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PHOTOS FROM NOVEMBER 2013 TRIP

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THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WATERY PARADISE IN GANDIA

The Alquería del Duc was a medieval fortified farmhouse built in the sixteenth century. It was bought in 1590 by Alfonso de Borja, the youngest son of the famous San Francisco de Borja, IV Duke of Gandia.

* Report by Karla Darocas. Hons. B.A. (Copyright 2019)

Alfonso transformed the straggly farmhouse into a romantic summer residence suitable for the Nobels and visiting Royals to frolic, fish and hunt. Unfortunately, due to his death in 1593, his renovations were not finished.

After his death, the property was held by his widow Elionor de Noroña from 1593 to 1596. When she decided to move her residence from Gandia to Madrid, the Royal Council of Madrid in 1596 granted the use of the property to the Society of Jesus; the religious order that her father-in-law served and made famous.

In 1600, when Leonor de Noroña died, her testamentary executors sold the farm to Francisco Carlos de Borja Centelles, IX Duke of Gandía, and his wife María Ponce de León 1700 pounds.

The building and the gr…

THE STORY OF JAVEA

Explore and Learn About the History of JÁVEA by visiting its most exciting and unique monuments and museum with Spanish Fine Arts & Architecture Historian / Educator, Karla Darocas, Hons. B. A. (KarlaDarocas.com)

MEETING PLACE: Central Indoor Market * The Cafe shop La Paraeta at the Calle San Marco door. Beside Carniceria Mutt https://goo.gl/maps/CL6yXQMw2zM2
- Come early for your coffee.

BOOKING form below...

TIMES: 10:30 - 13:00 finish times depends on bathroom breaks :)

FEE 10 euros: includes LECTURE & WALKING ROUTE / MAP, in case you get lost or separated from group

MAX. 5 students per group MAX

END OF WALK: Get a beverage and Q & A time...
NOTE: If you enjoy ancient artifacts then you can head back to the museum after the lecture.

PARKING in the Municipal Parking Lots...

REVIEWS: www.KarlaDarocas.com

ABOUT THE WALK

This is a "walking" lecture in the old town of Xàbia / Jávea exploring the eras from the 14th - 20th centuriesExamine both civic and sacred architec…

PERFECT POLYCHROME BUSTS FROM FAMOUS 17TH CENTURY SCULPTOR IN GANDIA

For students and admirers of Renaissance polychrome statues, you must visit the Museum of Santa Clara in Gandía, where you will fine two very famous and stunning polychrome busts. They were gifts offered by the X Duke of Gandía, Pascual Francisco de Borja (1653-1716) and his wife, Juana Fernández de Córdoba, when their two daughters took their vows at the Monastery of Santa Clara.

* Report by Karla Darocas. Hons. B.A. (Copyright 2019)

The first bust is of Mary, or the Virgin of Pain and in Spanish, "Dolorosa".

At once the viewer is overwhelmed with her beauty and elegance.

Mary is gazing off to the sky. Immediately you see that she has been crying out of compassion for the pain of her son. It is a strong dramatic sculpture that transmits feeling to the viewer and especially to the devotee. It represents a high degree of dignity, humanity and universal pain that human beings transmit to another human beings; a mother to another mother; a son to his parents, a brother to his b…

THE UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF GOYA'S MISSING SKULL

THE ENIGMA

Dionisio Fierros (1827-1894 ) was a Spanish Romantic painter who in 1849 painted a "vanitas", an allegorical still life, for the Marquis of San Adrián of Navarra.

It wasn't a very robust work of art, especially in an era of great Romanticism and drama.

It was a traditional "vanitas" of a skull, which was the most common symbol representing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. It was a human skull displayed in a three quarter view. It had no jaw. It rested on a green carpet. It showed many dental failures. The color used was a toasted yellow.

It would have been a fairly boring 44 x 37 cm oil on canvas painting had it not been for the three words written on the back of the wooden frame, in sepia ink; ' Skull of Goya '.

Report by Karla Darocas. Hons. B.A. (Copyright 2019)

GOYA IN EXILE

Don Francisco de Goya decided to leave Spain in 1824, in part due to his dislike for Ferdinand VII's Bourbon doctrine…

TRIBUTE TO TOLEDO * PART 2

TRIBUTE TO TOLEDO * PART TWO is a presentation (lecture and slideshow) about the Renaissance - Golden Agehistory of Toledo explored through its cultural evolutions, arts and architecture. Presented by Spanish Fine Arts & Architecture Historian, Karla Darocas, Hons. B.A. (KarlaDarocas.com)

About.
Toledo came into the Renaissance like no other place in Spain with vibrant and unique displays of splendour and impressiveness.

Queen Isabella was a big part of the adventure with her personal flamboyant and ornate architectural mark upon the city, followed by a host of imperial and imposing exhibits of grandeur that persisted even after its fall as the Royal seat.

Toledo's continued its religious stronghold as a capital city and now ranks as one of the top historical monumental tourist attraction in the World.

The human imagination and classical knowledge combined to make Toledo one of the most fascinating cities to study for art, architecture, history and cultural studies for student…

XÁBIA , JOSÉ ANTONIO BOLUFER AND HIS SHIP MYSTERY

This is a story about a small village, a large wharf, a visionary business man and his fleet and a tiny treat of dried fruit.

The Xábia wharf was finished in 1879 and all of the small fishing boats and transport barges that would normally be stranded on the beach could now properly anchor. The large size of the wharf allowed for the berthing of a variety of boats, many of them owned by the main merchants of Xábia.

Pailebot PEPE TONO. From the book Xabia Marinera. Graphic Memory
REPORT BY: Karla Darocas, Hons. B.A. Fine Arts (www.KarlaDarocas.com)

On any given day, the ships that moored in Xábia were Feluccas, a traditional Mediterranean wooden sailing boat; Jabeques, a triangular sailboat, with which one could also sail by rowing; Schooners, a type of sailing vessel with fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts; and Pailebotes, a type of sailing vessel that has had various uses: merchant , fishing or recreational yacht.

The ability to load and unload directly from land with greater spe…

XATIVA ART LOVERS TRIP - MAY 17, 2015

First SpainLifestyle Art Lovers Trip to Xativa. We had a super great adventure and everyone was really a joy to be involved with. I hope we can return next year. KD.

WATCH * 3D ANIMATION OF GALATEA OF THE SPHERES * A DALI PORTRAIT

Dali's passion for the sciences, as a way to express mysticism, comes into full vision in this mesmerizing painting - Galatea of the Spheres from 1952. It represents a synthesis of Renaissance art and atomic theory and illustrates the suspension of matter, the spheres themselves representing atomic particles.

WHO WAS ANDRÉ LAMBERT WITHIN THE HISTORY OF JÁVEA ARTS?

For many of you that have gone around Jávea on my Jávea Walk, we pop into a palace named Casa Lambert, which was preserved as an arts school and community artist exhibition space by the family of the French-Swiss painter, André Lambert.

So, who was Lambert and why was he so involved with the cultural life of Jávea?

Report by Karla Darocas (KarlaDarocas.com)

André Lambert Jordán (1884-1967) was a watercolorist, painter, engraver and Swiss-French architect who lived a large part of his life in Javea. For Lambert, Jávea was a gold mine of interest and he made many art works about the place from historical buildings to the unique landscape.

André Lambert was born in Switzerland on March 17, 1884, where he studied architecture at the School of Advanced Technical Studies in Munich. Later he went on to study Fine Arts in the Bavarian capital and it was these studies that ended him in Paris around 1908.

André established his first studio in Montparnasse, later moving to the Ile St. Louis.

In …

THE TALE OF SOROLLA'S HOLIDAY HORROR IN JAVEA

It was the summer of 1905 when the talented Valencian impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla brought his family to the Port of Jávea (Playa de la Grava) for a much needed holiday.

Inspired by the cliffs of both the Cape of San Antonio and Nou, and the turquoise sparkle of the east facing sea, Sorolla explored some of his greatest impressionist experiments of capturing light and underwater movement.

Report by Karla Darocas, Hon.B.A. (copyright 2019)

Clotilde and Elena in the rocks of Jávea (1905. Private collection)
A dedicated artist, Sorolla spent his holiday at work. However, to allow his family the freedom to swim, sun and enjoy their time on holiday too, Sorolla hired a nanny / maid to watch their youngest child Elena, cook, tidy and do their laundry at their 11 cents per day rental accommodation.

Unknown to the Sorolla family, this maid had a very jealous military boyfriend from Murcia who was going to turn their happy holiday into a hellish horror!

Versions of this story have circ…

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