The Torre de la Parada is a former hunting lodge that was located in present-day Monte de El Pardo in Fuencarral-El Pardo, near the Royal Palace of El Pardo.

History

During the years 1635-40 it was a site for a major architectural and decorative project by King Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...

 who was a great hunting enthusiast. He commissioned the Spanish architect Juan Gómez de Mora

Juan Gómez de Mora

Juan Gómez de Mora was a Spanish architect. His father, also Juan Gómez, was court painter to Philip II of Spain and brother to the architect Francisco de Mora....

 to renovate it in 1636, and had it decorated by leading painters.

In 1806 a traveloque describes paintings by the Flemish painters Paul de Vos

Paul de Vos

Paul de Vos was a Flemish Baroque painter.De Vos was born in Hulst near Antwerp, now in the Dutch province of Zeeland. Like his older brother Cornelis and younger brother Jan, he studied under the little-known painter David Remeeus...

, Erasmus Quellinus II

Erasmus Quellinus II

Erasmus Quellinus II was a Flemish Baroque painter specializing in architectural perspective studies. He worked in the studio of Peter Paul Rubens.-Biography:He was born in Antwerp as the son of Erasmus Quellinus I and Elisabeth van Uden...

, Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, Jan Cossiers

Jan Cossiers

Jan Cossiers was a Flemish Baroque painter whose earliest works were Caravaggesque genre scenes and later specialized in histories and religious subjects.-Biography:...

, and "Yoris" (possibly Joris van Son

Joris van Son

Joris van Son was a highly popular Flemish Baroque painter of fruit and flowers, in banquet style on a plank, but also in garland form.-Biography:...

who worked with Erasmus Quellinus).