Countdown to the opening to see some of Goya’s most recognized pieces in one of Zaragoza’s architectural jewels. Carefully transported and following the strictest security protocols, some of the oil paintings on canvas and other works from the Goya’s art gallery in Zaragoza are now on display. Zaragoza Museum were already placed this morning in the Throne Room, the Pedro IV room or the Deliberations room. There will be a total of seven rooms in the monumental zone of the Aljafería Palace those that as of December 5 will host the exhibition “Goya. From the Museum to the Palace“. It will be that same day when it opens to the general public after an inauguration by the institutions on December 4.
The general director of Culture of the Government of Aragon, Pedro Olloqui and the technical responsible for the exhibition on behalf of the Cortes de Aragon, Arancha Echeverría-Torres, have presented this Tuesday the progress of an exhibition that will be, at least, for two years at the Palacio de La Aljafería. Last October, the museographic installation and the technical adaptation of the rooms where the exhibition will be located (Pedro IV Room, the temporary exhibition space, the Santa Isabel and Taujel rooms, as well as the Lost Steps, the Deliberations Room and the noble space of the Throne Room) were carried out and the works are currently being installed.
“Goya. From the Museum to the Palace” proposes a pictorial journey through the different stages of the artist from Fuendetodos.from his beginnings in Zaragoza to his work as a court painter and his stay in Italy. The works come from the collections of the Museum of Zaragoza (closed for works), although there are also 18 loose prints from the CAI Foundation. Highlights include, for example, two notebooks with original engravings exhibited for the first time or the portraits of María Luisa de Parma or Carlos IV, property of the Prado Museum.
“It is the first time in history that the architecture of a place declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO dialogues with the works of our most universal painter.. It is a unique exhibition that can be enjoyed here for two years,” said Arancha Echeverría-Torres, the technical manager of the exhibition on behalf of the Cortes de Aragón. In addition to this, one of the great attractions of the exhibition is that it will be traveling.
From March of next year and with a rotation every four or five months, the exhibition will be enriched with works from different museum spaces in Spain that will be “surprises”. “We have this section of itinerant works in which the public will be able to discover new works from other museums that will rotate throughout the two years of the exhibition. In this way, in addition to seeing these works from the Zaragoza Museum, the public will be able to contemplate new works,” said Echeverría-Torres.
Tickets for the exhibition will soon be available for sale on the Aljafería Palace website.. These will be priced at 7 euros for the normal ticket and 9 euros for the ticket with guided tour.. The exhibition will be open from 10.00 to 18.00 hours and there will be two types of tickets, the complete visit to La Aljafería with all the rooms included or only to the Goya exhibition and, therefore, to the monumental area of the palace.
In addition, as reported, cultural and dissemination activities are being prepared so that the public can get to know this unique exhibition. The welcome to the exhibition will be given by the well-known bust of Benlliure in the Pedro IV room and an audiovisual in the Pedro IV room and, from there, a chronological tour will begin with pieces of that young Goya but also of his maturity.
AN EXHIBITION TO GET TO KNOW GOYA AND HERITAGE
The Throne Room will be one of the most emblematic places, as it will be where the portraits of the kings Charles IV and Maria Luisa de Parma painted by Goya will be exhibited. which are the property of the Prado Museum. In total, the public will be able to see 48 pieces in the exhibition, 34 by the Aragonese painter of different themes and formats, including canvases, graphic works, three albums and 18 single prints. Among them, the albums of first edition prints with period binding of the Caprichos, the Desastres de la Guerra, the Tauromaquia and the 18 loose prints of the Disparates stand out.
HoweverHowever, not only works by Goya, but also by José Luzán, Corrado Gianquinto and Francisco, Ramón and Fray Manuel Bayeu will be on display. The exhibition is part of the year in which the Master Plan for the Bicentennial of the death of Francisco de Goya has been launched with initiatives for 2028, such as the construction of the Goya Center in the Old Courts of the city.