The palace was constructed in the late 15th century, a time associated with a robust economy in the area, which included the construction of the Alcazar Real and the Casa de Pilatos.[3] It was built by the Pineda family, Lords of Casabermeja.[4] In 1496, Pedro Pineda, Mayor of the city, and his wife Doña Maria de Monsalve sold their home to Doña Catalina de Ribera, widow of Governor Don Pedro Enriquez, to raise ransom money to retrieve Don Juan de Pineda, taken prisoner by the Moors.[5] Thereafter, a series of expansions occurred, later forming a Renaissance palace under the auspices of Fernando Enrique de Ribera y Quinones and especially his widow Doña Inés Portocarrero y Cardenas (great-great-grandmother of Ana de Velasco y Girón).[4]
A sculpture in one of the palace's courtyards
The building became the property of the House of Alba after the marriage of the 5th Marchioness of Villanueva del Río to the 4th Duke of Alba.
The palace's name derives from the monastery of Santa María de las Dueñas, which in 1248 was known to house nuns and servants of Saint Ferdinand and Alfonso X the Wise. The monastery was in the palace's periphery and was destroyed in 1868. The palace underwent significant renovation in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The palace is fitted with long passageways.[6] As in the Casa de Pilatos, the staircase of this palace was built beneath a vaulted roof.[1] At the top floor is a room whose ceiling has an octagonal shape and is decorated with gold alfarje.
The entry door is of Mudéjar style.[7] The palace was fitted with eleven patios, nine fountains, and over 100 marble columns. Of these, one patio remains, and it is surrounded by a gallery with columns.[1] The Andalusian patio, like a similar one at Casa de Pilatos, dominates the exterior of the property. At the entrance to the palace, in the main archway, there is the shield of the Duchy of Alba in tiles, made by Triana of Seville in the 17th or 18th century. The gardens hold very important and unique species of plants (for example, one of the oldest Cycas revoluta in the world). Its fabulous bougainvillea facade is an icon of the Palace.
Text in the plaque
Original plaque
English translation
El poeta
Antonio Machado nació en esta casa
en julio de mccmlxxv
No la ha olvidado en sus versos:
Esta luz de Sevilla ... es el palacio
donde nací con su rumor de fuente.
Mi infancia son recuerdos de un patio
y un huerto claro donde madura el limonero
The poet
Antonio Machado was born in this house
in July of mccmlxxv
He has not forgotten it in his verses:
This light of Seville ... is the palace
where I was born with his rumor of fountain.
My childhood are memories of a patio
and a bright potager where the lemon tree ripens
Grounds and chapel
Chapel of Las Dueñas
The courtyard garden, divided into four parts in keeping with its traditional Islamic style, includes tiled paths and a centralized raised fountain.[8] The palace garden's lemon trees and fountain are recurring symbols in Machado's poetry.[9] Behind the garden is a courtyard surrounded by arches with columns of white marble. The arch situated west of the courtyard in the lower galleries gives access to the building that was used as chapel. The 15th-century chapel has fared badly during restorations.[1] The altar contains several tiles with metallic reflections, typical of 16th-century Seville ceramics.
It is also said that Amerigo Vespucci married María Cerezo in this chapel at the beginning of the 16th century.
Collections
Mercury Enamored of Herse, one of the best tapestries in the world ("uno de los 10 mejores tapices del mundo"), woven by Willem Pannemaker, 1570[10]
One of its main attractions is a large, decorative art collection which contains 1,425 artifacts. According to the newspaper El País, these items are protected under Andalusian law, prohibiting their sale and safeguarding their place in the palace. There is a large collection of Italian and Spanish paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries including Jacopo Bassano (Los cacharreros), Sofonisba Anguissola, Annibale Carracci, Francesco Furini (La creación de Eva), Luca Giordano, Giovanni Paolo Panini, Jusepe de Ribera (Cristo coronado de espinas), Francisco Antolínez, Joaquín Inza, and Neri di Bicci. There is also a watercolor by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, painted during her visit in 1960 when she stayed in the bedroom once used by France's Empress Eugénie de Montijo.[11] The paintings represent only a small part of the family's artworks, most of which are in Madrid's Liria Palace. The Palacio de las Dueñas also has a significant collection of antique furniture, ceramics, and other artifacts, including decorative arts, sculpture of Ancient Rome and contemporary (Mariano Benlluire), Flemish tapestries of the 16th and 17th centuries (Willem de Pannemaker), mosaics, and many other pieces of art.
^Time. Time Inc. April 1966. p. 102. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
Bibliography
FALCÓN MÁRQUEZ, Teodoro (2003). El Palacio de las Dueñas y las casas-palacios sevillanas del siglo XVI. Sevilla. Editorial: Fundación Aparejadores. ISBN84-95278-47-2
