Hall of Realms

It was still used for spectacles and soirees, so a balcony was added so that festivities could be viewed from above, but as a throne room it had to impress ambassadors and other distinguished members of the courts of Europe who visited the palace.

On its north and south sides hung twelve paintings (one now lost) on the theme of the major battles won by the armies of Philip IV in the early years of his reign.

The battle paintings juxtaposed examples by artists of the older generation such as Vicente Carducho or Eugenio Cajés (who had both served Philip III of Spain) with ones by younger artists trained in naturalism such as Juan Bautista Maíno, Zurbarán (summoned from Seville for this very commission), Jusepe Leonardo, Félix Castelo (who did his first major work there), Antonio de Pereda and especially Velázquez, Philip IV's favourite.

Based on the titles held by Philip IV, the hall also contained shields showing the coats of arms of the twenty-four kingdoms and realms that made up his monarchy: Aragon, Archduchy of Austria, Lordship of Biscay, Duchy of Burgundy, Duchy of Brabant, Castile and León, Principality of Catalonia, Córdoba, County of Flanders, Galicia, Granada, Jaén, Mexico, Duchy of Milan, Murcia, Naples, Navarre, Peru, Portugal, Sardinia, Seville, Sicily, Toledo and Valencia (Philip IV also held the titles of Count of Habsburg, Count of Tyrol, and Lord of Molina, among others).

In the early 21st century the Spanish Ministry of Culture launched a series of studies and reforms to move the Army museum to a larger, better and more modern setting at the Alcázar of Toledo, giving the Hall of Realms over to the Prado, which already had responsibility for the Casón and which could then return the Salón de Reinos to its 17th-century appearance and reinstate the paintings originally meant for it.

[3] In the aftermath of the financial crisis, deadlines went by, and in 2016 the project to add the building to the Museo del Prado’s campus was being presented as part of the Museum’s 200th anniversary celebrations which were scheduled for 2019.

Pending the beginning of building work, there has been scope to give over the Salón de Reinos and its adjoining rooms to activities such as temporary exhibitions.