Inaugurated on Tuesday 23 January by Regional President José María Barreda at the Santa Cruz Museum until 30 June 2007, ‘Hispania Gothorum. San Ildefonso and the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo’ reveals the historical and cultural context in which San Ildefonso lived. The 7th century was the most splendid period of the Visigothic kingdom of Toledo, a period little known to the general public and which, however, was of decisive importance in the subsequent development of the history of Spain.
The exhibition makes a complete review of the most relevant aspects that make up Hispanic society in those centuries, their relations, the role of minorities, their economy, currency, law, the role of the Visigoth Church and the importance of the Councils toledanos etc…
In addition, it devotes an extensive section to dealing with the image of San Ildefonso in the history of Spanish art through its best known iconography.
Nearly 700 works on loan from 119 lenders, including such outstanding institutions as the National Archaeological Museum, the Prado Museum and Toledo Cathedral, form part of this montage that includes an enormous wealth of archaeological pieces that will reveal the lifestyles of Visigothic Spain.
Among them are almost the entire ‘ Tesoro del Guarrazar ‘ and ‘Tesoro de Torredonjimeno’ and numerous pieces of dazzling Visigothic goldsmithery. On the other hand, the iconography of San Ildefonso includes works by great masters such as El Greco, Zurbarán, Juan de Borgoña, Eugenio Cajés, Luis de Carvajal, Blas de Prado, Antonio de Pereda and Antonio del Castillo.
Organized by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, through the public company Don Quijtote 2005, on the occasion of the celebration of the XIV Centenary of the birth of the saint, has a completely free entrance, and we can see some pieces taken from the site “Vega Baja” in Toledo.
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Although the contents are very rich, we must comment that the exhibition space has a small defect: the texts of many descriptive plates are quite difficult to read, given the scarce illumination that many sections present. A small error which we hope will be corrected but which does not prevent the exhibition as a whole from being an exceptional opportunity to contemplate excellent pieces scattered throughout the national territory.
Data of interest:
Free entrance. From 23 January to 30 June 2007.
Schedules:
- Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 8 pm.
- Sundays and public holidays from 10 am to 2 pm.
- Telephone for guided tours for groups and educational centres: 628 268 461.
- Museum of Santa Cruz, C/. Cervantes, sn.
