FROM FEBRUARY 27th TO JULY 5th 2026
OFFICIAL OPENING FRIDAY 27th OF FEBRUARY AT 10.30h
EVENING RECEPTION FRIDAY 27th OF FEBRUARY AT 19.00h
We are delighted to announce that a cornerstone for artistic exhibition and cultural dialogue as the Museo de Historias de Zaragoza is currently hosting a captivating intervention by Romulo Royo. Entitled Las Lámpades, the piece is presented as a meticulously crafted immersive installation, inviting visitors to step directly into the artist’s world.
This artistic installation explores the concept of inspiration as a process that transcends eras, contexts, and creators. The project stems from a notion of fantasy understood not only as escapism, but as a historical mechanism for generating imagery, thought, and artistic discourse.
Beyond the limits of the canvas, Romulo Royo presents a scene that unfolds as a map of the soul, the mash ceases to be a landscape to transform into a state of mind, the exact place in which creation is born. Here live the Lámpades, nymphs from the underworld, bearers of a torch that does not light the way, but sets sanity ablaze.
This scene is a dialogue between ethereal beauty and solemn monstruosity. The nymphs, serene and lethal, offer light to the center of the composition, a reinterpretation of the histrionic figure from Goya’s Caprichos. That “Miren que grabes!” by the Aragonese master. A mockery of false authority and of ignorance dressed up as importance is transfigured here into a beast enthroned in the mire.
Drinking from these dark waters is the pact the artist signs. Legend has it that the water of the Lámpades grants inspiration, but the price is madness. In this work, the light the nymph bears is the sacred and terrible bond, it points to the monster, reveals it and validates it. For in Romulo Royo’s universe, fantasy is not an escape, it is the bravery of looking the beast in its eyes and finding in it a sublime aesthetic.
PhD. Alejandra Rodríguez Cunchillos
PhD. in Art History
LAS LAMPADES, Romulo Royo.
Oil on canvas, 195 x 290 cm (76.77 x 114.17 in)
There is an unmistakable resonance here with one of Francisco de Goya’s Caprichos (“¡Miren que grabes!” / ‘Look, how solemn they are!’). That biting satire on the weight of ignorance is reimagined as the beast presiding over the pool. Goya remains a fundamental figure in the transition from Enlightenment’s reason to Romantic’s subjectivity; for him, as with this installation, fantasy was never at odds with social critique. Goya himself articulated this philosophy in the manifesto following the publication of his Caprichos:
“[The author] has chosen for purposes of his work, from among the multitude of eccentricities and blunders that are common in any civilised society… those which he has deemed more suitable for providing material for ridicule, whilst at the same time giving free rein to the author’s imagination.”
“...painting (much like poetry) selects from the universe that which it deems most fit for its own ends: it gathers into a single fantastic character those circumstances and temperaments which nature has scattered amongst many; from this ingeniously arranged combination, the artist achieves a mere imitation, earning the title of inventor rather than that of a servile copyist.”
Francisco de Goya, Diario de Madrid (February 6th 1799)
Furthermore, in his private correspondence with his friend Martín Zapater, Goya often referred to his mental state, using the word “dream” or “whim” to describe he’s freer works, those he created for himself rather than on commission.
MIREN QUE GRABES!, Francisco de Goya.
Etching, Aquatint, Drypoint on laid paper, 26,4 x 20,1 cm (62.48 x 51.05)
This intervention serves as a connection from Romulo Royo’s contemporary universe with the profound legacy of Art History. Furthermore, it highlights the growing significance of the Fantasy Art genre within the spheres of high-end contemporary art.
This great installation is not a mere tribute, but a dialogue between eras, where fantasy becomes the very framework of thought itself. To step through this veil is to surrender to the extraordinary. This history is woven into the canvas, but only you can complete the narrative.
We invite you to share in this experience at the Museo de Historias de Zaragoza (Plaza de San Agustín, 2, Casco Antiguo); (Friday) 27th February, official opening at 10:30h, followed by an evening reception at 19:00 h.
The intervention will be open to the public from 27th February through to 5th July 2026.