During the Renaissance, it became popular among European aristocrats to enjoy private game rooms on the outskirts of their prestigious mansions. In Spain, the Mediterranean climate made it almost mandatory to convert these galleries into shelters from the summer sun. … And winter rain. Therefore, these resting areas eventually took on an arched shape. During this time, fun was conveyed through water play, the creativity of the paintings on the pillars, the shapes of statues and sculptures placed around the room, the walls carefully painted with flowers, deities and sea creatures, and the colors and materials of the mosaics that adorned the length and breadth of the gallery. After that trend passed, only one thing testifies to how the Austrians enjoyed it five centuries later. It is a secret gem located in Casa de Campo, and the people of Madrid will get it back in 2027.
Ana Luengo, editor of the Royal Casa de Campo Gardens Restoration Project, explained to the ABC that the city council will spend about a year installing what will be known as a mock 16th-century gallery, which will be “the only gallery in Europe with exposed pipes”. Because even though Italians have these “well-preserved” playhouses, you have to travel to Madrid to learn how the Renaissance-era hydraulic drainage system worked, the “skeleton” of water in the 16th century.
The restoration work undertaken by the capital is not aimed at recreating the original gallery, with painted walls and identical statues placed in their original locations, and a fountain that surprised and “taunted” the monarch’s guests. On the contrary, it involves cleaning the room and turning the pipe network into its own museum. “This is the uniqueness of the gallery,” says Luengo, who participated in the restoration of Vargas’ house and its surroundings: the garden and the gallery.
In this way, visitors can journey through the rooms through which kings such as Philip II, Philip III and Charles I of England passed. This experience can be supplemented with photos and information that may be available in the room. The aim is to immerse yourself in a journey that also features famous figures such as Velázquez, Rubens and Lope de Vega, expressing their experiences in black on white.
“We have seen some rooms of water whose ceilings are decorated with a thousand stones, and which shine like rubies and hyacinths; you have covered the walls with their leaves and clumps of ivy, and where are the water gods of ancient caves and oceans, with reeds and “It lies forever on the ferns, sweating water on the stone through two thousand cracks, and its doors are attended by two nymphs in two white marble niches, of which Ovid wrote the story,” the poet wrote.
Vargas Palace after internal archaeological excavations
A team of heritage experts, including Luengo, is leading the recreation of Lope de Vega’s poem, 10 years after sculptors and mosaicists Juan Bautista Bonanome and Juan Antonio Sormano completed the gallery, which took 27 years to complete. According to the project’s editors, the work is no more complex than what would be done at Vargas’ home or what it would mean to build a historic garden from scratch. However, the important thing remains the same.
In fact, the team’s main challenge is getting the 16th century drainage system up and running. “The drainage system needs to be repaired so that when it rains, it doesn’t affect the structure.” In addition, the soil, wet bricks, and roofs that are currently leaking will change due to both rain and flooding due to the proximity to the Manzanares River. But undoubtedly, the challenge for these experts, especially those of Luengo, is to convince the people of Madrid that they have an almost unique gem in the world.
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