Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque

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 57 works, the exhibition includes masterpieces by renowned artists like El Greco and Diego Velázquez, as well as by José de Páez and Melchor Pérez Holguín, painters who actively spread the Baroque aesthetic in Mexico and Peru, territories that at the time were under Spanish rule.

One of the must-see exhibitions around the world in 2025.
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L.2016.46.2 — Diego Velázquez, Camillo Astalli, Known as Cardinal Pamphili, circa 1650–1651, oil on canvas, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

After Diego Velazquez Copy of the Portrait of Juan de Pareja — Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, after Diego Velázquez, Copy of the Portrait of Juan de Pareja, circa 1656–1657, oil on canvas, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

El Greco Pieta — El Greco, Pietà, 1574–1576, oil on canvas, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

El Greco Saint Luke — El Greco, Saint Luke, circa 1590, oil on canvas, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

Miguel de Pret Still Life with Melon and Fowl — Miguel de Pret, Still Life with Melon and Fowl, circa 1630, oil on canvas, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

Anthonis Mor van Dashorst Fernando Alvarez de Toledo — Anthonis Mor van Dashorst, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Third Duke of Alba, 1549, oil on canvas, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

Nicolas de Correa The Wedding at Cana — Nicolás de Correa, The Wedding at Cana, 1696, oil and mixed media on wood panel, inlaid with mother-of-pearl (nácar), The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

Melchor Perez Holguin Saint Peter of Alcantara and Saint Teresa — Melchor Pérez Holguín, Saint Peter of Alcántara and Saint Teresa, 1724, oil on canvas, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

Sebastian Lopez de Arteaga Saint Michael Striking Down the Rebellious Angels — Sebastián López de Arteaga, Saint Michael Striking Down the Rebellious Angels, circa 1650–1652, oil on copper, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

Fray Alonso Lopez de Herrera Virgin of the Immaculate Conception — Fray Alonso López de Herrera, Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, 1640, oil on copper, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (photo: courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York)

Diego Velázquez, Portrait of a Little Girl, 1638–42, oil on canvas, 20 ¼ x 16 in. The Hispanic Society of America, New York, NY

Credit

This exhibition was organized by The Hispanic Society of America, with support from The Museum Box.

This presentation is organized by Holly Borham, Curator of Prints, Drawings and European Art and Rosario Granados, Marilynn Thoma Curator, Art of the Spanish Americas, Blanton Museum of Art