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History of the La Virreina Centre de la Imatge spaces
The building is structured around two interior courtyards, one larger than the other, that form fitting and wisely-composed spaces. Access to the first, principal floor and residence of the master of the house and his family, is by way of a double staircase which begins in the entrance hall and comes together at the final flight; the ceiling is composed of rampant and canopy arches. The other floors and rooms of the building were given over to service quarters. Documentation from the period mentions "the house on the Rambla" of Felipe Manuel d’Amat i de Junyent, viceroy of Peru, who also played a decisive role in its different phases of construction, management of which was left in the capable hands of the master of works Josep Ausich i Mir. Felipe Manuel d’Amat (1707-1782) was an important figure on the Spanish political scene of the time. The son of a well-to-do Barcelona family, he was orphaned at the age of eight and at eleven began a distinuished military career which would result in his being appointed as Governer of Chile in 1754 and subsequently in1761, as viceroy of Peru. Towards the end of his life he took up permanent residence in Barcelona where, in 1779, he married the young Maria Francesca de Fivaller i de Bru. The viceroy died three years later, in 1782. His widow, who survived him by only nine years, enjoyed great popularity among the people and this left its mark on "the house on the Rambla", which has been known as the Palau de la Virreina (viceroy’s wife) ever since. The links between the Amat lineage and the Palau ended in 1835 when it was acquired by its administrator, Josep Carreras d’Argerich. It belonged to Carreras until 1944, when it was bought by Barcelona City Council. Christmas 1935 saw a historic precedent in the opening of the Palau to the public in order to exhibit the oil painting The Print Collector, by Fortuny, purchased by the Friends of the Museums with money raised from public donations. This initially one-off event was consolidated in 1940 with organization of the first exhibition, entitled "The Fortuny Exhibition". That same year the Defence of National Artistic Heritage Service had been installed in some of the Palau’s rooms, and to a greater or lesser degree since then the building has been connected with the city’s culture and heritage. For many years the Palau housed some of Barcelona’s collections and museums – the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Cambó Collection, the Postal and Philatelic Museum and the Numismatic Office, respectively. The 1984 Museums Plan set out a new museum policy and reconditioned several areas of the Palau, which two years later would become the headquarters of the city council Department of Culture, consolidating the building’s role as forming part of the city’s cultural infrastructure. Another phase of exhibitions was launched which has become increasingly more established year after year, until arriving to the present time when La Virreina exhibitions are reflecting the Palau’s founding spirit of showing art to the public by means of temporary art shows. Over and above this vocation for exhibitions, the spirit of renewal and the strictly contemporary nature of its presentations cannot be too heavily emphasised. |
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The Palau de
la Virreina, built between 1772 and 1777, is a gem of Baroque-Rococo
architecture. It forms part of an architectural sequence characteristic
of the Rambla, with the small square in front of the building and the
structure’s noble facade, and is located on the Rambla next to
the Boqueria market. The carefully proportioned facade is framed by
regular and modular constructive elements. The sculptural-decorative
work of Carles Grau is outstanding and the metalwork worthy of note.