Today's post is about the Museum of Decorative Arts in Havana, located on 17th Street in Vedado. This imposing mansion belonged to the Countess of Revilla de Camargo, María Luisa Gómez Mena.
María Luisa came from one of the wealthiest families in Havana. Her title of nobility was granted to her when she married the Spanish Count of Revilla de Camargo, and she was a woman who always lived surrounded by luxury and glamour. This ostentatious mansion, now a museum, was one of her many homes, and she came here only three times a year, as her life was spent between Paris, New York and Madrid.
This place is absolutely beautiful, both inside and in the surrounding gardens, so it deserves more than one publication. I want to start by describing the interior of the house and its entire ground floor, and in future posts I will show the upper floor, the exteriors and the gardens. The museum is open from 10 a.m to 3 p.m and has guides who take us on a tour of the different rooms and exhibits.
When its construction was completed in 1927, the inhabitants of Vedado called this place, the Countess Revilla Camargo's mansion. Like most of the buildings built in Vedado at that time, it has an eclectic style. Here you can appreciate the best of the different types of architecture. When we arrived, we climbed a few small marble steps and entered through its wide main door, beautifully worked in iron. When I stood in the lobby, I didn't know which way to look, and was momentarily transfixed by the beauty that surrounded me.
This imposing mansion is remarkable for the beauty and delicacy of the materials used in its construction. With the exception of the mahogany wood of its doors, the rest of the materials used to decorate its interior were imported from France, Italy and Belgium. Carrara marble, bronze ornaments, tapestries, furniture, doors carved in precious woods, everything is of the best quality that could be bought. Some of its pieces are unique in Cuba, as well as in the world, which makes this place unforgettable.
The first thing that caught my attention was its wide foyer and its white marble floor, with a beautiful mosaic in the center that seemed to represent a flower. Above it was one of the many ornaments of the place and what attracted me most: a small wooden table from the 19th century, and on both sides ornaments and antique furniture.
To the right, we passed into a small showroom displaying ornaments of fine materials such as silver, mother-of-pearl, porcelain, luxury glassware with opal-like crystals, Bohemian and Murano glass. All these works belong to prestigious artists from France, the United States and Romania. I admit that I have never seen such precious and delicate ornaments, dating from the 19th to the 20th century.
The next room we went to was the dining room. If I was paralyses when I entered the foyer, when I went into this room my heart almost stopped! In the center there is a large table with a magnificent set of tableware, not the original tableware of the house, but a collection that is changed every year.
I couldn't go near the table, as there is a valuable 19th century carpet underneath it, which you are not allowed to step on. The most beautiful thing I found in the dining room was that the whole room, floor and walls, is made of Carrara marble in different shades and colors.
In the corners of the walls are bronze trophies said to have been brought from a palace in France. The mahogany doors were sent to Paris for carving, and the carving work is absolutely beautiful and delicate, full of details. Of all the rooms in the museum, this was the one that impressed me the most. I never imagined anything so luxurious and exquisite.
In front of the dining room there is a room where several figures belonging to different collections of oriental art are exhibited. Some of them belonged to the Countess, as she was very fond of this culture. In the center of the room there is a wooden table inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and around the room there are several Chinese screens, made of delicate wood, with exquisite details, dating from different centuries from the 17th to the 19th century.
The next and last room on the ground floor is the Main Hall, which would be the living room of the house. As we stop at the entrance door, we see a long red carpet at our feet that extends to the end of the room. As in the dining room, you are not allowed to walk on the original carpet because it is a valuable hand-woven piece from the 18th century. This room is quite spacious, its walls and doors are lined with magnificent gilded decorations. It is designed in Rococo architectural style. Its furniture is made of precious woods, carved by hand. It is a very beautiful room, with many eye-pleasing details that give it vitality and joy.
All the rooms share one thing in common: they have beautiful teardrop-shaped ceiling lamps with very fine designs. They are so beautiful that it is impossible not to look up. I must also point out the great height of each room. I felt tiny every time I looked up at the ceiling, as if I were in a giant house. The guides at the Museum were very kind and explained the details of the place, which allowed me to learn many of the facts I am describing. I also learned that this place exhibits other art collections that are not from the house itself, but have been brought from other places or donated.
As usual, we went on this visit as a family. My little girl, always enthusiastic and cheerful, was amazed by everything she saw. When I was left behind taking pictures of some ornament, she would excitedly come and find me to show me how beautiful the next room was. She liked it so much that she didn't want to leave, she wanted to stay and live in the museum! 😂 I would have loved it too, but that was impossible 😆.
The Museum of Decorative Arts in Havana is an architectural and artistic treasure. Photographs don't do the place justice, it's best to visit it and appreciate every detail for yourself. In fact, I'm thinking of going a second time.
That's all for now. In future posts, I will continue to guide you through this beautiful palace so that you can, like me, delight in all the beautiful things it houses.
Greetings and see you next time! 👋
For more information about their collections, you can visit the Cuban website Ecured.
-All images are my property, taken from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 10C cell phone.📱
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