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Object history

This wooden frieze, a fragment of a ceiling that once adorned a palace hall, is currently preserved at The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, where it is catalogued as a work "from the castle of Peñafiel." The truth is that we are inclined to think that this work probably comes from the neighboring town of Curiel de Duero (Valladolid), specifically from the former palace of the Zúñiga family, which was one of the most beautiful Mudejar residences in the Kingdom of Castile. However, this palace, once owned by Diego López de Stúñiga (or Zúñiga) (d. 14th century-1417), who was appointed Chief Justice of Castile, suffered the bankruptcy of the House of Osuna in the 19th century, which is why it was sold. In 1860, the property was purchased by Indalecio Martínez Alcubilla, who a few years later published a brochure entitled:Memoria histórica-descriptiva del antiguo palacio-fortaleza de Curiel ( Martínez Alcubilla 1866). In it, he gave clear clues as to his interest in selling the monument, as after commenting on the beauty of its coffered ceilings and plasterwork, he called on public officials to purchase the palace: "Let us look to foreign countries, especially France and England, which take great care and pride in preserving their ancient monuments and enriching their museums with artistic treasures of all kinds, collecting and paying dearly for antiques that should never have left their homeland" (Martínez Alcubilla, 1866).

A few years later, in 1907, the rich ceilings of the residence were described in the Bulletin of the Spanish Excursion Society: "The coffered ceilings of some of the rooms in that palace feature a wide variety of figures: the coats of arms of Castile and León, whimsical birds, flowers, crossed triangles, circles, lines, all delicately crafted and brightly colored [...] What a contrast between that beauty and the rooms converted into not very neat dovecotes where the sweet and loving bird nested or nests! What a contrast between that beautiful and delightful room and the ceiling of the second gallery, almost completely destroyed by water, the polychrome panels splintered, the walls cracked, crumbling, pulverized! What a contrast between the marvelous work of the Muslim master builder and the adobe oven built in what was once a large and valuable hall! [...] today, unfortunately, it has been turned into a dilapidated mansion and a vulgar grain store, thanks to the outrage of men, rather than the lack of mercy of Mother Nature" (Hernández Alejandro, 1907).

Two factors stood out in this chronicle: the beauty and value of these ceilings, and the deplorable state of neglect suffered by what was once such a noble complex. The truth is that Martínez Alcubilla did not achieve his goal of having the State purchase the palace and ended up selling it to Agustín Yagüe, who brought about the definitive ruin of the complex. The new owner turned this rich building into a quarry of materials for sale. It did not take long for the press to report on the offer to sell, as demolition material, everything in the building that might be of interest to collectors and private individuals. In this regard, the advertisement published in the newspaper El Norte de Castilla on November 2, 1920, regarding the sale of architectural remains from the demolition of the Curiel de Duero palace (Valladolid) is striking: "SALE. From the demolition of the Curiel Palace, wood, doors, windows, railings, and stone columns are for sale in said town. For further details, please contact Mr. Agustín Yagüe. Hotel Moderno, Peñafiel" (Martínez Ruiz, 2008, pp. 319-324). Peñafiel was the neighboring town from which, as we can see, the sale of the old ceilings of the Zúñiga palace in Curiel de Duero (or Curiel de los Ajos, as it was also known) was managed. 

This is how Fernando García de Piñel described the dismantling of the palace's riches: "The stone columns in the courtyard were bought by the Count of Las Almenas; the coffered ceilings and painted wood in good condition were bought by the antique dealer Lafora; the plasterwork was destroyed with pickaxes. Today, only the outer walls and a large pile of rubble remain. For a month, an advertisement appeared in Valladolid's most widely circulated newspaper offering materials from the demolition of the Curiel palace. At that time, the Provincial Monuments Commission met to discuss a matter of etiquette. Such is the true story of the destruction of one of the most interesting monuments of Spanish art" (García de Piñel, 1920).

Indeed, the Madrid-based antiquarian Juan Lafora acquired roofing materials from Curiel; in fact, numerous fragments of its beautiful ceilings ended up scattered in different collections on both sides of the Atlantic: such as that of the Count of Las Almenas (whose collection Arthur Byne and Mildred Stapley Byne exported from Spain and auctioned in New York in 1927); the W. R. Hearst collection; the Alcázar of Segovia—in one of whose rooms one of the ceilings was installed—; the Episcopal Museum of Vic (Barcelona) –inv. nos. 7489, 12299, 1230, and probably 7360–; the Soler i March collection in Barcelona –fragments of which, after passing through the hands of the antique dealer Adolph Loewi, ended up in the Art Museum of Princeton University. The National Archaeological Museum also preserves some of Curiel's aliceres –inv. nos. 50742, 50758, 50759, 50765, 50766, 2014/35/1, 2014/35/2, 2014/35/3, 2014/35/5–. Nothing remained in situ of what was described as one of the most beautiful Mudejar palaces, with its richly decorated halls adorned with armature, doors with interlaced motifs, plasterwork... Everything was razed to the ground, and what is even sadder: it was disposed of as demolition debris (Martínez Ruiz, 2024).

This fragment, in particular, belonged to architect Arthur Byne and his wife Mildred Stapley Byne, two of the largest art dealers operating in Spain from the 1920s until Arthur Byne's death in a car accident in 1935. In fact, this piece was photographed by the Moreno photography studio, based in Madrid, when it was still part of the Byne collection, as shown by the images preserved in the Moreno Archive, Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain (16420_B and 16043_B). This must have taken place before Arthur Byne's death, because after the tragic accident that took the art dealer's life, this small relic of what must once have been a beautiful ceiling was acquired by Anette Finnigan in 1936, who bequeathed it that same year to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

Description

Beneath two small arches with mixed lines, a male and female figure are framed in what appears to be a romantic scene set in a garden. Between these arches, at the top, there is a decorative plant motif forming scrolls. In his description of one of the rooms in the Curiel palace, Antón Casaseca referred to motifs similar to those found here: "The one in the golden room," also made of wicker, all gilded and painted, is well preserved, as is another coffered ceiling, in very muted, dark, extremely elegant colors, with paintings of pages, knights, and ladies on the frieze." Perhaps this scene was part of that frieze. The aforementioned author lamented the foreseeable disappearance of such a rich palace and artistic treasures, such as these ceilings, which he still had the opportunity to see in situ in 1918, which is why he wanted to leave a record of them: "Enough is enough. We wanted to ensure that this magnificent Spanish house, fortress, and luxurious mansion of the Zúñigas family was recorded in these pages (Antón Casaseca, 1918).

Locations

• ca. 1920

  palace

  Possible origin: Zúñiga Palace, Curiel de Duero (Spain)

• ca. 1920 - 1936

  dealer/antiquarian

  Arthur Byne and Mildred Stapley Byne, Madrid (Spain) *

• 1936

  private collection

  Annette Finnigan, Houston (United States) *

• 1936 - present

  museum

  The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston (United States)