Family Stories: The Gastañeta Carrillo de Albornoz Collection at MALI

The exhibition presents for the first time a family collection of great significance to Peruvian history, consisting of portraits, religious paintings, and various objects. These pieces allow for an exploration of different aspects of life in the viceregal court of Lima during the 18th century.  

The Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI), in collaboration with the JOMA Foundation, presents the exhibition Historias de familia: La colección Gastañeta Carrillo de Albornoz (Family Stories: The Gastañeta Carrillo de Albornoz Collection). The exhibition invites visitors to explore aspects of elite life in Lima between the 18th and 19th centuries. This is a truly exceptional collection, not only because of the quality of its pieces but also because it embodies a history passed down through generations, beginning with the Salazar y Muñatones, the first Counts of Monteblanco.  

Thus, despite inevitable gaps, the remarkably long continuity of this legacy is extraordinary in a Peruvian context, shaped by the fluctuations of its political and social history. The exhibition includes religious paintings, various objects, and, above all, portraits—a material culture that helped shape a highly stratified society.  

Indeed, these works were not merely reflections of a privileged status; they played a role in power dynamics based on family alliances and a complex relationship with the Spanish Crown. Alongside outstanding works by Cristóbal Lozano and Pedro Díaz, the most important painters in late colonial Lima, the exhibition also highlights a remarkable English lacquered wood desk with chinoiserie motifs, illustrating the commercial networks that connected Lima with the rest of the world.  

The effort behind organizing this exhibition is a posthumous tribute to Manuel Gastañeta Carrillo de Albornoz (1956–2020), a dear friend and constant collaborator of MALI. For several decades, driven by his passionate interest in Peruvian history and his ancestors' role within it, he managed to reassemble a remarkable collection that his family now generously shares with the public.