Having been closed to the public for several years for renovation work, the Chapel of the Museum of History is a multi-purpose space that hosts all types of events, including concerts and conferences. It is also home to the great painting St. Ferdinand before the Virgin, by Baroque painter Luca Giordano.
Declared an Architectural Artistic Monument in 1919, the Chapel of the Museum of History was first used as a cultural space in 1926, two years after it was acquired by the Council. It then housed the Exhibition of Ancient Madrid, as well as other subsequent exhibitions, and became a depositary of the City’s Public Library.
One of the main attractions of the chapel is St. Ferdinand before the Virgin, a painting measuring 580 cm by 410 cm, which dates back to around the year 1700. It disappeared in the second half of the 19th Century, but was found again by chance in 1990, hidden beneath a layer of paint by an anonymous artist who repainted over the canvas. When the City’s Public Library, previously housed in the Chapel, was moved to the Conde Duque Cultural Centre that year, this painting was rediscovered, the work of one of the most important painters of the Baroque.
The painting, which is on the chapel wall, represents King Ferdinand III kneeling before the figure of the Virgin with Child, who is readying to spear a dragon with a cross. The monarch is offering them the city of Seville, gesturing with his left hand towards its walls, which surrounded by his troops, while with his right hand he raises a sword.
The remodelling of the chapel was completed in 2016, following a design by Juan Pablo Rodríguez Frade, the architect behind the museum's refurbishment, with the idea of using this space as the museum's auditorium.
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