iMuseo Arqueológico NacionalRecoletos
Un instante atrapado en bronce: patrimonio recuperado
This exhibition has ended.
A Roman-era bronze sculptural group recovered by Spain's National Police, displayed intact with its original bases in the Hispania Romana galleries.
Museum websiteMore in Madrid
Two bronze girls, each about 70 centimetres tall, lunge after partridges. One has a rounder face, the other more detailed drapery, and their glass-paste eyes still show eyelashes.
Cast by the lost-wax method between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD, the pair were dug up illegally at a southern Spanish site in 2007 or 2008. They were sold at Christie's in New York in 2012 with a falsified provenance, and the Policía Nacional's Heritage Brigade recovered them in December 2025. Unusually for Roman bronzes, they survive with their original bases, with one fractured hand. Anyone who has watched a toddler chase the pigeons in the Retiro will know the pose.
They stand in a vitrine in the Patio de Hispania Romana, first floor, room 20, until 25 October, then travel to Mérida. Entry is €3, free on Saturdays from 14:00 and Sunday mornings. Closed Mondays.
Editor's pick
A Roman bronze sculptural group recovered by Spain's National Police, shown intact on its original bases in the Hispania Romana galleries.
Look for
The two partridge-chasing girls
Two bronze children about 70 cm tall, caught mid-lunge after partridges, one with a rounder face and the other with more detailed drapery.
The glass-paste eyes
Look close for the eyelashes still visible around the inlaid eyes.
The original bases
Both groups still stand on the bases they were made with, which is rare for Roman bronze.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Cheap Culture
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want a large show: it is two sculptures in a single vitrine.
Also at Museo Arqueológico Nacional
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Image credits
8
- Museo Arqueológico NacionalCoralma*, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0
- Women Artists: Pathways through Pre-Raphaelitism (1850-1914)© Musée d’Orsay, dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Sophie Crépy
- The Other Face of the Avant-GardeCourtesy of Fundación MAPFRE – Sala Recoletos
- Minor WhiteCourtesy of Fundación MAPFRE – Sala Recoletos
- Fundación MAPFRE – Sala RecoletosBeautyriver1010, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Casa de AméricaCarlos Delgado (Kadellar), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museo Nacional de Artes DecorativasLuis García (Zaqarbal), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museo NavalFernando, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0