In his book  of memories, Historias inseparables (Singapur 2001) The Samoan writer Albert Hannover writes about the short but decisive time he spent in Madrid when he was 16 years old. Due to her Russian ancestry and the vast knowledge about the subject, his mother  -who had been Tarkovski personal consultant during the filming of the admirable biographical movie about  the famous medieval  painter Andrei Rubilov ,and who wrote  probably the most inspiring and seductive book around his enigmatic figure- had been hired to carry out a job that wasn’t too clear and that was related with the Icon Museum of Torrejón de Ardoz.

This singular museum is the biggest icon museum in all of western Europe and is located in a antinuclear bunker called “La Casa Grande” near the old American military base of Torrejon de Ardoz near Madrid, which back in the day was fully functional, and which once again provoked the expected speculations of spying  related one way or another with el lineage of the Hannover or her own life

According to the book, one of the most vivid experiences that shocked the writer  was visiting the Lazaro Galdiano Museum with his class, where he saw a small portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci  which according to the museum guide, was painted by the master himself.  For years, this portrait hung  beside the dance salon and the magnificent palace gardens -which 100 years before were built by the publisher and art collector Lazaro Galdiano on number 122 of the elegant Serrano Street as a love gift for a women – which were the only memories Albert Hannover recalled of the museum trip. His surprise was huge when he returned to the museum two decades later and realized that among many other treasures there was a magnificent collection of Greco’s, Bosco, Cranachi, el Viejo, Sanchez, Coello, Murillo and  Zurbarán  painting as well as a room dedicated to Goya that he could barely remember.

Museum web site:  http://www.flg.es/.

Strangely the Leonardo portrait had disappeared. Even though the same painting that had fascinated him as a child remained in the exact same spot, the portrait was now attributed not to the Leonardo, but to a less important painter of his surroundings  such as Ambrogio de Predis or even Pseudo Boltraffio, which had resulted in a evident  loss of prestige manifested by the very little attention of the museum visitors paid to it compared to twenty years ago.

His impression of this second visit to the museum was as powerful as the first one, those deeply fragmented memories  had accompanied him for so many years were reaffirmed  as well as his understanding  of life and his conviction that you always must distrust  memory and identity, something that certainly didn’t stop him tremendously enjoying the visit to the museum

Paul Oilzum

The Lazaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid is one of the msot beautiful, secret and fascinating museums in the city. You should visit it when renting Madrid accommodation

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Translated by: Marc
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