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Juan de Zurbarán and Anton Raphael Mengs enter the National Collection
The National Museum incorporates a still life by Juan de Zurbarán and a self-portrait by Anton Raphael Mengs, which reinforce its Hispanic and European art collections.
The National Collection of Catalonia is expanding its holdings with two works of exceptional relevance. The Department of Culture of the Generalitat of Catalonia has incorporated, through a payment donation, the Still Life of the Chocolate Mill , by Juan de Zurbarán, and a Self-Portrait by Anton Raphael Mengs, two paintings that become part of the Catalan public heritage and will be integrated into the collections of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC).
The incorporation is based on the proposal of the National Museum itself, which selected and studied the two pieces and particularly valued their quality, uniqueness and ability to enrich national collections. The reports prepared by the museum and by the Museums and Protection of Movable Property Service of the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage also highlight their exceptional interest.
Both works come from the Bertran family collection, an outstanding private Catalan collection specializing in Spanish and European Baroque art and built over several generations. The case of the still life by Juan de Zurbarán also has a particular significance for the history of Catalan collecting. The work had been part of the collection of Francesc Cambó, who gave it to his lawyer, Josep Bertran i Musitu, in gratitude for his services. Its entry into the National Museum allows for the recovery of a piece linked to one of the country's great historical collections for the public heritage and expands the set of works by Cambó that are already part of the MNAC's collection.
'Still Life of the Chocolate Mill', by Juan de Zurbarán.
Dating from around 1640, the Still Life with the Chocolate Mill stands out both for its pictorial quality and for its unusual iconography. The chocolate mill becomes the center of a composition that allows us to approach the customs, everyday objects and material culture of the Hispanic Baroque. The work also contributes to reinforcing the presence of Juan de Zurbarán in national collections, which is especially significant if we take into account that the known catalog of the Sevillian painter is relatively small.
The other addition is a Self-Portrait by Anton Raphael Mengs, made around 1775. Considered one of the main representatives of European neoclassicism, Mengs exerted a decisive influence on 18th-century academic art and especially cultivated the genre of the self-portrait. The piece also presents a unique documentary trajectory, since it is recorded practically from the moment of its creation and contributed to fixing the image of the artist that would later be disseminated in biographies and studies for more than a century. Between November 2025 and March 2026, the work was part of the monographic exhibition dedicated to Mengs at the Museo Nacional del Prado.
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