
Goya’s The Duchess of Alba, 1797
(Picture: The Hispanic Society of America, New York)It would be a brave institution that sets out to sum up the art of the Hispanic world in the space of a single exhibition, but fortunately for the Royal Academy, this bold endeavour was already undertaken by Archer M Huntington.
The American philanthropist set up the Hispanic Society of America, a museum and library in New York in 1904. The building is being renovated, a cue for its treasures to go on tour. Like Archer M Huntington in his youth, they have come to London.