The Museo de la Ciudad de Antequera exhibits sixteen more works from the Delgado Collection

The Museo de la Ciudad de Antequera (MVCA) has added sixteen more works from the Delgado Collection to its exhibition, a selection of pieces from the European Renaissance and Mannerism. These works join those from the same collection that could already be seen in the museum.

Among the new pieces, seven paintings on copper stand out, reproducing biblical scenes from Raphael's Vatican loggias. These compositions are part of the cycle of fifty-two biblical scenes made by Raphael and his workshop between 1517 and 1519 in the galleries of the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican. Along with the seven coppers, the selection includes nine other works. Among them are a processional cross from the Italian region of Umbria, dated around 1490; an unfinished «Portrait of a Knight» by Antonio Moro; and an «Adoration of the Shepherds» by Taddeo Zuccaro.

Around this series, Room VIII hosted on Monday, October 19 a lecture and visit entitled «The Vatican loggias in the Delgado Collection, scientific contributions to the solution of an enigma», with the participation of Rafael Romero Asenjo and José Gómez Frechina. Romero Asenjo's technical study analyses the metal plates, the preparation layers, the underlying drawing and the pigments using radiographs, X-ray fluorescence and multispectral imaging. Among the results are the identification of supports made by hammering, a precise preparatory drawing and the use of lapis lazuli as a blue pigment in skies and garments. According to this work, the materials and the painting technique support an early dating of the pieces. The fidelity of the compositions and their colours leads the researcher to suggest that they could have been made through direct observation of the frescoes or from the preparatory cartoons used in Raphael's workshop. These are study hypotheses, while the authorship of the series remains open to research. The interest of these copies also lies in the information they can provide about the appearance and colouring of the Vatican frescoes before the deterioration caused by their exposure to the outdoors over centuries.

The lecture and visit were attended by the mayor of Antequera, Manolo Barón; the deputy mayor delegated for Tourism, Commerce and World Heritage, Ana Cebrián; and the councillor for Culture and Historical Heritage, José Medina Galeote.