide an overview of Spanish and Hispanic art and culture from the ancient world to the early 20th century. It includes works by El Greco, Zurbarán, Velázquez and Goya as well as sculptures, paintings, silk textiles, ceramics, lustreware, silverwork, precious jewellery, maps, drawings, illuminated manuscripts and stunning decorative lacquerware from Latin America. Presented for the first time in the UK, it offers visitors a chance to trace the great diversity of cultures and religions – from Celtic to Islamic, Jewish and Christian – that have shaped and enriched what we today understand as Spanish culture.

The exhibition features the famous World Map of 1526 by Giovanni Vespucci, and culminates with Sorolla’s colourful, large-scale study for his monumental series of 14 paintings, Vision of Spain.