Real Academia de la Historia Congress Examines Mayorazgo's Impact on Art Collecting, 1505–1841

Key facts

• The congress takes place 24–25 November 2026 at the Auditorio de la Real Academia de la Historia.
• It is organized by the Centro de Estudios de la Nobleza with the M/ARTE research project (UNED), PID2023-146321NB-I00, funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades.
• Coordinators are Whitney Marie Dennis (Saint Louis University-Madrid), José Miguel Hernández Barral (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Antonio Urquízar Herrera (UNED).
• Five sessions structure the programme, from "Mayorazgo y temporalidad" to international 19th-century conservation strategies.
• Krzysztof Pomian (CNRS, Paris; Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń) gives the opening lecture on the private collection between the ephemeral and the perennial.
• The historical frame runs from the Leyes de Toro of 1505 to the abolition of the mayorazgo in 1841, plus later patrimonial reconfiguration.
• The starting hypothesis holds that linking artworks to mayorazgos had social, economic and ideological effects on the art system, the latter largely overlooked.
• Attendance is free and in person but requires online registration; places are limited and assigned by order of inscription.