On 27 March 2023 the Roberto Polo Collection, the Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art of Castilla-La Mancha (CORPO) was inaugurated in the Convent of Santa Fe, annexed to the Museum of Santa Cruz. We tell you how you can visit the Roberto Polo collection in Toledo, the price of the ticket and the most important works it contains.
The convent of Santa Fe (which already deserves a visit of its own), annexed to the Museum of Santa Cruz will house from March 2023 some 250 works of the 7000 that keeps with zeal the American of Cuban origin Roberto Polo.
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Roberto Polo Collection in Toledo
The collector “discoverer of treasures” as he himself is called, nicknamed by the press as “The Eye “(The Eye) or Trendsetter (Creator of Trends) has ceded part of its collection to Castilla-La Mancha for 15 years extendable.
Presentation of the Roberto Polo Collection in Toledo (Photo: JCCM)
In the access area to the exhibition/museum there is a sculpture group of ten “guardians” of almost 4 meters of the artist Miquel Navarro. “Figures of Battle” welcome us and warn us that what we will find inside “Santa Fe” is not the kind of Art that we will find in the rest of Toledo…
What can we find in Roberto Polo’s exhibition?
While in the dozens of museums and monuments of the Imperial City we find the most classical art: El Greco, and masterpieces of medieval and ancient art, here we have an important collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, with works such as “A street in Murnau” by Kandinsky, “Sade-sit” by Max Ernst, “Groteske” by Oskar Schlemmer or “Conversations d’avocats or Deuxavocats” by Daumier…
Nine-meter Christ of Nino Longobardi sharing location with a rosary of Maria Roosen. Roberto Polo Collection (Photo: JCCM)
In the convent chapel a large piece will surprise us, a Christ of nine meters Nino Longobardi that shares location with a rosary of Maria Roosen.
The Roberto Polo collection occupies up to twelve rooms of the former convent, with a total of 250 works ranging from the historical avant-garde to the 21st century, including interwar realism, abstract and contemporary works from 1990 to the present.
Is the Roberto Polo collection in Toledo worth a visit?
In my opinion, I think it is a magnificent opportunity for Toledo and for the tourist who travels to our city to get to know its rich heritage. The arrival of this great number of works of modern art fills a very important gap that existed in Toledo, a city that was traditionally welcoming the artistic “avant-garde”, giving work to great painters, architects and sculptors. It had been years since Toledo had been a little orphaned in this sense, and it is true that a push of this level will attract another type of public that before did not stop in Toledo looking for this type of art.
The prestigious auction house Sotheby’s has endorsed this new collection, becoming part of the short list of outstanding museums in Spain such as the Prado, the Reina Sofia Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza or the Guggemheim in Bilbao, among others.
Bethlehem Chapel in the Convent of Santa Fe de Toledo
And also the Convent of Santa Fe, of Culturel Interest, deserves a visit of its own. Built on ancient Muslim ruins (probably the famous Palaces of Galiana), specifically on the ancient site of al-Hizam (also “Alficén” ), with places that until now remained closed as the Chapel of Bethlehem (a small qubba – square space covered with dome – caliphal design that was conceived during the Hispanic Muslim period as a religious site, being used as a mausoleum from the thirteenth century (see more) or as the hall of pottery, Chapel of Santa Fe, the Cloister…
In the exhibition we not only find painting, but also sculpture, furniture… (Photo: JCCM)
How to visit the Roberto Polo collection in Toledo?
- Admission to the Roberto Polo Exhibition in Toledo: 4 €. Reduced admission: €2.
- Hours: from 10 am to 6 pm, Monday to Saturday. Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Place: Convent of Santa Fe, access from the “Miradero” (where the new escalators end)
- More information in its Official Website “Roberto Polo Collection”
Photo Gallery of the Roberto Polo Collection in Toledo
