Juan Lafora Calatayud

Description

Juan Lafora Calatayud was an antiquarian whose shop was located at 51 Carrera de San Jerónimo (Madrid). After meeting Lafora, Marès (2000) described him as follows: “But what I most admired about him was the way he handled the objects he showed us. Rather than merely touching the pieces, he caressed them. He struck me as less a dealer eager to sell than a collector eager to acquire.” His expertise in restoring pieces earned him the respect of intellectuals and prominent figures of the time, who gathered in his shop at dusk: among them were the Count of Almenas, José Florit, and Félix Boix, among many others (Marès, 2000).  He was involved in the negotiation of important works of art from Castilla y León, such as the Retablo de Nuestra Señora del Maestro de la Horta (Fiz Fuertes, 2021), which is currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). Later his daughter, Beatriz Lafora, followed in his footsteps and also sold works of art and antiques.

Bibliography

• FIZ FUERTES, Irune (2021): "El expolio de la pintura del primer Renacimiento en Zamora. Una contribución a su estudio y una propuesta de autoría", nº 87, BSAA arte, pp. 48-49.
• MARÈS DEULOVOL, Frederic (2000): El mundo fascinante del coleccionismo y de las antigüedades. memorias de la vida de un coleccionista, Ayuntamiento de Barcelona, Barcelona, pp. 248-249.