A Journey through Time in the Province of Jaén

The museum was originally the Museo de Pinturas, or the Museum of Paintings, and was created in 1846 with funds derived from the Confiscation of Mendizábal. The Provincial Museum of Fine Arts was set up in 1914. In order to find a home for it, Jaén politician José del Prado y Palacio promoted the acquisition of 4,200 m2 of land in Paseo de la Estación. The current Museum of Jaén resulted from the merger in 1969 of the Fine Arts Museum with the Provincial Archaeological Museum, which opened to the public in 1971 in its current location. It is a state-owned entity managed by the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.

On our journey through various aspects of the Iberian world, the first rooms we will see contain a monograph of the Burial Chamber of Toya (Peal de Becerro) and a life-size model of it. Trading relations were set up with people from the Eastern Mediterranean. We have also conserved some written artifacts – a few epigraphs originating from Giribaile. The primary focus of society was on agriculture and, to a lesser extent, livestock. Ceramics, textiles, and metallurgy were also important industries. The skill of Iberian precious-metal workers can be seen from a set of rings, annular brooches, needles, earrings, and belt buckles, most of them made of bronze. The rich funerary world is represented here by grave goods from the tombs of Espeluy and Castellones de Ceal, Hinojares. Some outstanding items include gold and silver treasures and the collections of coins and votive objects. The final room contains a set of stone sculptures. People of importance demonstrated their status by decorating their tombs with animalistic or zoomorphic sculptures.

On display in the semi-basement rooms of the temporary exhibitions building is a series of sculptures from Cerrillo Blanco, Porcuna, including all the exhibits that have been restored. The complete collection presented in these rooms tells the mythical story of an aristocratic lineage. Beyond the introductory antechamber, the sculptures have been grouped according to their subject matter: animal metaphors, ancestors, heroic battles, and a band of warriors.

The roofed patio of the main building houses the Iberian monument known as the Heroic Sanctuary of El Pajarillo (Huelma). It recounts the moment when a hero confronted a wolf in the presence of two mythological beings. The hero was led here to defend the naked youth, seen lying down, and his intervention saved the young man from the wild beast. The original surroundings of the monument have been recreated, showing the source of the River Jandulilla which used to lie outside the walls of the building.

Objects relating to Roman life and customs are on display: mosaics, glassware, stone, and metal objects, including the unguent jar of Santo Tomé, used in funeral rites, and weighing scales from El Centenillo, Baños de la Encina. Other outstanding items from the farmhouse of Robles de Marroquíes Bajos (Jaén) include the portrait of a woman and several marble figures, a piece of jet, and fragments of gold. The archaeological site of Los Villares de Andújar is well represented by numerous stamped clay shapes and the molds designed for their creation. Our introduction to Roman culture is completed with a collection of funerary urns and stelae bearing epigraphs, including the stela of Peal de Becerro.

Here we can see various objects pertaining to the Hispano-Visigothic culture which marked the beginning of the Middle Ages in our province: belt buckles, parts of harnesses for horses, jewelery, etc. Noteworthy items include the sarcophagus of Arjonilla with its geometrical decoration, the La Guardia gate, and the famous historiated lintel of Vilches.

This small room is dedicated exclusively to the famous sarcophagus of Martos. Carved in marble and imported from Rome, it represents seven miraculous scenes from the life of Jesus between columned porticos, including the conversion of water into wine and the healing of the man stricken with palsy.