Madrid, Spain
This morning, I headed out with my art class to the Royal Palace, which is on Orient Square. It was begun by Felipe V, the first Bourbon king, and took 30 years to build. It’s made of granite and white stone from the mountains. And here’s the kicker: it has more than 2800 rooms.
The first room I saw was the Salon de Alabarderos, who formed the royal guard. The fresco on the ceiling was done by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
The second room was the Salon de Columnas, or hall of columns. This was done in a rococo style and was used for royal ceremonies and banquets until 1899. The fresco was done by Corrado Giaquinto. Interesting fact: On October 30,1991, this room was the site of the Middle East Peace Conference.
The third room I visited was the throne room. The thornes in this room are symbolic – the king and queen don’t really use them. The fresco was done by Giovanni Battista Natale (OK I’ll stop telling you – can you tell I’m in love with frescos? Don’t be surprised if the next time you come over, I’ve painted my ceilings). The chandeliers in this room were made in Italy, with silver and rock crystal. The canopy is gold on velvet. (Why oh why did we do away with frescoes and gold on velvet and decide that paisley and splatter paint were better choices?)
One of the rooms I visited was the Porcelain Room. In the 18th century, Spanish porcelain was considered the best in the world, and was known as “white gold”. Another room boasts the only Stradivarious Quartet – still played twice a year at private concerts! That’s right, not one, not two, not even three – *four* stradivarious originals.
For those with a morbid bent, you may be interested to know that in the royal chapel, there’s a glass case with the mummy of Saint Felix. I learned on this trip that it is very Catholic to keep bodies – or parts of bodies – of saints. These are typically housed in glass cases for viewing and called relics.
After the Royal Palace, I bopped next door the the Catedral de la Almudena, which had a free art exhibition themed around the immaculate conception.
Today I also went to El Corte Ingles to pick up some toothpaste and I ran into a cousin of somone you P&Gers might be familiar with… Don Limpio! =)
