Fernando Sánchez Castillo: La Perla Peregrina at the Palacio de Velázquez

A monumental sculpture turned into a swing and two riot-control vehicles dancing a pas de deux. Fernando Sánchez Castillo fills the Palacio de Velázquez in Retiro Park with a free exhibition about how power represents itself. 🎨🦪

It is organised by the Museo Reina Sofía and curated by Ferran Barenblit.

🎨 FERNANDO SÁNCHEZ CASTILLO. LA PERLA PEREGRINA

📅 24 June 2026 to 8 March 2027

🕐 Every day, 10 am to 6 pm (October to March)

📍 Palacio de Velázquez, Retiro Park

🎟️ Free admission

🦪 The story of a pearl

La Peregrina was found in Panama in the 16th century and reached the court of Philip II. Velázquez and his workshop painted it on Philip III's hat and at the waist of Isabel de Borbón. Joseph Bonaparte took it out of Spain and, centuries later, Richard Burton bought a pearl believed to be La Peregrina as a gift for Elizabeth Taylor. After another auction in 2011, it vanished again.

Pearls are born from an intrusion that the mollusc coats in nacre. For Sánchez Castillo, history works the same way: layers of stories and ceremonies covering a wound.

🏛️ The artist

Sánchez Castillo (Madrid, 1970) works mainly in sculpture. He takes monuments, gestures and images of power and changes their scale, material or use to strip away their solemnity, in dialogue with the Baroque, the avant-garde and conceptual art.

ℹ️ Good to know: closed on 25 December, 1 and 6 January. On 24 and 31 December it opens until 5 pm. Rooms are cleared 10 minutes before closing.

✨ A walk in the Retiro with plenty to think about.