A Look Into Treasures of Spain’s Royal Palaces

A Mississippi museum notable for its large-scale exhibits of royal rooms and wares has added another, “The Majesty of Spain,” which opened last week and continues through Sept. 3.

Billed as the largest exhibition of Spanish royal treasures ever presented in North America, the show includes re-creations of five rooms from palaces and royal residences. The most elaborate is the 18th century Porcelain Room, with walls and ceiling coated entirely in porcelain reliefs of Chinese figures, dragons, insects and other chinoiserie.

In an operation estimated to cost more than $800,000, artisans created resin copies of the original porcelain sections at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Spain, painted them and installed them at the museum, using about 11,000 screws, an official said.

Other exhibit highlights include a 55-foot-long gilded gondola; a royal carriage of King Ferdinand VII (1784-1833); paintings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) and Francisco Jose de Goya (1746-1828); and a throne. Among the many objects on display are chandeliers, candelabra, costumes, tapestries and armaments from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Mississippi Arts Pavilion in Jackson, Miss., where the exhibit is being held, also mounted the “Palaces of St. Petersburg: Russian Imperial Style” show in 1996 and “Splendors of Versailles” in 1998.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $14 age 60 and over, $10 for students and $5 under age 18. Reservations are recommended. Telephone (800) 960-9900, Internet https://www.majestyofspain.com.