The fourth cycle of the exhibition project Obras de paso, titled Cerralbo y las mujeres protectoras del Patrimonio Cultural, makes visible the work of preserving and disseminating heritage carried out by some women who were contemporaries of the Marquis of Cerralbo. A very contemporary concept and a labour that has its antecedents during the first decades of the 20th century, in a social and cultural context quite different from our own.
Cerralbo y las mujeres protectoras del Patrimonio Cultural presents two philanthropists through two portraits: Regla Manjón y Mergelina, Countess of Lebrija (1851-1938) and Emilia Pardo-Bazán y de la Rúa Figueroa, Countess of Pardo Bazán (1851-1921). Their dedication fostered awareness of the need to protect knowledge, works of art, monuments and archaeological sites, from different spheres, at an early and limited moment.
From 8 September, our Recibimiento de Verano will feature the portrait of Emilia Pardo Bazán as a disseminator of heritage through her close relationship with the Marquis of Cerralbo and other scholars of the time. Invited to the parties at the palace on Calle Ventura Rodríguez, the countess, with her extensive literary and journalistic output, contributed to the spread of new archaeological interpretations and to shaping opinion on the presentation of historical heritage, as in her 1912 novel En las cavernas, not to mention her defence of women's rights.
With this proposal, which for the first time includes two important Spanish house-museums, in Seville and A Coruña respectively, collaboration between three institutions with many shared characteristics becomes possible in Madrid: the intellectual relevance of their founders, the museum typology, and the conservation of private and public legacies that are opened to research and to the citizenry, as an example of generosity and responsibility over time.
© Ministerio de Cultura - Gobierno de España