Royal Collections exhibits a portrait of Ferdinand VII and three recently acquired sculptures of the apostolate

The Gallery of the Royal Collections exhibits from this Thursday until next July four new pieces in ‘National Heritage acquires. National Heritage restores’, the exhibition space located on the Borbones floor that aims to publicize the works that are incorporated into the royal collections or that have been recently restored.

In its first rotation, one of the institution’s latest acquisitions has been incorporated, a portrait of King Fernando VII by Vicente López Portaña dated between 1823 and 1825, and three pieces of the apostolate that come from the recently restored Dormition Chapel of the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales.

The portrait of the monarch, acquired in 2025 and from a private collection, shows Ferdinand VII in the uniform of a captain general. Its author, Vicente López, painter of the king’s chamber, used a looser and more visible technique than usual in this work, which provides a unique quality and reinforces its relevance within the set of official portraits of the period.

The restored sculptures – San Bartolome, San Mateo and San Felipe – date from between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century and are attributed to Andalusian artists. The pieces were part of the apostolate that accompanies the Virgin of Transit in the Dormition Chapel, currently in the process of comprehensive restoration.

The intervention has allowed us to recover the chromatic richness, the stew and the expressiveness of the faces, elements that remained hidden under oxidized varnishes and accumulation of dirt.

The space ‘National Heritage acquires. National Heritage restoresinaugurated in September 2025, its purpose is to show the public the new acquisitions intended to enrich the Royal Collections and, at the same time, give visibility to the conservation and restoration work carried out by the institution’s technical teams.

In its initial presentation, the space exhibited a half-length portrait of Infanta Catalina Micaela of Austria, attributed to Alonso Sánchez Coello, along with three hard stone frames from the 18th century restored by National Heritage.

The new rotation continues this approach and consolidates this space as a living showcase of the historical heritage and the conservation work that makes it endure.