Enfilade

Next month from The Prado, with some simultaneous interpretation planned:

Key Women in the Creation of the Collections of the

Museo del Prado III: Isabel de Farnesio

Online and in-person, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 9–10 March 2026

Organized by Noelia García Pérez

Jean Ranc, Isabel de Farnesio, 1723, oil on canvas, 144 × 115 cm (Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado).

It was probably Queen Isabel de Farnesio (1692–1766), patron of the arts, who most decisively contributed to giving shape to the Museo del Prado’s collections. This third edition of the series Protagonistas femeninas en la formación de las colecciones del Museo del Prado invites us to reconsider the significance of her patronage and her pivotal contribution to the artistic collection that the Museum now preserves. As in previous editions, this scientific meeting was designed with the intention of recovering, studying, and disseminating the cultural agency of the women of Europe’s royal houses, whose collections and artistic decisions have left a profound imprint on the identity of the Museum.

Throughout the sessions, a group of notable national and international specialists will examine the political, cultural, and dynastic context in which Elisabeth Farnese advanced her patronage; the mechanisms through which she built her public image as queen consort in the exercise of her power; the complex network of mediators that made the realization of her collections possible; and her extraordinary relevance in the fields both of painting and classical sculpture. From an initial analysis of the interests of other queenly European patrons—for instance, Maria Theresa of Austria, Catherine II, and Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz—to a specific consideration of Isabel de Farnesio’s own collecting activities, this symposium invites reflection on female artistic agency in the Modern Age and its impact on the circulation of works, the promotion of artists, and the consolidation of new narratives of power.

As complementary activities, the meeting will include the screening of a documentary dedicated to Isabel de Farnesio and a visit to the exhibition El Prado en femenino III. The exhibition explores the legacy this queen passed on, underscoring how her work in the field of artistic promotion definitively contributed to enriching the Museum’s collection. With this initiative, the Museo del Prado consolidates an essential line of work that explores the actions of these queens who made possible an essential part of the legacy that we are fortunate to continue to admire today.

m o n d a y ,  9  m a r c h

9.30  Registration

10.00  Introductions
• Alfonso Palacio (Museo del Prado)
• Cristina Hernández Martín (Women’s Institute)
• Noelia García Pérez (University of Murcia)

10.30  Empress Maria Theresa and the Politics of Habsburg Imperial Art — Michael Yonan (University of California)

11.15  Power and Paint: The Patronage of Women Artists at the Court of Catherine II — Rosalind Polly Blakesley (University of Cambridge)

12.30  Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: How a Queen Promoted Both Art and Female Artists in English Society — Heidi A. Strobel (University of North Texas)

16.00  Round table | Isabel de Farnesio: A Queen Consort in the Exercise of Power
Moderator: Carlos González Navarro (Museo del Prado)
• María de los Ángeles Semper (University of Barcelona)
• Giulio Sodano (Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)
• Pablo Gestal (Sorbonne Université, Centre Roland Mousnier)

17.00  Round table | The Patronage of Isabel de Farnesio: State of the Art
Moderator: Ana González Mozo (Museo del Prado)
• Ángel Aterido (Complutense University of Madrid)
• Antonio Iommelli (Farnese Palace Museums)

t u e s d a y ,  1 0  m a r c h

10.00  Isabel de Farnesio en las colecciones del Museo del Prado — Noelia García Pérez (University of Murcia)

10.45  Round table | The Construct of the Image of the Queen: From Molinaretto to Van Loo
Moderator: Noelia García Pérez
• Sandra Antúnez (Complutense University of Madrid)
• Andrés Úbeda (Museo del Prado)
• Mercedes Simal (University of Jaén)

12.00  Round table | From Christina of Sweden to Isabel de Farnesio: Collections of Classical Sculpture
Moderator: Ana Martín (Museo del Prado)
• Manuel Arias (Museo del Prado)
• Juan Ramón Sánchez del Peral (Museo del Prado)
• Mercedes Simal (University of Jaén)

16.00  El boceto de Santa Ana enseñando a leer a la Virgen: La sustracción y retorno del boceto de Murillo del Museo del Prado — Benito Navarrete (Complutense University of Madrid)

16.45  Screening of the documentary

17.15  Viewing of the exhibition The Female Perspective III