Wed, 21 Sept
|East Horsley Village Hall
Through the keyhole: Palaces of Spain
Join speaker Gail Turner for a tour of the Royal Palaces of Spain, their buildings, interiors and occupants.
Time & location
21 Sept 2022, 10:30
East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Ave, East Horsley, Leatherhead KT24 6QT
About the event
The palaces around Madrid, and the personalities of their occupants are the subject of this talk. We make a tour to Philip II’s great monastery-palace of El Escorial, and to La Granja near Segovia with its gardens reminiscent of Versailles. The Royal Palace in Madrid, designed for Philip V, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, has Tiepolo ceilings and a chinoiserie porcelain room. Aranjuez and its delightful Casa del Labrador, the Pardo Palace, and Riofrio, all reflect sophisticated Bourbon taste.
About the speaker
Gail Turner is a historian, art historian, and painter. Lecturer for The Arts Society since 1992, lectures regularly for the V&A High Renaissance and Baroque course, Art Pursuits, and the Art Fund. Has taught on Cambridge University International Summer Schools, the Courtauld Institute Summer Courses, Inscape, Gainsborough’s House and other arts organisations. She has led tours to Spain for The Arts Society and other tour companies. Lectured in the Prado and Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid 1983-5, was Deputy Curator of Keats Shelley Memorial House, Rome 1978-80, manager of the Courtauld Slide Scheme 1977, and a Christie’s consultant (Ill. MSS) 1976. Gail has recently given a course at the National Gallery, on Sorolla. In 2015 Gail was awarded the Encomienda de Isabel la Catolica (the equivalent of the CBE) by the King of Spain for promoting Spanish culture among British audiences, and was recently elected President of The Arts Society Colchester.
This event is free to members.
Visitors are welcome to join us - £5 on the door.