I have never in my life seen a museum as big as the Museo de la Aduana in Malaga. I think that being primarily a palace is the reason why it is so big.
It is impossible to go through it in one day and admire in detail everything there is in it and as it is a marvel to be able to be there I preferred to go for several days and divide my tour in several parts.
On this occasion and this visit, and I still have several more to go, I visited the first floor of the building, where the space destined for the city's Museum of Fine Arts is located.
On my previous visits I had not noticed this really beautiful sculpture in the lobby.
According to the details beside it, the sculpture is called La Dama de la Alcazaba (The Lady of the Alcazaba). It dates back to the 18th century when certain excavations were being carried out and Roman remains were found in the excavations.
From these remains several sculptures were found which later became part of the Archaeological Museum, and this piece is one of the best known.
It is a female figure wearing the typical tunic of ancient Greece.
The facilities of the Customs House Museum are beautiful, as is its beautiful interior courtyard.
In it we can find some explanatory plaques referring to it, what it contains and its architecture, history and map.
On arriving at the first floor of the building, I find a sign explaining the building.
There is also a large hall with beautiful decorations.
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The staircase attracts a lot of attention and enhances its beauty.
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The view from the first floor makes you want to stay in the corridors for a long time. The architectural style of the place is very original, both in the view of the inner courtyard and in the corridors with the lamps and the seats for resting or just being there.
This first floor dedicated to the Museum of Fine Arts is divided into several areas and it is worth every step I took to go through it.
From the entrance to the last painting I have seen, everything has been amazing.
As soon as you enter I see a beautiful work of art with an explanation of each of its parts.
Here we can see more than 2000 works of art between sculptures and paintings, most of them from 19th century Spain, but also foreign art.
A great collection of art, the largest I have ever seen and very significant from different periods, styles and themes.
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From what I noticed on this tour many of the works have been bequeathed by different convents so I think there is a lot of religious art.
The Royal Academy of San Telmo has also played a great part in this museum, as it was the one who set it up to generate the emergence of local artists and promote culture in this sense.
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The walls show exquisite art, which as I always say, even if it is religious, what matters is how the work is done, the faces, the clothes, the atmosphere. A harmonious composition in keeping with the period.
The artists represented there and part of their history and works are shown in various parts, such as the Marquis of Paniega and a bust dedicated to him.
Also the artist Ricardo de Orueta y Duarte.
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A large collection of sculpture and gold and silver work is displayed in showcases to admire its beauty, piece by piece.
The sculptures are religious and of a surprising quality.
Many of the works and sculptures on display belong to those goldsmith workshops where many artists and disciples carried out all these beauties.
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A baptismal font is in my passage. It dates from the 15th century in Seville, a true relic and worthy of admiration. It is one of the few remaining examples of this style.
Another of the artists we can find in the place is Carlos de Haes Nerinckx.
His works are very beautiful and gave rise to the whole movement of naturalist and realist painting in the city.
At that time not only religious motifs were represented, but also the human figure, everyday life and landscapes.
These landscapes form a very important part of all the works on display here and this time I will show you a section of them.
Scenes of nature, the open air, weather effects and a lot of geography could be seen on the canvases in this area of the museum.
Also scenes of ships, people, animals and animals complemented the above.
In this case, there were no religious or mystical ingredients or customs, only landscapes and natural environments showing their essence.
This is why realism and naturalism stood out.
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Many artists from Malaga went to study these themes in the countries of Northern Europe where the trend was taking place and that is why we have these magnificent works of art so impressive.
It is worth mentioning the good execution of these paintings. I am particularly passionate about the theme of the sea.
Just looking at the way the waves, the boats, the reflections in the water, the sails of the boats and the realism of the painting amazes me.
I could also find natural motifs that were not of the sea, such as trees and rural areas, but in my case this area of the museum was extremely impressive because of the sea.
This painting was the one I liked the most, my favourite, since I was a child I have loved the sea and ships and I stayed a long time admiring it.
A section within the same area was dedicated to Venetian landscape views, the bridges, rivers, buildings, boats, canoes and above all the reflections on the water.
Many painters of the time, when the subject of photography appeared, took photographs of different landscapes and then painted them on canvas.
The rise of photography was closely related to the artistic trend of the time. They were closely linked.
On many of the walls of the place we can find mentions of this theme and how it has evolved.
Photography captured the reality in an immovable moment and time of day and that in many opportunities seemed to advance or to be superior to painting when in reality they are both art and many times they went hand in hand complementing each other.
There is much, much more to this great museum of Fine Arts, which was a pleasure to visit. And I will continue my tour to show you more of the wonderful works of art in history.
Thank you all very much for joining me. Best regards to all of you and see you next time.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
Separators created by me in Photoshop.
Used translator Deepl.com free version.
[//]:# (!pinmapple 36.72003 lat -4.41736 long Beginning to admire the paintings of the Museum of Fine Arts 📷 Malaga - Spain d3scr)