Past Exhibitions – Spanish Paintings Hamen

The Meadows Museum houses an extraordinary collection of Golden Age Spanish paintings. Some of the most important artists of the court in Madrid featured in this exhibition executed many of their works during Juan Van der Hamen’s lifetime (1594-1631) and probably even met him. While Juan Bautista Maino (1581-1649) was the drawing professor of Philip IV and Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) was the Chamber Painter for the King, the royal family was bestowing different commissions on Van der Hamen.

This exhibition presents, to a certain extent, several aspects of Spanish artistic production during the first third of the 17th century. In a way it connects, in art historical terms, the selected pieces from the Museum’s collection with some of Van der Hamen’s works in the related exhibition Juan Van der Hamen y León and the Court of Madrid. Our intention is not only to better understand the exhibition on Van der Hamen using the paintings in the Meadows Museum, but also to shed new light on the Museum’s permanent holdings. The labels will explain the connections between the artists of this period and Van der Hamen.