Published to accompany the exhibition A Shared History. Treasures from the Royal Palaces of Spain, this catalogue serves as a perennial token, with reproductions of the 141 works of art that make up the display. Like the exhibition, the book was created in close collaboration with Patrimonio Nacional of Spain, with a section of text on every piece, examining it and giving it context.

In addition to the text on each exhibit, the catalogue also contains two articles. The first, about Spain’s royal palaces, is by the three curators – Pilar Benito García and Álvaro Soler del Campo, who represent Patrimonio Nacional of Spain, and João Castel-Branco Pereira, Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. The second article is by Professor Fernando Bouza, and highlights the connections between Isabella I of Castile and Isabella of Bragança, the wife of Ferdinand VII, as the women that mark out the beginning and the end of this exhibition.

The catalogue also includes two important features that add to our knowledge of the 350 years of Portugal and Spain’s shared history: a timeline, showing the most significant historical and artistic events in the two countries; and a pull-out family tree that depicts the family ties established between the two kingdoms during the period in question.