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The Casa de Alba has always stood out for its close connection with the arts over the centuries, acting as collectors and patrons of important artists, and resulting in one of the most notable historical collections in Europe.
The Casa de Alba Foundation, chaired by the 19th Duke of Alba, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart and Martínez de Irujo, allocates part of its resources to the acquisition and recovery of works that are related to the collections or have belonged to them at some time. That is why, under the title of “Acquired Work”, will be presented the new acquisitions in the rooms that comprise the temporary exhibitions of the Palacio de Liria
Starting today, visitors will be able to contemplate for the first time the original plaster, preserved by Mariano Benlliure Gil in his studio, of the bust of the girl María del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay (1900-1934), the future 17th Duchess of Alba, together with the marble carving that forms part of the extensive repertoire of family busts preserved in the collection.
Mariano Benlliure (Valencia, 1862—Madrid, 1947) sculpted it in 1902 on behalf of his parents, the Dukes of Aliaga, Alfonso Silva and Fernández de Córdoba and María del Rosario Gurtubay and González de Castejón.
The piece, acquired in November 2024, introduces us to the girl María del Rosario de Silva and Gurtubay in an exercise of great compositional delicacy, which transmits with all naturalness the charm and tenderness of the little girl. The undulating ringlets of her hairstyle, with which she frames her sweet face, have their counterpoint in the fold of the lace ruffles of the dress, on which the crown of the Duchy of Aliaga is embroidered. Also noteworthy is its torso, which merges into sinuous organic shapes, giving the sculpture a modernist air.
The polychrome that the plaster shows today responds to a subsequent intervention, associated with the dispersion of the sketches and models preserved in the sculptor's studio, many of which were patinated in ocher or greenish tones that emulated finishes in other materials such as clay or bronze.