Juan Manuel Besnes e Irigoyen Collection
The works and documents of the painter, watercolourist, draughtsman and calligrapher Juan Manuel Besnes e Irigoyen (born in 1789 in San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, and died in 1865 in Montevideo) constitute a valuable graphic chronicle of life in the Banda Oriental during the first years of independence of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay.
Thanks to his artistic and graphic skills, Besnes e Irigoyen depicted contemporary Montevideo, including many scenes of the so-called Guerra Grande and the long siege of the city. He did the same with other regions and places in the country. Besnes e Irigoyen, appointed State Lithographer, continued his work as a draughtsman, calligrapher, watercolourist and engraver until his death. He made considerable contributions, especially in the field of historical documentation.
The watercolours are bound in three albums in the Special Materials Room of the National Library, alongside extremely valuable graphic pieces and documents, which makes this one of the institution's richest areas. For a long time, Besnes Irigoyen's watercolours were reproduced on slides and distributed among educational establishments or used for consultation in the library itself, to avoid manipulating the originals. The publication of a compact disc containing the duly catalogued watercolours has made the collection available to users who did not previously have access to this material. The Basque Government sponsored the presentation of the collection, and some images were incorporated into the World Digital Library for wider sharing.