SALAMANCA MUSEUM (Fine Arts)

The current Museum of Salamanca is housed in the magnificent Abarca-Alcaraz palace-house, located on a plot of land between Fray Luis de León square and the Patio de Escuelas. It is also known as the Casa de los Doctores de la Reina (House of the Queen's Doctors) because several members of this family held the title of physicians to the Catholic Monarchs.

The building was commissioned by Fernán Álvarez Abarca, physician to Queen Isabella, who, after her death, became physician to her daughter, Queen Joanna. Álvarez Abarca played a significant role at the University of Salamanca, holding the Prima chair in the Faculty of Medicine. Together with his wife, Beatriz de Alcaraz, he erected this splendid palace at the beginning of the 16th century. From their marriage, Ana Abarca was born, who married Francisco Maldonado, a famous Comunero captain executed after the Battle of Villalar in 1521. It is believed that Ana Abarca inspired Fray Luis de León to write The Perfect Wife.

From an architectural point of view, the Casa de los Abarca stands as a prominent example of civil architecture from the time of the Catholic Monarchs. Its design corresponds to the model of a fortified tower house, organized around a simple trapezoidal courtyard. The courtyard, with two bodies of galleries, displays the coats of arms of the Abarca-Alcaraz family on the parapets of the upper gallery. Its spectacular façade makes it a jewel of the civil architecture of the era. The ornamentation of its façade intertwines elements characteristic of late Gothic and early Renaissance styles, creating a unique and harmonious aesthetic. The decoration of the windows and the presence of the coats of arms of the Catholic Monarchs and the Abarca-Alcaraz family, which enhance its historical and stately character, stand out.

The house passed through different members of the family. In the 17th century and part of the 18th century, it was inhabited by the students of the Order of Alcántara—whose memory still endures in the "vítores" on the façade—; in the 19th century, it was occupied by the Augustinian friars while they rebuilt their convent after the War of Independence. By the mid-20th century, it was rented out as a tenement house. In 1946, the Casa de los Abarca was acquired by the State, which installed the Museum of Salamanca there.

The Museum of Salamanca opened its doors in 1848 with a collection of pieces rescued from convents suppressed by Mendizábal's Disentailment. Throughout its already long history, it has occupied various locations: the cloister of the Convent of San Esteban, the Anaya Palace, and temporarily between 1970 and 1974, the Casa de las Conchas. Finally, in 1948, it found its definitive home in the Casa de los Doctores de la Reina. In the 1980s, the building was expanded to incorporate the space occupied by several adjacent houses. This allowed the museum to be equipped with a temporary exhibition hall, library, study room, restoration workshop, and small storage facilities. Access to the Temporary Exhibition Hall is from Calle Serranos. It is worth noting that two magnificent coffered ceilings from the Convent of Las Dueñas in Salamanca and the Monastery of Santa Isabel de Alba de Tormes were incorporated into the building.

The Salamanca Museum consists of two buildings: one historic and one recently constructed. The old part corresponds to the 16th-century palace, known as the House of the Queen's Doctors, which underwent extensive renovation in the 20th century to adapt it to its new use as a museum. In the 1980s, the premises were expanded with new spaces built over the residences located to the north of the palace.

Its collections are organized into three sections: Fine Arts, Archaeology and Ethnology. The first is mainly composed of works from disentailed convents that were recovered by the Provincial Commission of Monuments; it also features numerous works on deposit from the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía National Museum. Archaeological objects have been recovered from excavations and surveys carried out in various parts of the province, while the Ethnology section is nourished by acquisitions and donations from private individuals.

The permanent collections are exhibited in the historic building, while the prehistory and ethnography exhibitions are located in a section of the modern building.

Every corner of this museum is an open door to the history, art, and identity of Salamanca, an invitation to discover its cultural richness.

Access is from the Patio de Escuelas. After crossing the hall, where the ticket offices are located, the museum tour begins in the garden, which marks the start of the visit:

GARDEN In the garden of the Casa de los Abarca, some Iberian boars and Roman stelae from various towns in the western part of the province can be seen.

ETHNOLOGY COLLECTION. • On the ground floor of the extension, a recreation of a forge is displayed with original elements from two forges in Tremedal and La Tala.

ARCHAEOLOGY SECTION • In display cases, objects from archaeological excavations and surveys carried out in sites across the province are exhibited in chronological order. The chronological span covers from the Paleolithic period to practically the present day.

From this small room, we will proceed to the old building, where the permanent art exhibition is installed. Descending the staircase, we will reach the courtyard from which we will head to the hall, or main entrance of the building, to begin the visit to the permanent collection:

HALL • In the hall, a Churrigueresque Baroque altarpiece made between 1697 and 1704 by Bernardo de Carbajal has been placed. The original panels are missing, and in their place, several panel paintings by an unknown Castilian painter from the mid-16th century have been installed. • Altar canvas depicting Saint Rose of Viterbo, a late 17th-century work signed by Sebastián Gómez.

LOWER GALLERY OF THE COURTYARD Around the lower gallery of the courtyard are arranged interesting sculptures and architectural elements from vanished buildings of the city. • A marble fragment that was part of the altarpiece of the chapel of the disappeared Colegio Mayor de Oviedo, which was destroyed by French troops during the War of Independence. This marble fragment represents Saint Toribius of Mogrovejo and was carved in 1756 by Luis Salvador Carmona. • Magnificent 16th-century lintel with the coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs. • Fragments of an alabaster tomb from the late 14th century adorned with passages from the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. • Under the staircase, a monumental door with Plateresque decoration attributed to Juan de Álava is displayed.

ROOM I This courtyard provides access to Room I, dedicated to the 15th and 16th centuries. • A 14th-century Mudejar polychrome truss ceiling has been adapted here, originating from the houses that Juan Sánchez de Sevilla owned in Salamanca and where the convent of Las Dueñas de Salamanca would later be built. • The room is presided over by a small Hispano-Flemish altarpiece from the late 15th century dedicated to Mary Magdalene. • Of singular value is the panel of Saint Andrew, attributed to Juan de Flandes. • “Lamentation over the Dead Christ,” a notable oil on canvas by Luis de Morales. • Among the works in this room, a serge on panel depicting the appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene stands out. • Panel of “Saint Ursula with the Eleven Thousand Virgins.”

ROOMS II, III, IV, and V: The remaining rooms on the ground floor and mezzanine are dedicated to 17th-century Baroque painting.

ROOM II: 17th-century Baroque works • Two large canvases of the Immaculate Conception stand out, one by Andrea Vaccaro and another attributed to José Jiménez Donoso. • The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, a quality copy of another on the same theme by Ribera. • Two paintings attributed to Pedro Orrente, belonging to the series of Jacob and Abraham, are interesting. • In the center of the room, the recumbent statue of a knight of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem is displayed, possibly dating from the early 16th century and originating from the church of San Juan Bautista de Bárbalos.

ROOM III: 17th-century works by anonymous authors and unknown provenance of religious theme: • Four head studies representing the Doctors of the Latin Church, following Ribera-esque tenebrist models. • The most notable work is a painting depicting the blessed and Carthusian martyr Nicolás Albergato, painted by Francisco Camilo in the 17th century. • A canvas depicting Saint Peter of Alcántara in an praying position, signed by Alonso de Mesa, stands out. • Sculpture of “Christ of Humility and Patience,” • Canvas of “Christ Presenting the World to the Father.”

ROOM IV • Works by Flemish and Dutch masters and Italian school paintings (copies of Correggio and Sassoferrato) from the 16th and 17th centuries have been arranged. Most of them are deposits from the Prado Museum, and many were part of Isabella Farnese's private collection.

ROOM V: • The carving of Saint John the Baptist stands out, attributed to Esteban de Rueda, and which may have belonged to the disappeared altarpiece of the church of San Martín in Salamanca, executed between 1621 and 1633. • Canvas depicting Friar Íñigo de Brizuela, from the chapter house of the convent of San Esteban, which he ordered to be built. • Anonymous canvas of Saint Barbara, a copy of Zurbarán's, which is in the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville. • Judith with the Head of Holofernes, a copy of Guido Reni.

UPPER GALLERY: • Throughout the upper galleries, paintings and sculptures by contemporary artists are displayed.

ROOM VI: Art of the 18th to 20th centuries The first part of the room houses works from the 18th and 19th centuries, among which two canvases attributed to Lucas Jordán stand out. Space has been reserved for local painters Antonio Alonso Villamor and Simón Peti, representatives of the modest artistic environment of the time. Among the most notable pieces are: • A magnificent Hispano-Philippine ivory crucifix. • A sculptural group of the Holy Family, made of alabaster, identical to another preserved in the convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid. • A silver statuette of Saint Michael, a work by Antonio Vaccaro. • Saint John of Sahagún dressed as a college student, painted by Francisco Gutiérrez. • A set of 18th-century painted leather folding chairs (sillas jamuga), from the Colegio Mayor Fonseca. • A portrait of Saint Francis de Sales, painted by Francisco Bayeu. • Five hunting angels in Cuzco style, which add a unique touch to the collection.

The room also exhibits important works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including: • Two portraits of the Marquise of Pazo de la Merced, one by Federico de Madrazo and another by José Moreno Carbonero. • Several landscapes by Carlos Haes. • Works by local painters Antonio Carnero and Vidal González Arenal. • A portrait of Miguel de Unamuno, painted by Juan de Echevarría. • "At Twelve O'Clock," painting by Valentín de Zubiaurre. • Landscapes by Aurelio García Lesmes, Timoteo Pérez Rubio, and the Salamancan Francisco Núñez Losada, which reflect the pictorial character of their time.

ROOM VII The room, located on the noble floor of the Casa de los Abarca, offers a privileged view of the Plaza de Fray Luis de León and is dedicated to contemporary art. It exhibits works by prominent contemporary artists, with a notable representation of artists from Salamanca. Among the most outstanding pieces are: • The Hippopotamus sculpture, by Bejarano Mateo Hernández. • El fuerte de la Concepción (The Fortress of the Conception), by Florencio Maíllo. • Maternity, by Venancio Blanco. • As a tribute to Miguel de Unamuno, the room houses a canvas depicting him walking along the Zamora road by Cecilia Martín and a small sculpture of his head, a work by artist Moisés Huerta.