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Facade of the Palace of the National Library and Museums on Calle Serrano

Servando Corrales (attributed)04/05/1893-30/06/1893

Museo Arqueológico Nacional

Museo Arqueológico Nacional
Madrid, Spain

Vintage contact print developed from a glass negative and adhered to a secondary support surface, created for the Natural History and Ethnography Exhibition (EHNE) held at the Palace of the National Library and Museums in 1893. This show and the Historical American Exhibition (EHA) (1892–1893) were among the events planned to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas. The two exhibitions inaugurated the building which, in 1894, would be divided into the National Library and the National Archaeological Museum.
Various photographs of items exhibited at those shows and the different galleries where they were displayed have come down to us. This particular photo shows the facade of the museum. It is relevant because it was taken just one year after work on the palace had been completed, making it one of the few visual records of the facade at that time; here we can see the original stairs, still flanked by plaster casts of the bronze sphinxes that would be installed later, in 1894.

Details

  • Title: Facade of the Palace of the National Library and Museums on Calle Serrano
  • Creator: Servando Corrales (attributed)
  • Date Created: 04/05/1893-30/06/1893
  • Provenance: Madrid (Spain)
  • Type: Photography
  • Rights: Museo Arqueológico Nacional
  • External Link: CERES
  • Medium: Albumin print, cardboard
  • Cultural Context: Contemporary Age

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