Dreams and ingenuity, civil engineering books from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment

Exhibitions

The exhibition Sueño e Ingenio. Libros de ingeniería civil: del Renacimiento a las Luces [Dreams and ingenuity, civil engineering books from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment] will be open to the public at the National Library (Paseo de Recoletos, 20-22, 28001 Madrid) from 31 January to 25 October 2020.

Further to public health recommendations for the Region of Madrid, the National Library announces the temporary suspension of its face-to-face services and of access to the exhibition.

The exhibition aims to raise awareness of and appreciation for Spain’s little known but extraordinary bibliographic heritage on Modern Age civil engineering. Many of the works have never been publicly displayed before or have only been shown or studied in very different contexts. The manuscripts, engravings, paintings, scale models and above all printed matter exhibited cover the definition of civil engineering and the many discourses around roads, canals, ports and waterworks formulated in Spain from the early sixteenth through the early nineteenth centuries.

 

Organised by Fundación Juanelo Turriano in conjunction with the National Library, the exhibition includes assets treasured by both institutions. It also features items lent by the Crown Heritage, San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, National Etchings Institute, Chartered Institution of Architects of Madrid, Army Museum, Armed Forces Cultural Centre, Naval Museum Archives, Prado Museum, Hoyo de Manzanares Academy of Army Engineers, Ministry of Public Works and Palau Antiguitats.

Technical data

• Curator: Daniel Crespo Delgado
• Coordinator: Begoña Sánchez-Aparicio García y Covadonga Álvarez-Quiñones del Gallego.
  Área de Difusión de la Biblioteca Nacional de España
• Editing director and designer:Bernardo Revuelta Pol

Visit the exhibition online

Download brochure (In Spanish)

Read online catalogue(In Spanish)

Bibliographic data sheet

Image slideshow