Caption: Photographer Isabel Muñoz, together with Ana de la Cueva, President of Patrimonio Nacional, María Santoyo, Director of PHotoESPAÑA, and Joaquín Mollinedo, General Director of Institutional Relations, Communications and Brand at ACCIONA. / Interior of the Royal Collections Gallery with photographs from the exhibition.

The ‘Sky Stones’ exhibition by photographer Isabel Muñoz—winner of the 2016 Spanish National Photography Prize—opened today and will be on display in Madrid through September 6th in the Campo del Moro gardens, the Royal Collections Gallery and the museum’s Immersive Cube, as part of the official PHotoESPAÑA program.

The exhibition offers a fresh perspective on the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, not only as an architectural monument but as one of the great centers of universal knowledge in Renaissance Europe. Beyond its monumental scale, the project presents El Escorial as the embodiment of a profoundly modern vision based on the integration of science, technology, art, spirituality and nature.

Under the reign of King Philip II, the monastery gathered some of the most advanced knowledge of its time, spanning architecture, engineering, geometry, astronomy, cartography, hydraulics, stonemasonry, metallurgy and botany. Conceived in line with the humanist ideals of the Renaissance, El Escorial acted as a laboratory of technical innovation and thought, where this wisdom was understood as a tool for ordering the world in harmony with nature. Isabel Muñoz’s project symbolically traces this process of transformation of matter and knowledge.

As the result of intensive artistic research, the artist moves beyond the stereotypes associated with Philip II to explore the vestiges of his humanist vision, from the monastery library to the surrounding landscape, from the nearby quarries to the very last stone of the building.

The exhibition transcends traditional photography through a visual and material approach that combines images, media and artistic installation to create an immersive experience. Each visual layer and every material invites reflection on humanity’s capacity to transform natural resources, collective intelligence and technical skill into a lasting work.

The project’s narrative connects the legacy of El Escorial with contemporary challenges. In the 16th century, proportions, balance and harmony guided the construction of one of Europe’s great architectural landmarks, while today those same principles are essential for envisioning a new engineering capable of integrating innovation, sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Apart from Isabel Muñoz herself, the inauguration ceremony was attended by Ana de la Cueva, chair of Spain’s National Heritage Agency; María Santoyo, director of PHotoESPAÑA; and Joaquín Mollinedo, chief officer of Institutional Relations, Communications and Branding at ACCIONA, who all agreed on the value of art and culture as tools for generating collective awareness and dialogue on the relationship between knowledge, nature and progress.

TRILOGY

This exhibition is the third and final installment of the Fieldnotes project, a collaboration between ACCIONA, PHotoESPAÑA and Spain’s National Heritage Agency aimed at encouraging top Spanish photographers to highlight the natural and cultural heritage of Spain’s Royal Sites.

In previous editions, Fieldnotes featured Javier Vallhonrat (the 1995 Spanish National Photography Award winner) with the Aquatic Acuity exhibition, dedicated to the Royal Site of La Granja de San Ildefonso. Afterwards, the artist duo Bleda and Rosa (winners of the 2008 Spanish National Photography Award) created the second edition of this program with the Sunlight Hours series, focused on the gardens of the Monastery of Yuste.

ACCIONA and PHotoESPAÑA have maintained their partnership since 2017 with the goal of jointly highlighting an artistic perspective on the human impact on the environment.

PHotoESPAÑA is a photography festival that has taken place annually in Madrid since 1998 and has set an international benchmark in the visual arts, both for the quality of the artworks and artists on display in the official section and for the cultural initiatives it promotes to disseminate the cultural and aesthetic value of photography in society.