Roundtable: Spain through the Eyes of British Travellers

About the event

This event promises a fascinating deep dive into how British cultural figures have historically depicted Spain. The roundtable will bring together leading experts to discuss:

• Chronicled Impressions: An exploration of British artists, writers, and travellers’ portrayals of Spain over the last two centuries.
• Artistic Journeys: Insights into Frederic, Lord Leighton's travels to Spain, revealing how his experiences influenced his art.
• Women Travellers: A spotlight on the adventurous women of the 19th century whose narratives added a rich, often underexplored dimension to the depiction of Spain.
• Contemporary Perspectives: A look at the evolution of Spain’s image, from classical representations to its portrayal on modern social media and digital platforms.

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This collaboration between Leighton House and Instituto Cervantes London builds on the themes of the current exhibition, Leighton and Landscape: Impressions from Nature, offering a unique intersection across art, literature and travel, assuring an evening of rich, vibrant and insightful discussion.

Useful Information

• Doors open at 6:30pm for the chance to explore the historic house and exhibition.
• Roundtable will take place in Leighton's studio from 7-8:30pm.
• A paid bar will be open throughout the evening.
• Please note that Cristina Morató will present her section of the talk in Spanish; an interpreter will facilitate English translation.

Book tickets

Meet the Panel

Cristina Morató is a renown Spanish  journalist and writer. She has been travelling the world as a reporter for over twenty years and has visited more than sixty countries, writing numerous articles and reports. Her books highlighting women's travel literature include: Intrepid and Adventurous Travellers, The Queens of Africa, and The Ladies of the East.  Cristina Morató is a founding member of the Spanish Geographical Society and belongs to the prestigious Royal Geographic Society of London. She has just been included in the Forbes List of the 30 Most Influential Women in Tourism in Spain for her great work rescuing great forgotten travelers and explorers from oblivion. 

Alberto Egea Fernández-Montesinos is an associate professor in English Studies in the Department of Philology and Translation at Universidad Pablo Olavide in Seville, Spain. His research reflects on the social impact of the study of the image of nations in the development of their economies, specifically on the image of Spain in literary representations by British and American writers during the last two centuries. He has published and lectured on travel literature and the Image of Spain, British and American women writers, and nation branding in various universities in Britain, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Cuba, France, and Spain. He has published over 50 works, including monographs, articles and book chapters, and has curated various exhibitions both, onsite and online, on the topic of the image of Spain. Currently, he is the curator of the series “Travellers to Spain, a Cultural Tour: From 19th Century Views to Social Media Today” (2024-2025), which includes the fourth lectures session at Leighton House, and also for the 2026 exhibition “The Alhambra of Women Romantic Travellers” for the Patronage of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

Daniel Robbins is Senior Curator, Museums, with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and is responsible for Leighton House and Sambourne House. He led the award-winning refurbishment of Leighton House, which reopened in October 2022, and has organised many exhibitions and contributed to numerous catalogues and publications on 19th-century art, architecture and design. 

Véronique Gerard Powell, is a former Associate Professor at the University of Paris-Sorbonne.  She is specialist of Spanish History of Art  and has a special interested in British Victorian Art. Her first connection with Leighton House  was in 2014, when she c0-curated their exhibition A Victorian Obsession, a presentation of Juan Antonio Pérez Simón’s collection on Victorian paintings. She then published an article on Sir Frederic Leighton’s trips to Spain (2020) and has wrote the entries of several of his paintings for the recent exhibition Preraffaelliti Rinascimento Moderno, Forli, 2024. She has also published with Fernando Marías the Journey to Spain made by the French architect Charles Garnier in 1868  (2012). 

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