A graceful, smiling Mary dressed in flowing red robes held close her infant son, both linked by a rosary. Their soft faces with rose-colored cheeks were touching, as they looked out into the world with both humility and hope. This Mary and her son gazed down at passers-by from a revered spot – on the wall in the Alexandria Museum of Art.
“The Virgin of the Rosary with Child” is perhaps one of the most moving paintings in the museum, but it is in good company. This Bartolomé Esteban Murillo oil on canvas from around 1655 is part of “The Heart of Spain” exhibit in Alexandria, La.
This humble city in central Louisiana is housing some of the most famous and beautiful religious art and antiquities. The exhibit spans more than 1,000 years of Spain’s history. It is the first and only time these pieces will be under the same roof. Some, such as “The Virgin” painting, will travel back to monasteries to remain under tight security. Others will return to famous museums such as the Prado in Madrid. The presence of such priceless artwork begs the question – why Alexandria?
A volunteer at the exhibit last week answered this question for me and other tourists. Louisiana’s bicentennial celebration this year focuses primarily on the state’s French heritage, but state officials wanted somehow to highlight the strong Spanish history. State tourism officials began diplomatic visits to Spain to propose an exhibit, and the country agreed. But it took about 22 months to prepare a city, logistically and economically, for an event of this magnitude.
Robert Kidder, marketing director for the Alexandria Museum of Art, wrote that “what began as a Louisiana event to commemorate the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase became a community-wide effort at economic development.” The effects of that effort are clear – as we drove into town, hundreds of businesses displayed the Spanish flag. Signs pointed to an exhibit that the entire city supports. Though parking was not as easy as I would have hoped, it seemed as though everything in town was orchestrated around getting people to visit “The Heart of Spain.”
It is evident that Alexandria officials and others worked hard to get the exhibit there. But that’s not the only reason the artwork is worth your $18 – it has great historical and religious significance. The work of famous painters such as Bartolomé Román, Francisco de Goya and El Greco hangs in the museum. The paintings, scripture books, sculptures, jewelry and tapestries provide historical insight into the cultures and religions that created the Spain we know today.
The two-hour journey to Alexandria is a fair tradeoff for the fantastic exhibit, whether you’re an art history major or just someone, like me, looking for a unique experience. The knowledge that I was seeing paintings nearly 500 years old, paintings with so much emotion and spirituality, was enough to give me chills. And history meets technology at the exhibit, as each visitor gets a personal digital device with a touch screen and headphones to hear the fascinating stories behind the art.
There is not much time left to take advantage of “The Heart of Spain” – the exhibit ends Nov. 30. Take the time to do something that you can tell your children about, something commemorating the artists who are, as exhibit officials said, “capable of feeling the most beautiful sentiments and expressing them through art with such a strength that no one can be left feeling indifferent.”