Visita al Banco de España de los reyes Alfonso XIII y Victoria Eugenia el 28 de mayo de 1915 [Visit of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia to the Banco de España on 28 May 1915]

Visita al Banco de España de los reyes Alfonso XIII y Victoria Eugenia el 28 de mayo de 1915 [Visit of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia to the Banco de España on 28 May 1915]

  • 1916
  • Oil on canvas
  • 144 x 215 cm
  • Cat. P_60
  • Comissioned from the artist in 1916
By:
Julián Gállego Serrano, María José Alonso, Carlos Martín

On 31 May 1906, at the age of exactly 20, Alfonso XIII married Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of Britain. Nine years later, by which time they had five children, the royal couple visited the Banco de España building, the first stone of which had been laid by Alfonso XII in July 1884, and which had been opened in 1891 by Queen Maria Christina of Habsburg-Lorraine on behalf of her son. The banking authorities decided that there should be not only documentary records but also a work of art to commemorate this official visit on 28 May 1915. The painter chosen to 'immortalise' the event was Asterio Mañanós, born in Palencia in 1861, who was later linked to official circles as curator of the art works at the Senate. The resulting painting of this high-level institutional event stands half-way between a historical work and a news item filled with anecdotes.

Its value is documentary rather than aesthetic. It shows the Board Room in its original form before the renovation of the 1930s decreased its size and concealed the stucco relief work shown at the top of the painting behind a barrel vault.

The room is presided over by the portrait of the young Alfonso XIII painted by José Villegas y Cordero in 1902, which also belongs to the Banco de España Collection. The royal couple are accompanied by Queen Maria Christina, who had acted as regent until the king came of age, the Duchess of San Carlos, the Countess of Mirasol, the Marquesses of La Torrecilla and Castel Rodrigo, Prime Minister Eduardo Dato and his Treasury Minster the Count of Bugallal, Banco de España Governor Lorenzo Domínguez Pascual, Deputy Governors Belda and García Escudero and other top-ranking civil servants. A receipt held in the records of the Secretariat reveals that the Bank paid 10,000 pesetas for the painting, in two instalments of 3,000 and 7,000 (5 July 1916). Apart from this painting, there are also numerous photos of the royal visit.

 
By:
Julián Gállego Serrano, María José Alonso
Asterio Mañanós
Palencia 1861 - Madrid 1935

Asterio Mañanós studied painting in Madrid under Casto Plasencia and Casado del Alisal, but there is little sign of their influence in his oeuvre. He studied in Rome in 1885 under a grant from the provincial council. He received a special mention at the National Exhibition of 1906 and silver medals at exhibitions in Lugo (1896), Zaragoza (1908) and Santiago de Compostela (1909). He was a member of the National Iconography Board and a curator of the art works at the Senate, where he produced a group portrait of the members in the library as a conversation piece (Mañanós Hall at the Senate Building), which was much more successful than the one of the royal visit to the Banco de España.

 
«El Banco de España. Dos siglos de historia (1782-1982)», Banco de España (Madrid, 1982). «Asterio Mañanós: 1861-1935», Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Palencia (Palencia, 1988-1989). «The architecture of Eduardo de Adaro and Banco de España», Banco de España (Madrid, 2023-2024).
Vv.Aa. El Banco de España. Dos siglos de historia. 1782-1982, Madrid, Banco de España, 1982. Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez & Julián Gállego Colección de pintura del Banco de España, Madrid, Banco de España, 1985. Arturo Caballero Casado del Alisal y los pintores palentinos del siglo XIX, Palencia, Diputación Provincial, 1986. Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, Julián Gállego & María José Alonso Colección de pintura del Banco de España, Madrid, Banco de España, 1988. Vv.Aa. Colección Banco de España. Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Banco de España, 2019, vol. 1. Vv.Aa La arquitectura de Eduardo de Adaro y el Banco de España, Madrid, Banco de España, 2023, 38.