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Alterations takes a new look at the collections and spaces of the Royal Collections Gallery from the perspective of contemporary art. Designed to encourage a dialogue and highlight the mutual feedback mechanism between the historical collections and modern creativity, the show invites audiences to discover different artistic proposals that help to expand modes of presentation and narratives.

Art prompts us to question, interrogate, consider and see other points of view. This project is an invitation to generate new stories and engage in a different way with the royal collections through four interventions by contemporary artists directly related to their history and presentation in the permanent exhibition: Mateo Maté, with La niña de la espina [Girl with the Thorn], 2016, a reinterpretation of the famous Boy with the Thorn (The Spinario) by Guglielmo della Porta acquired by Philip II, which the artist has made from casts of the piece preserved at the  Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando; Diana Larrea, with three works from the series De entre las muertas [From Among the Dead], 2020, in which she explores the historical invisibility of women artists connected with the royal collections; Cristina Mejías, with the piece Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II [Double Memory, Tremble and Turn], 2022, in which she examines the oral tradition associated with the making of stringed instruments; and Cristina Lucas with Europe 1912–1945, 2015, which represents the bombing of civilians during this turbulent period through the medium of embroidery, a popular form of art for the expression of grief and a task traditionally associated with women. 

Subtly integrated with the royal collections, the four interventions broaden our horizons and generate new narratives about gender, otherness, diversity and creative freedom.

  • Opening Hours

    Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm. Sundays and Bank Holidays from 10 am to 7 pm.

  • Plano de ubicación

  • Admission

    Floor -1: Habsburgs Hall, Philip II Area. 

    Floor -2: Bourbouns Hall, Musical Room Area, Alfonso XIII Area.

    Plaza de la Armería: visits the Royal Collection Gallery and temporary exhibitions. 

  • Prices

    Included with Gallery admission

Mateo Maté

La niña de la espina [Girl with the Thorn], 2016

This sculpture is a reinterpretation of the famous Boy with the Thorn (The Spinario) by Guglielmo della Porta, itself a copy of the original piece from the first century BCE. Cardinal Ricci de Montepulciano gifted it to Philip II in 1561 and it was installed in the vaults of the Alcazar in Madrid. Maté made his piece from casts preserved in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. In the Renaissance the original statue became one of the most admired and copied works from the classical repertoire.The artist adopts a subtle new approach to the classical canon, which has shaped the ideal of western beauty since antiquity, based on copy and repetition. At first sight, the work looks like a classical copy, but closer analysis reveals the ironic transformation of the piece into an icon of subversion that explores the otherness, diversity and anti-normativity of contemporary creation to generate new narratives about gender, sexuality and authorship.

More information

La niña de la espina [Girl with the Thorn], 2016, Plaster cast, Lucía Garrido Pérez-Fernández and José David Pérez Fernández Collection. Photo: Paco Gómez La niña de la espina [Girl with the Thorn], 2016, Plaster cast, Lucía Garrido Pérez-Fernández and José David Pérez Fernández Collection. Photo: Paco Gómez La niña de la espina [Girl with the Thorn], 2016, Plaster cast, Lucía Garrido Pérez-Fernández and José David Pérez Fernández Collection. Photo: Paco Gómez Boy with the Thorn (The Spinario), Guglielmo della Porta, c. 1561, Nº inv. 10243322, Patrimonio Nacional

Diana Larrea

De entre las muertas [From Among the Dead], 2020

This project investigates the margins of art history to reinstate the forgotten genealogies of women artists. In 1950 E. H. Gombrich published The Story of Art, a seminal work of reference on the established canon for different generations of students of art all over the world. The publication, of which over eight million copies have been sold, did not include a single woman artist. Inspired by this fact, the artist selected and modified a series of self-portraits by major artists to present them to viewers as negatives, by way of false cyanotypes, in order to denounce the situation and make the formerly invisible, visible.
Alterations features the works of three women painters related to the royal collections: Sofonisba Anguissola, who worked at the Spanish court and was instrumental in the diversification of official court portraits; Lavinia Fontana, whose work was collected by Philip II for its alignment with the precepts of the Counter-Reformation; and Artemisa Gentileschi, who received commissions to decorate the new hall at the Alcazar and the Buen Retiro Palace.

More information

De entre las muertas [From Among the Dead] - Artemisia Gentileschi, Diana Larrea, 2020, Photographic print on photochemical paper De entre las muertas [From Among the Dead] - Sofonisba Anguissola, Diana Larrea, 2020, Photographic print on photochemical paper De entre las muertas [From Among the Dead] - Lavinia Fontana, Diana Larrea, 2020, Photographic print on photochemical paper Madonna of Silence, Lavinia Fontana, 1589, Nº inv. 10045145, Patrimonio Nacional, Foto: David Blázquez

Cristina Mejías

Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II [Double Memory, Tremble and Turn II], 2022

The piece forms part of the Boca y hueso [Mouth and Bone] series from 2019–2020 and explores one of the recurring themes in the artist’s work: orality as a basic transmitter of knowledge and wisdom. In this project she references handicrafts as non-regulated, outside-the-canon activities in the empirical transmission of trades, techniques and secrets from master to apprentice for the manufacture of objects that preserve the soul of the artisan who made them. 
The artist immersed herself in her brother’s guitar-making workshop and borrowed the techniques and materials used to fashion those instruments to create a series of sculptures in which exotic wood species are assembled and glued with precision and apparent fragility to investigate the divergences in the creative processes of handicrafts as well as in contemporary creation, subjectivity, anti-normativity and gender, given that the makers of stringed instruments have traditionally been male.

More information

Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II [Double Memory, Tremble and Turn II], Cristina Mejías, 2022, Mixed media. Assemblage. Private collection Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II [Double Memory, Tremble and Turn II], Cristina Mejías, 2022, Mixed media. Assemblage. Private collection Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II [Double Memory, Tremble and Turn II], Cristina Mejías, 2022, Mixed media. Assemblage. Private collection Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II [Double Memory, Tremble and Turn II], Cristina Mejías, 2022, Mixed media. Assemblage. Private collection Guitar, Juan Riudavets, 1818, Nº inv. 10011903, Patrimonio Nacional

Cristina Lucas

Europe 1912-1945, 2017

The work forms part of the Tufting series and is the outcome of the research conducted by the artist in El rayo que no cesa, [Unending Lightening], 2017, a visual archive that presents a timeline of all the aerial bombings with civilian victims that took place between 1913, the year aviation was first used for combat purposes, and 2017. In this series, the works adopt the form of textile cartographies, maps of atrocity, in which black embroidery indicates the places bombed from the air with loss of civilian lives. Sometimes, the quantity of data is so great that it produces a blot, a deep crease symbolising the scar of the wounded territory. These anti-maps generate a type of memorial in honour of the innocent victims. Embroidery, a popular form of art used to express grief and a task traditionally performed by women, is juxtaposed with the male component associated with the destruction and cruelty of warfare. 

More information

Europe 1912 –1945, Cristina Lucas, 2017, Embroidered textile, Courtesy of Galería Albarrán Bourdais Aviador alemán en combate, BUFA, 1917-1978, Archivo General de Palacio, Nº inv. 10105249, Patrimonio Nacional Panorámica de un dirigible de gran volumen aterrizando en una pista en territori o enemigo, BUFA, 1917-1918, Archivo General de Palacio, Nº inv. 10104706, Patrimonio Nacional Las ruinas de Yprés: tomadas a una altura de 6000 mts. desde un avión de inspección, BUFA, 1917-1918, Archivo General de Palacio, Nº inv. 10107322, Patrimonio Nacional Vista aérea de una población bombardeada, anónimo, h. 1917, Archivo General de Palacio, Nº inv. 10108814, Patrimonio Nacional La ciudad de San Quintín en pleno bombardeo de la ciudad, BUFA, 1917-1918, Archivo General de Palacio, Nº inv. 10104952, Patrimonio Nacional Estado ruinoso de los edificios de la Rue de París en la localidad de San Quintin, BUFA, 1914-1918, Archivo General de Palacio, Nº inv. 10105309, Patrimonio Nacional

Fotografías de la instalación

Instalación La niña de la espina, Mateo Maté, 2016, junto al Niño de la espina, Guglielmo della Porta, h. 1561. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Detalle de la instalación de La niña de la espina, Mateo Maté, 2016, junto al Niño de la espina, Guglielmo della Porta, h. 1561. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Detalle de la instalación de La niña de la espina, Mateo Maté, 2016, junto al Niño de la espina, Guglielmo della Porta, h. 1561. © Foto: Héctor Pérez De entre las muertas, Diana Larrea, 2020. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Instalación De entre las muertas, Diana Larrea, 2020. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Instalación De entre las muertas, Diana Larrea, 2020. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Instalación de Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II, Cristina Mejías, 2022, en el ámbito del Gabinete musical. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Instalación de Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II, Cristina Mejías, 2022, en el ámbito del Gabinete musical. © Foto: Héctor Pérez Recuerdo doble, temblor y vuelco II, Cristina Mejías, 2022. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Instalación Europe 1912-1945, 2017, Cristina Lucas, en el ámbito de Alfonso XIII. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Instalación Europe 1912-1945, 2017, Cristina Lucas, en el ámbito de Alfonso XIII. © Foto: Javier Díez de Prado Instalación Europe 1912-1945, 2017, Cristina Lucas, en el ámbito de Alfonso XIII. © Foto: Héctor Pérez

Authors and Collectors

Fontana, Lavinia
The Author

Fontana, Lavinia

(Bolonia, 1552 - Roma, 1614)

Lavinia Fontana (Bolonia, bautizada el 24 de agosto de 1552-Roma, 11 de agosto de 1614) fue una pintora italiana del primer barroco o manierismo tardío. Fue una de las pintoras más importantes de su época, dirigió su propio taller y fue pintora oficial de la corte del papa Clemente VIII. El catálogo de su obra es bastante extenso, se tiene constancia de 135 obras suyas, aunque sólo se conservan 32 fechadas y firmadas.

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Oficina de la Guerra Europea (1915-1921)
The Author

Oficina de la Guerra Europea (1915-1921)

(1915 - 1921)

La Oficina Pro Cautivos, también llamada Oficina de la Guerra Europea, fue una institución fundada por el rey Alfonso XIII de España en 1915 para intentar localizar a civiles y soldados apresados y desaparecidos en la I Guerra Mundial y hacer lo posible por mejorar su situación y ponerlos en contacto con sus familias o intentar repatriarlos.

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Philip II
Monarch

Philip II

(Valladolid, 1527 - El Escorial (Madrid), 1598)

The eldest son of Charles I of Spain and V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-1558) and Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539), the future Philip II was educated by his tutor, Juan de Zúñiga, by Cardinal Silíceo, his teacher of elementary education and confessor, and by Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, who provided his pupil with a humanist education. Prince Philip’s political apprenticeship commenced in 1543, when he first replaced his father, Charles I, as Governor of Spain. In 1548, the heir to the Crown set out on a long tour of northern Italy, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, thus visiting some of the territories that he would rule over in the future.Married four times, Philip II's wives were María Manuela de Portugal...

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Ferdinand VII
Monarch

Ferdinand VII

(El Escorial (Madrid), 1784 - La Granja (Segovia), 1833)

The ninth of fourteen children born to Charles IV (1748-1819) and Maria Luisa of Parma (1751-1819), the future Ferdinand VII was sworn in as Prince of Asturias before the Cortes on 23rd September 1789, following the successive deaths of his older brothers. The Prince’s early years were spent under the tutelage of his caretaker, the Marquess of Santa Cruz, and his successive tutors, of whom the best known were Canon Escóiquiz and his teacher, Father Cristóbal Bencomo. As part of his education, Prince Ferdinand studied philosophy, grammar and Latin, as well as being introduced to music and drawing, the latter being taught by the painter Antonio Carnicero. Married four times, Ferdinand VII's wives were Princess María Antonia of Naples and...

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Alfonso XIII
Monarch

Alfonso XIII

(Madrid, 1886 - Roma (Italia), 1941)

The last of three sons born to Alfonso XII (1857-1885) and his second wife, the Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (1858-1929), Alfonso XIII was King at birth, due to his father's death on 25th November 1885. His mother, Queen Maria Christina ruled as Regent of Spain until 1902. The education of the child King was supervised by General Sanchiz and he was placed in the charge of, among others, the Jesuit priest José Fernández Montaña and the prestigious jurist Vicente Santamaría Paredes, who was his teacher of Constitutional Law. The King was proclaimed of age after he swore allegiance to the Constitution on 17th May 1902.On 31st May 1906, he was married to Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (1887-1969),...

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Organised by: Patrimonio Nacional

Sponsored by: Empty

Curator: Antonio J. Sánchez Luengo

Artists: Diana Larrea, Cristina Lucas, Mateo Maté, Cristina Mejías

Coordinators: Mónica Bueno Ortega y María Auxiliadora López

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