When my friend Lucy came to visit we wanted to do a museum we hadn't done before. I mean, it's hardly difficult as Madrid is crowded with museums. It was Maria who suggested Casa Museo Lope de Vega (the playwright's house turned museum) in el barrio de las letras and as Lucy studies Lope with me back at Oxford it was an inspired choice.
Here are the details. It's free but you have to book because the "visit" is a guided tour of his house. The guide knew so much about so much, and not just about Lope's life either. Unfortunately no photos were allowed so five of the weird and wonderful things we learnt from our guide will have to suffice to persuade you to go.
1. There was a mirror, not made of glass but of some reflective material. It demonstrates a certain socioeconomic class and did not serve for one to look at oneself - as you might think - but rather to brighten up a room reflecting any light that came through the windows.
2. The house had no comedor (dining room) and dinner was laid on a table which would have been used for other purposes in a living room. This is where the expression "poner la mesa" comes from, because a table was actually set or put out for meals.
3. The beds were much smaller than beds nowadays. First because they were generally shorter than we are today. Secondly because they believed that you breathed better sleeping curled up in a foetal position. Finally because lying prone made them think how you're laid when dead.
4. The day of our visit was International Women's Day and we were reminded of the great influence that women - many, many women - played in Lope's life and work. He depicted the woman very progressively as one who thought, not just an archetype doing her "feminine" activities.
5. There was an expression people used at the time, "era de Lope", meaning that something was excellent or notable. This just shows how Lope de Vega's work had such a great impact. Fortunately it continues to be admired by so many.
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