Ferdinand and Isabella, the founders of modern Spain, were avid patrons of art and architecture, with a particular interest in Flemish paintings.
We buy and sell European art dating from the 15th Century to around 1800, specializing in paintings and sculpture from Spain.
Ferdinand and Isabella, the founders of modern Spain, were avid patrons of art and architecture, with a particular interest in Flemish paintings.
Their successors, the Spanish Hapsburg kings Charles V and Philip II, III, and IV were also great patrons and collectors who added Flemish and Italian, as well as Spanish art, to the royal collections. During that "Golden Age," the Spanish Empire expanded overseas to include large portions of North and South America and the Philippines.
Distinctive Spanish national styles developed in painting and sculpture. Spanish artists distinguished themselves internationally, wrote treatises on art, and lobbied for the elevation of painting to the status of a fine art, rather than a craft.
After 1700, the Bourbon successors to the Spanish throne favored French art, while their Italian born wives wanted art from Rome and Naples. The artistic styles of these countries influenced each other deeply during the eighteenth century, since there was so much cultural exchange among them.
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