Weaving Courtly Life. Textiles and embroideries from the Royal Collections

Textiles played an important role, both as an element of decoration and display in palace rooms, and as an object of elevated symbolic significance for the representation of power.
This section addresses the ornamentation and creation of exquisite sets of textiles for decorating a single room intended for private, leisure or intimate functions through the use of wall coverings, curtains and window valances, and furniture upholstery, elements collectively known as "hangings." Carpets, seen as paths of silk and wool, also played a prominent role in the ornamentation of the most important rooms in Spanish royal palaces, in addition to increasing the comfort of these spaces.
Textiles also functioned as an element that denoted power. Canopy borders, heraldic panels, chairs and thrones, table covers, cushions, pillows, and in particular canopies immediately indicated the place of the sovereign, functioning as objects that were used from an early date for the construction of political semiotics, in the service of propaganda and the expression of the ideology of power.

As a fundamental part of furnishings, fabric was not only a display of power in the public sphere but also adorned the monarchs’ most private rooms with the same pomp and splendour to be found in official spaces.
Bed hangings, bedspreads and quilts were created for Spanish royal palaces to match the wall coverings, thus contributing to daily comfort and rest while also adding an element of sumptuousness. The bed canopy, which functioned not only to retain heat but also to emphasise the royal status of the individual sleeping beneath it, became the most prominent element of this type of decoration.
The two beds in this exhibition, made by the most skilled craftsmen in the royal workshops for the visit of Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma to Barcelona in 1802, exemplify two of the most common types of this furniture: the "column bed" and the "Polonaise bed," the latter designed to be aligned parallel to the wall. These two magnificent objects are displayed here alongside embroideries sent from China for the King Consort Francis of Assisi, which were never used, and a military camp bed, an example of daily life in the army during the nineteenth century.

A traditional saying declares that "before the King an upholsterer always arrives", an expression that can be considered valid from the sixteenth century if not earlier to the present day.
The Tapestry and Upholstery Office, the activities, components, organisation and expenses of which have been documented since 1502, has been responsible since that date for the creation of all the upholstery, canopies, prayer stools, carpets, beds, pillows and cushions, hangings and furnishing fabrics of all types with which the royal palaces were to be equipped, ensuring their proper care and conservation and installing everything that the king ordered, according to the seasonal movements of the court or “Royal Sojourns", the trips and the ceremonies to be organised.
Working under the orders of the head of the Tapestry and Upholstery Office were a large number of assistants, deputy assistants, tapestry repairers, workshop boys, junior staff and installers, reflecting a strict hierarchy that was successively regulated throughout the Early Modern Age.
In the present day, Patrimonio Nacional still undertakes these historical tasks, in addition to the new responsibilities of research, restoration and preventive conservation of all the historical items that constituted the old Royal Tapestry and Upholstery Office and which are now part of the Spanish Royal Collections.

In a more intimate sphere but also relevant to the configuration of the royal image, the Office of the Palace Wardrobe was a dynamic service, hierarchically structured and staffed by individuals with a range of skills who were responsible for the care of the clothes and accessories worn by the Royal Family, in the creation of which a myriad of artists and artisans were involved, from tailors to seamstresses, embroiderers, lacemakers, furriers, shoemakers and hatters and milliners.
It is easy to imagine the enormous amounts of money invested in ceremonial and everyday clothing during the different reigns. This can be confirmed, particularly in the case of some monarchs, through the documentation and samples housed in the General Palace Archive.
While this section presents a diverse collection of ceremonial robes and clothing accessories that belonged to Spanish monarchs, it also aims to highlight the more private aspect of their personal care, comprising the toilette and elements associated with it. These little-known items for everyday use include bath tubs and the textiles that embellished the dressing room of Queen Maria Luisa of Parma.