The primary aim of the Board of Trustees of the Rodera-Robles Foundation in opening its museum in Segovia was to display the works of art and collections amassed over a lifetime by the couple Don Eduardo Rodera and Doña Rafaela Robles.

However, the Board considered that the opening of a new museum in the city was a great opportunity to highlight two very important events in the city’s history, both linked to printing and engraving.

In 1472, Segovia became the cradle of printing in Spain, under the patronage of Bishop Juan Arias Dávila and with the expertise of Juan Parix de Heidelberg. Together they facilitated the printing of the first Spanish book, the Sinodal de Aguilafuente, which made Segovia a pioneer in the noble art of printing.

Centuries later, during the golden age of the Enlightenment, a Royal Decree issued by Charles III endowed Segovia with a “printing press; a School of Drawing; wood engraving; engraving on thin sheet metal, using etching and burin techniques; intaglio engraving for seals; the art of making punches and matrices for printing type, together with the art of casting them. Under the direction of Don Antonio Espinosa de los Monteros, chief engraver of the Royal Mint of that city”.

These two historical links led the Foundation’s Board of Trustees to dedicate part of its space to the world of engraving.