the collection of luxurious stickers that Felipe VI already has

This happens with Christopher Columbus or with Maria Pitaand with many other figures in Spanish history, whose physical appearance, the face, is an enigma. Of the Genoese admiral, the man who discovered the New World, only descriptions of his aquiline nose and reddish skin survive, but no contemporary portrait, only idealized afterimages. And not to mention the anonymous heroine of La Coruña, the woman, one among many, who, with her bravery, helped to repel in 1589 a very large English army led, among others, by the infamous pirate Francis Drake.

The adventures of Columbus and María Pita, out of a total of 60 historical figures linked to the four centuries of life of the Spanish Empireare now being relaunched in a form and format never seen before: printed on stickers and as if a photograph had been taken of them in their time. A surprising and daring project baptized with the title of Empire Qromoa juicy treat for collectors and history buffs.

This is not a normal sticker collection, but rather a luxurious, limited and exclusive set: A qromo It is printed on 400 micron stainless steel to increase its visual value and on each of the sixty characters available so far – the idea is to launch more seasons – there is only 2,492 copies numbered. The first series of all was sent to Zarzuela and is already in the power of the king. Philip VI.

But what undoubtedly attracts the most attention is the hyperrealistic image of the protagonists: a rigorous artistic recreation made by the illustrator David Serrano and a multidisciplinary team using artificial intelligence tools. Aware of the perversions that these new technologies can cause in the generation of images of the past, every detail is taken care of and examined with the greatest possible rigor thanks to the collaboration of experts in weapons, clothing and musical instruments from the four centuries covered by the collection.

“We wanted to imagine what these characters might have looked like, whose visual material was very poor. Based on the information available, we tried to recreate this image of ordinary people: It’s like we took a picture of them.“, explains Fernando Álvarez Prieto, director of Qromo Imperium and alma mater of the “project/madness”, in his own words. The appearance of some, like Francisco de Goya, of whom there are reliable portraits, will not be as surprising as that of those who were only visual shadows: who would have imagined María Pita with her white complexion so well cared for or Jerónimo de Ayanz, the genius of the Tercios who invented the steam engine a century before the English, as a clone of the actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau? This is perhaps one of the least credible things about it. qromos is that almost all the numbers, even Blas de Lezothey have a certain appeal.

Each card includes the date of birth and death of the character, the section to which he belongs – epics, bastions (those who contributed to the development and survival of the Spanish Empire), geniuses and forgotten -, the current flag corresponding to his nation of origin, half a dozen significant features – relevant data for a future game on which they did not want to reveal more information for the moment – or a map of his area of ​​influence.

On the back, a QR code leads to a biography of the protagonist made by popularizers and writers José Luis Hernández Garvi and Melquíades Prieto. The novelty is that it is an audio narrative that summarizes the exploits and importance of soldiers, civil servants, artists, scientists or religious people in approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Although this material is only accessible directly from each card, it is the first audio library of key figures of the Hispanic monarchy.

“Nothing like this has ever been done in Spain or anywhere else in the world. It’s a very original way of making our history known,” explains José Luis Hernández Garvi from an exceptional location, the cistern hidden under the restaurant La Botillería, in the heart of the Plaza de Oriente, where a glass floor reveals the remains of the old wall of Madrid and 19th-century amphorae. “It’s a way for young boys to begin to have access to the history of their country with historical rigor: We didn’t hide anything, everyone has lights and shadows“We wanted to give a more peaceful vision of the Spanish Empire, without trauma or complexes,” emphasizes Álvarez Prieto.

The exclusivity of the collection – each of the qromos is engraved and marked with the number of one of the 2,492 series – this will make exchanges very difficult – the number of images of Captain Ambrosio Spínola or Juana Inés de la Cruz is limited – “We would have loved to put this in envelopes and sell it on newsstands, but it was not viable”, admits the project director. The price of the complete collection, plus a delicate album made with a special material, is 540 eurosbut sets of four can be purchased qromos for €42.83.

The launch of multiple seasons will allow for the micro-stories of many more characters to be explored, but in this initial selection, its promoters have tried to prioritize diversity: only one monarch has been included, Isabelle the Catholic– and look for “ordinary people.” Melquíades Álvarez highlights the case of Ana Caro de Mallén, a prominent playwright of the Golden Age despite her status as a slave who made her fortune publishing a series of newsletters on Madrid society. Hernández Garci chooses Domingo Badía, a spy in the service of Charles IV who tried to infiltrate the Arab world to improve trade relations with his king. Some unique cards to collect and learn history at the same time.