El Royal Monastery of the Incarnation It is a convent of Augustinian Recollect nuns. The institution, to which ladies of the high nobility belonged, was founded by the queen Margaret of Austria, wife Philip III, at the beginning of the 17th century. Due to the artistic collections it houses, along with the Real Barefoot, one of the most prominent temples in Madrid.
The work was commissioned to the architect Fray Alberto de la Madre de Dios, the work was carried out between the years 1611 and 1616. The façade responds to a model of Herrerian inspiration, sober, of great austerity. It created a school and was imitated by other Spanish temples. Several reliquaries are preserved in the church, one of them is said to contain the blood of Saint Pantaleón; and (according to tradition) it liquefies every year on the saint's day, July 27 (the relics still have their attraction). The museum depends on the National Heritage and can be visited.
The driving force behind the creation of the monastery was Queen Margarita, which is why the monastery was known among the people of Madrid as the daisies. History tells that the reason for the construction was to perpetuate the memory and commemoration of a historical event: the ordinance made by King Philip III, of the expulsion of the Moriscos who still remained in Madrid.
The building was built on the site occupied by the houses of the Marquises of Pozas, from whom the king bought them, due to its proximity to the Royal Alcázar, since this way the kings could directly enter the church through an existing passageway.
This passage was built at the request of the queen so as not to cause inconvenience, since she frequently visited the monastery (this passage gave rise to countless gossip and rumors about the frequent visits of different Kings to the novices of the convent throughout our history).
The king himself laid the first stone of the building, an act that was done with great solemnity and pageantry. Months later, on October 3, 1611, the queen died without having seen this work completed.
On July 2, 1616, the day of the Visitation, the monastery and its church were inaugurated with a great party that lasted for days.
Before her death, Queen Margaret had been in charge of writing letters with requests for the convent; large and sumptuous gifts and donations arrived from various parts of Spain and abroad. The queen gave an unusual gift, the meaning of which is still a mystery: the bed where her son, the future king, was born. Philip IV.
During the 18th and 19th centuries the history of the monastery continues, it is known that Manuel Godoy, valid Charles IV, he attended mass at the monastery church every day, taking a walk from his residence, the Floridablanca palace (current Ministry of the Navy). When Joseph Bonaparte resided in Madrid as king, one day a hanged cat appeared on the monastery fence with a writing:
"If you don't clean up your mess soon, / you'll look like this cat.". A sample of the rebellious spirit of the inhabitants of Madrid.
In the 18th century the interior of the church was renovated by Ventura Rodríguez, who was in charge of its decoration, along with other neoclassical painters and sculptors. New altarpieces and several important canvases that are still admired today.
The architectural part is carved in jaspers, marble and gilded bronze. Throughout the entire nave you can see a series of canvases with the theme of the life of Saint Augustine, which are complemented by the frescoes in the vault of the main chapel, the work of Francisco Bayeu.
In the center of the main altarpiece you can see the painting of The Annunciation by Vicente Carducho, framed by two pairs of Corinthian columns, and on both sides the images of Saint Augustine and his mother Saint Monica, in the style of Gregorio Fernández.
There is an important collection of painting and sculpture, highlighting the works of Lucas Jordán, Juan van der Hamen, Pedro de Mena, José de Mora (Dolorosa), and Gregorio Fernández (Christ Lying and Christ Tied to the Column).
The tabernacle is a masterpiece by Ventura Rodríguez. The small statues of the Holy Doctors that adorn it are the work of Isidro Carnicero.
In the 19th century, the Madrid religious and composer Lorenzo Román Nielfa was a music teacher at the convent, leaving his musical library, which contains works by masters from the 16th and 17th centuries, as a legacy to the Incarnation upon his death.
The monastery was opened to the public in 1965. In the 1960s a statue of Lope de Vega, work of Mateo Inurria.
A very interesting place, next to the Royal Palace and in which many fewer visitors enter than it deserves, partly due to its austere appearance, which makes it less attractive than it really is.
A abrazo.