Cervantes, soldier and poet of the Spanish Infantry
From 29/11/2016 to 02/05/2017. Every week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Curator: Germán Dueñas Beraiz, Head of the Department of Weapons of the Army Museum.
Introduction by the Commissioner:
When a few years ago I was asked to be part of an exhibition project that dealt with the figure of Cervantes as a soldier, I was assailed by a feeling that was formed by a mixture of responsibility and enthusiasm. That initial idea of a choral type, and focused above all on the military history of our country in one of the most interesting periods of our history, led to an exhibition that paid a necessary tribute to one of the most important figures of universal literature, Don Miguel de Cervantes, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his death. It is also due to having as a physical space one of the most present territories, both in his personal life and the setting for many of his works, beyond being the main environment of the adventures of the ingenious gentleman.
Little by little, the possibility of this project being dual was raised, in which two museums such as the Museum of Santa Cruz de Toledo and the Museum of the Army of Toledo, both separated by just a few meters, would be the venues for this event. To this end, the complexity of any event of these characteristics was doubled, and it has involved a coordination effort by two institutions as complex as the Ministry of Defence and the Junta de Castilla la Mancha.
That is why we thought it would be a good system to create a double exhibition, which would include in each of the venues two important aspects in the life of the distinguished writer, and which in turn influenced the creation and development of his work in a fundamental way.
