There are exhibitions that confront Julio Romero de Torres with contemporary works from the Telefónica collection and the one that brought works by Ignacio Zuloaga, but the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Cordovan painter also reaches other spaces, such as the Viana Palace.
This Tuesday the monument opened the open doors of its Treasure Room, where you can enter for free to see the four works by Julio Romero de Torres that are part of its collectionand that your visitors can know it.
These are paintings that he acquired Cajasur in the 1980s and, as the director of the foundation recalls, Leopoldo Izquierdosummarizes several creative stages of the painter.
The one that attracts the most attention is “La Saeta”, a large iconic work that represents the moment of maturity based on the painting by Julio Romero de Torres. “When he left Córdoba, the tile that is in the Plaza dels Capuchins was made because people wanted him to continue here in one way or another,” explained Leopoldo Izquierdo.
“La Saeta” is a work produced between 1917 and 1918 in which Julio Romero de Torres already shows all the force of his symbolism. As its name suggests, it is based on a sung prayer: “Christ of Grace“I ask you / to look back / to give sight to the blind / and to give freedom to the prisoners.”
Above, “Mystical love, profane love”, exhibited in Viana. Below, portraits of Antonio Muñoz Gassin and Salvadora Pérez
In the foreground there is a woman dressed in a Spanish mantilla who sings while kneeling on a kneeler, and around her there are people who represent problems that lead them to pray. There is an old man blind and a young man with chains who represent those mentioned in the arrow, but also a poor woman and a young woman with crutches.
In the background, a scene from Holy Week in Cordoba with two steps: the Christ of Grace and the Virgin of Sorrowsin one of the three representations that the painter made, both with a large procession of candles, in a scene full of flavors of the city, which has made the canvas still very popular.
Different stages
It was purchased at auction, just like “Mystical love, profane love”an earlier painting, dating from around 1908, in blue tones, also with a strong symbolic character. Two women appear, one dressed in black in a religious attitude and the other in a more popular outfit, recreating the dichotomy of the title.
The background, as is the case in certain works by Julio Romero de Torres, also presents interesting elements: we see a woman kneeling in front of a coffinin a cemetery that has an empty niche.
From the first scene are exhibited two portraits dating from around 1900, in which the couple formed by Antonio Munoz Gassinwho was mayor of Córdoba, and Salvadora Pérez, whose son was a friend of the painter. He does not yet have the style that he showed in his mature works, and that is why they are interesting, underlined Leopoldo Izquierdo.
The works belonging to the Cajasur Foundation can be seen at the open doors until this Sunday, November 10, during the usual opening hours of the Viana Palace, that is to say from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. From there we will have to follow the regular visit of the monument with entrance.
