Leather Gallery in Viana Palace, Cordoba (Spain)

Leather Gallery

        The gallery of the leathers is one of the most interesting lounge of the palaceLeather Gallery, because it keeps a private collection of Guadamecies and Cordobanes one of the richest and numerous of our city. It is composed by thirty six pieces belonging to the XV and XIX Century. An oil painting is to be stand out: this one is made on leather and it represents the "Holy Face", or two covered by chests, and another of the book, this last one was dated of the XV Century, the oldest of the collection, bought by the II Marquis of Viana in 1925.
        A cordoban is the old skin of the goat, usually from the male goat. When the leather is decorated it receives  the name of Guadameci. This technique was introduced in our city in the VIII Century by the muslim crafters, very good at working the leather. They were made in Seville, Toledo and Barcelona… but mainly inLeather Gallery Detail Córdoba. The time made them to darken and they can not be spot out by the visitors; however it is a wonderful collection.
        In the middle of the galleries we can appreciate three show windows, the first of them shows the titles of the nobles of Castille, belonging to the XV and XVII Century. The second shows three executions of the nobility of the XVII Century and the book of Belmonte. The third represents an unique book collection of hunting and sceptres, belonging to the XVI and XIX Century.
        All these pieces were jealously guarded in the house until recently, specifically to 1973 when, at the V Assembly of Cultural Institutions of Deputies, the collection was displayed to the public at the Palace of Mercy, forming part of the exhibition "Córdoba Cordobanes and Guadamecíes" organized by Don Manuel Nieto Cumplido, current filer of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba.


Text: J.A.S.C.

Traslated by Sara Moretti