LA ESPAÑA DE LAURENT (1856-1886). UN PASEO FOTOGRÁFICO POR LA HISTORIA

Jean Laurent, known in Spain as Juan Laurent, was one of the key figures in the history of photography in our country and an international reference, pioneer of photography in Europe. Laurent put under the lens to a country that was debated between the impulse of the modernity and the anchorage to the tradition, a country of trains and bulls. His activity as a portraitist gave rise to an extraordinary archive of the society of his time, while the formats and subjects of his photography multiplied: reproductions of works of art, series of funds from the Museo del Prado, the Royal Armory, the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville or the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando; reports of major engineering works; bullfighting and circus series, panoramic of cities and monuments, popular types of the provinces of Spain … As a whole, the collection shows a detailed panorama of Spanish cultural heritage in the second half of the 19th century, from a contemporary perspective that encompasses the monumental and artistic, the cultural landscape and the industrial and urban development, the performing arts, the intangible heritage and the domestic economy.