Due to increased campus activity during Longhorn Welcome, expect higher traffic volumes and limited parking availability in and around university garages, especially Brazos Garage. Plan ahead for your visit and allow extra time for parking. Thank you for your patience as we welcome new and returning Longhorns to the Forty Acres!
Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque
Type
Major Exhibition
Location
Butler Gallery
The Hispanic Society Museum & Library is home to the most extensive collection of early modern Hispanic art and literature outside of Spain. Featuring selected highlights from this esteemed collection, Spirit & Splendor traces a 150-year history of Spanish painting that culminates with the Baroque, a style characterized by dramatic realism, opulence, and religious devotion.
Showcasing almost 60 works, the exhibition includes masterpieces by renowned artists like El Greco and Diego Velázquez, as well as works by José de Páez and Melchor Pérez Holguín, painters who reinterpreted the Baroque aesthetic in the Spanish Viceroyalties of New Spain (present-day Mexico) and Peru.
The Blanton’s presentation marks the final stop for these artworks, following exhibitions at the Boca Raton Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
One of the must-see exhibitions around the world in 2025.
The art newspaper
MEMBERS SEE THIS FOR FREE Get year-round free admission to special exhibitions like this, access to exclusive member-only events, discounts, and more!
Always free for Blanton Members. Not yet a member? Join today!
More information coming soon! All events and times subject to change. The galleries are open till 5:00 pm.
Food & drink are available for purchase from Only Momo’s and North Door bar, and attendees are welcome to bring their own picnic to enjoy outdoors on the museum grounds.
Our most popular program for young visitors! Read along to a picture book paired with a work of art. Inspiring curiosity in ages 4–8 years old.
Time TBD
Looking Together
Michener Gallery Building
Ever wondered how others interpret an artwork? Let’s explore a visitor-favorite in our collection together! We’ll use creative ways of looking to make connections and meaning. Recommended for all visitors 12 years & older.
Art with an Expert: The Art of Dress in Baroque Spain with Amanda Wunder
Capitol Room, second floor, Check-in Building
Seventeenth-century portraits show Spanish men and women wearing clothes and accessories that look shockingly opulent, impractical, and uncomfortable today. This talk looks closely at paintings from the Hispanic Society’s collection to examine how and why people dressed this way, and what these extreme fashions reveal about life in Baroque Spain. Organized by Rosario I. Granados and Holly Borham.
Join this guided tour to learn more about Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque. Featuring 57 masterpieces from the esteemed collection of The Hispanic Society Museum & Library, Spirit & Splendor traces a 150-year history of Spanish painting that culminates with the Baroque, a style characterized by dramatic realism, opulence, and religious devotion. Through close looking and conversation, we will make meaningful connections to the works of art on display. Learn more about the show on the “Spirit & Splendor” exhibition page.
Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the tour. Our tours can accommodate a maximum of 25 people on a first come, first serve basis. Please check-in with our Visitor Services Desk to secure your place.
Join this guided tour to learn more about Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque. Featuring 57 masterpieces from the esteemed collection of The Hispanic Society Museum & Library, Spirit & Splendor traces a 150-year history of Spanish painting that culminates with the Baroque, a style characterized by dramatic realism, opulence, and religious devotion. Through close looking and conversation, we will make meaningful connections to the works of art on display. Learn more about the show on the “Spirit & Splendor” exhibition page.
Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the tour. Our tours can accommodate a maximum of 25 people on a first come, first serve basis. Please check-in with our Visitor Services Desk to secure your place.
We are thrilled to be one of dozens of Austin area museums offering free entry in this city-wide annual celebration of art, culture, history, music, nature, science, and play!
During your visit, look out for these special exhibitions:
Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque – “One of the must-see exhibitions around the world in 2025.”– The Art Newspaper. Explore highlights from the esteemed collection of The Hispanic Society Museum & Library, tracing a 150-year history of Spanish painting. On view in our Butler gallery.
Contemporary Project 14: Betsabeé Romero – The renowned artist presents Al reverso de la pista [On the Other Side of the Track], transforming the gallery into a 21st-century Mesoamerican ritual ball court, complete with numerous goal hoops made from Nascar racing tires lining the walls. On view in our Contemporary project gallery.
Join this guided tour to learn more about Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque. Featuring 57 masterpieces from the esteemed collection of The Hispanic Society Museum & Library, Spirit & Splendor traces a 150-year history of Spanish painting that culminates with the Baroque, a style characterized by dramatic realism, opulence, and religious devotion. Through close looking and conversation, we will make meaningful connections to the works of art on display. Learn more about the show on the “Spirit & Splendor” exhibition page.
Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the tour. Our tours can accommodate a maximum of 25 people on a first come, first serve basis. Please check-in with our Visitor Services Desk to secure your place.
Diego Velázquez, Camillo Astalli, Known as Cardinal Pamphili, circa 1650–1651, oil on canvas (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, after Diego Velázquez, Copy of the Portrait of Juan de Pareja, circa 1656–1657, oil on canvas (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
El Greco, Pietà, 1574–1576, oil on canvas (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
El Greco, Saint Luke, 1590s, oil on canvas (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Miguel de Pret, Still Life with Melon and Fowl, circa 1630, oil on canvas (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Anthonis Mor van Dashorst, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Third Duke of Alba, 1549, oil on canvas (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Nicolás de Correa, The Wedding at Cana, 1696, oil and mixed media on wood panel, inlaid with mother-of-pearl (nácar) (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Melchor Pérez Holguín, Saint Peter of Alcántara and Saint Teresa, circa 1724, oil on canvas (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Sebastián López de Arteaga, Saint Michael Striking Down the Rebellious Angels, circa 1650–1652, oil on copper (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Fray Alonso López de Herrera, Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, 1640, oil on copper (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Diego Velázquez, Portrait of a Little Girl, 1638–42, oil on canvas, 20 1/4 x 16 in. (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)
Credit
Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque is organized by the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, with support from The Museum Box.
Major support for this exhibition at the Blanton is provided by The Moody Foundation.
This presentation is organized by Holly Borham, Curator of Prints, Drawings and European Art and Rosario I. Granados, Marilynn Thoma Curator, Art of the Spanish Americas, Blanton Museum of Art
