The Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida is offering visitors a rare glimpse into the grandeur of Spain’s Golden Age. On view through March 30, 2025, and organized in partnership with the Hispanic Society Museum and Library, New York, “Splendor and Passion: Baroque Spain and Its Empire” brings together a lavish selection of 16th- through 18th-century art and objects, illustrating the cultural and artistic richness of the period.
Together, the exhibition showcases 57 masterworks drawn from the Hispanic Society’s unrivaled holdings of Renaissance and Baroque art. Among them are rarely seen paintings by seminal artists such as El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos), Luis de Morales, Alonso Vázquez, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco de Zurbarán, just to name a few, that exemplify the interplay of material opulence and religious fervor that animated the globe-encircling Hispanic Monarchy.
Diego Velázquez, Gaspar de Guzmán, Conde-Duque de Olivares (c. 1625–1626). Courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York.
Standouts from the show also include a two-sided painted shield in a gilded starburst frame (of unknown authorship), intended to be carried in triumphal processions during the turbulent time of the Thirty Years’ War and a lavish interior scene by Sebastián Muñoz, an artist well known to the Spanish court, Maria Luisa of Orléans, Queen of Spain, Lying in State (1689–1690).
Marking the occasion of the exhibition, the Boca Raton Museum of Art is also presenting Las Meninas from an Artificial Light by contemporary artist Félix De La Concha—a meticulous one-to-one scale copy of Velázquez’s monumental oil painting, specially installed in response to this show.
Unknown Artist, Processional Painting (Shield): The Nativity (Recto); The Virgin and Child (Verso) (1620–1650). Courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York.
The exhibition comes at the same time as two major milestones for the Boca Raton Museum of Art and its home city. “The Museum’s 75th anniversary coinciding with Boca Raton’s 100th anniversary called for a very special exhibition,” said Executive Director Irvin Lippman. “‘Splendor and Passion’ offers a rare glimpse into Spain’s rich artistic heritage during a dynamic, transformative, and complex era of colonial expansion. Accompanied by a robust array of public programs and special events, the museum launches an outstanding season, further establishing itself as a cultural touchstone in South Florida.”
Some of the programs and events enriching “Splendor and Passion” include guided tours, film screenings, and flamenco performances. There will also be several lectures, including “Everybody Expects the Spanish Inquisition? Jewish Life in Medieval Spain” by Dr. Jonathan Ray.
Doménikos Theotókopoulos, Saint Luke (1590s). Courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York
Global in scope—as the present exhibition speaks to—while embodying the unique character of Florida’s southeastern coast, the Boca Raton Museum of Art was founded by local artists in 1950 and has evolved to encompass an art school, guild, sculpture park, and a state-of-the-art exhibition space in Mizner Park.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Boca Raton Museum of Art,” adds Guillaume Kientz, CEO & Director of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library. “We believe that this remarkable exhibition will provide visitors with an unparalleled experience of Spanish Baroque art and its significant impact on the global stage.”
As the leading U.S. institution dedicated to the preservation and study of Hispanic culture, the Society has continuously provided free access to half a million works of art and literature since its inception in 1904. It is headquartered in the vibrant Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.
“Splendor and Passion: Baroque Spain and Its Empire” is on view at the Boca Raton Museum of Art through March 30, 2025.