José Moreno Villa
(Málaga, 1887 - México D. F., 1955)

José Moreno Villa was a poet, painter, art historian and critic, and essay writer. Between 1911 and 1916, he worked in the department of Archeology and Art history (Center for Historical Studies, Madrid), directed by Manuel Gómez-Moreno, and Elías Tormo. His colleagues were Ricardo de Orueta, Leopoldo Torres Balbás, Francisco J. Sánchez Cantón, Jesús Domínguez Bordona, and Antonio Floriano. Under Gomez-Moreno’s supervision, Moreno Villa began his studies of the miniatures and the ornamentation of Visigothic and Mozarabic manuscripts. Elías Tormo supervised his monograph on the painter Luis de Morales, “El Divino,” which was never published and has been lost. His research work took him to Leon, Burgos, Silos, Asturias, El Escorial, Toledo, Badajoz, and other towns in Extremadura.

In 1917, Alberto Jimenez Fraud invited him to join the Residencia de Estudiantes, recently moved to its permanent location on Pinar St., in Madrid, where he remained until November 1936.  This institution became his home, and he worked as assistant to the director, tutored students, guided the visits to the Prado Museum on Saturdays, and the art trips to nearby towns. He replaced Juan Ramón Jiménez in the Publications section of the Residencia de Estudiantes and collaborated as editor in the Residencia periodical.  He was an indispensable person in the institution and eventually became Jiménez Fraud’s right hand man in the day-to-day running of the educational activities in the Residencia.