Resumen de Piazza Barberini: a Spanish artists' district in eighteenth-century Rome
Jorge García Sánchez, Cándido de la Cruz Alcañiz
Painter Francisco Preciado de la Vega played a significant role by providing a focal point for Spanish artists in Rome in an area of the city away from that favored by artists of other nationalities. In 1758, Preciado was selected to fill the post of director de los pensiones, a new post created for an official who would be responsible for the Spanish scholars in Rome and replace the Italian masters who had previously provided their training. His responsibilities also encompassed informing the Real Academia of the students' progress in the arts and of their conduct, as well as bringing them to view the chief works of art in Rome's churches and art galleries. From 1766, several Spanish artists were listed as living on the third floor of his home in piazza Barberini, later known as the Real Academia de España in Rome, where both scholars and artists could find hospitality. The concentration of Spanish artists around piazza Barberini ended with Preciado's death in 1789.
