Casa-Museo de la Tía Sandalia

About the museum

Catalina Sandalia Simón Fernández Verdugo (Villacañas, 1902–1987), known as Tía Sandalia, could neither read nor write, but she had a prodigious memory and a great gift for storytelling. For about forty years she turned her home into a workshop and museum. From the Civil War onwards she painted walls and modelled religious scenes to teach her children “su Historia Sagrada” (her Sacred History), using plaster, lime, tempera, cardboard, cloth, wire, branches and vine shoots.

On her death she bequeathed the work to Villacañas Town Council, which, together with the Escuela de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales de Madrid, took charge of moving, conserving and recreating the current setting. The collection includes 66 freestanding sculptures, 40 bas-reliefs, 26 canvases and mural paintings, with scenes such as the Last Supper, the Kiss of Judas, Eve in Paradise and episodes of the Passion. Her style belongs to popular or naive art.

Highlights

• House turned into a visual retelling of Sacred History
• 66 freestanding sculptures, 40 bas-reliefs and 26 canvases
• Fresco mural paintings
• Biblical scenes such as the Last Supper and the Passion
• Naive art made from plaster, lime and cardboard

Permanent exhibition

• Casa-Museo de la Tía Sandalia – House of the self-taught artist, with sculptures, bas-reliefs, canvases and mural paintings of biblical scenes made from humble materials.

Operated by

Ayuntamiento de Villacañas

Admission & discounts

Admission €1, combined with the Museo Etnográfico del Silo.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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