Museum of Malaga - Art

The 19th century was one of the most significant periods in Málaga’s history. The booming economy, the rising bourgeoisie and urban planning reforms combined to forge its identity, and that of the future Museum of Málaga. In those years, the development of industry and trade facilitated the establishment of a liberal bourgeois class who, motivated by that material prosperity, began to show their interest in the arts and education. They created centres for learning and institutions like the School of Fine Arts and the Royal Academy of San Telmo, which soon replaced the church and nobility as the new patrons of art.

Málaga underwent an unprecedented urban transformation as working-class neighbourhoods sprang up, the historic quarter was remodelled, and new venues of artistic enjoyment and entertainment were built, such as the Cervantes Theatre. The painter Bernardo Ferrándiz was hired to decorate the theatre’s interior. The great painting on the ceiling of the performance hall was to feature the port and railway station as symbols of Málaga’s enterprising spirit and progress. Industry, commerce and agriculture were also represented in this allegorical composition, which presents the city as a protector and patron of the fine arts.Read more