“Splendors of the Baroque”: an exceptional exhibition from El Greco to Velázquez at the Jacquemart-André Museum

The Jacquemart-André Museum is dedicating its spring exhibition to an area still too rarely shown in France: Hispanic Baroque art. From March 26 to August 2, 2026, the Parisian institution is bringing together some forty works from the Hispanic Society of America in New York, with a focus on the great masters of the Spanish Golden Age, from El Greco to Velázquez, not forgetting Zurbarán, Murillo, and Carreño de Miranda.

A dive into the golden age of Spanish painting

The exhibition draws on the collections of the Hispanic Society of America, founded in 1904 by the American patron Archer Milton Huntington, a passionate advocate of Hispanic and Lusophone cultures. This exceptional loan allows visitors to discover in Paris works rarely seen in France, drawn from a leading museum collection dedicated to the Iberian world and its extensions.

The exhibition highlights the unique character of Spanish Baroque, born at the crossroads of Italian and Flemish influences, but also nourished by the expansion of the Spanish Empire. Religious painting occupies a central place, driven by the momentum of the Counter-Reformation, with compositions designed to impress both the eye and the mind. Alongside this spiritual vein, portraiture stands out as another pinnacle of Spanish art, and the exhibition offers a striking glimpse into this genre, notably with a Portrait of a Young Girl attributed to Velázquez.

A broader perspective on the Hispanic world

The appeal of this exhibition also lies in its scope beyond Spain alone. The museum creates a dialogue between works from the peninsula and those of artists active in Latin America during the 17th and 18th centuries, heirs to Spanish models but also bearers of their own language, born from the blending of European traditions and local cultures.

This choice demonstrates that the Hispanic Baroque was not limited to Madrid or Seville, but also flourished in the American territories of the Spanish monarchy. Through this circulation of forms, subjects, and influences, Splendors of the Baroque paints a broader, richer, and more vibrant picture than a purely national history of Spanish art. It also serves as a reminder that this major artistic center remains largely undiscovered in French museums.