Vivencia y memoria de la Guerra de la Independencia. Guided tour program

Fundación Lázaro Galdiano. Calle Serrano, 122. Madrid

The exhibition Vivencia y Memoria de la Guerra de la Independencia in the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano gives an evocative and fascinating insight into the War of Independence using the stories and eyewitness accounts of people involved in the conflict, who recorded their impressions in a highly personal way, showing the intimate and direct realities of their war experience. Stories and testimonials that are juxtaposed in the exhibition with more than fifty items, including manuscripts, medals, paintings, engravings, weapons, fans, jewellery, books, letters, etc. that reveal details of the complex and diverse late 18^th and early 19^th century society.

The exhibition is structured around two unpublished manuscripts kept by the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano and displayed for the first time. The first is the diary of a military engineer, José María Román, written during his adventures as a defender of Zaragoza in 1808 and his life as a prisoner of the French in Spain and France until 1814. The second manuscript is a narrative of memories of this time of transition from the 18^th to the 19^th centuries and the outcome of the events that followed at the dawn of contemporary Spain. This is a print original, sent at the request of José Lázaro, for publication by La España Moderna. Its author, Ceferino Araujo, constructs discourse and narration through the illustrations, which provide the main source of information and the hooks on which to hang fragile human memories, preventing them from fading away.

The programme of guided tours organised by hablarenarte: is intended to offer visitors the key concepts of the exhibition narrative. The section on experiences makes use of a selection of items to describe military art, the main protagonists, life before the conflict and the view of the victims, scenarios and ruins. In the section on memory, the itinerary pauses at works that best summarise the narrative and memory of the War of Independence.

Useful information

• Closed program
• Audience: adult public in general
• Days: Monday to Sunday (closed on Tuesday)
• Times: 12.00 h.
• Duration: Approximately 45 minutes
• Groups: maximum 25 people
• Price: free entrance until all places have been taken

Organised by: Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales
Project: Fundación Lázaro Galdiano
Guided tours program: hablarenarte: