The blockbuster show at Duke's Nasher Museum of Art, "El Greco to Velazquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III," served as inspiration Carolina Meadows' major social event of the fall season.

In honor of the remarkable exhibit, planners organized a striking display of Spanish artworks and other items, a festive Spanish dinner and an after-dinner talk by Sarah Schroth, curator of the Nasher exhibition.

Eighteen residents loaned their Spanish treasures for the breakfront display in the Club Center lobby. Many of these objects had been collected over the years during visits to Spain. A focal point was an 18th-century carved wooden statue of St. Anthony with polychrome decoration. It reminded viewers of the life-size painted wooden statues of Saints in the Nasher exhibit. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza were well represented in metal, wood and ceramics. Treasures included a tall porcelain Don Quixote statue by Lladro; a pitcher and mugs with El Greco print decoration; a framed view of Seville painted on Spanish tiles; a pair of silver pheasants; a large gold-rimmed plate of Moorish design; an authentic matador's hat; a heavy brass stirrup, a hand-painted fan and three mantillas -- black lace, white embroidered silk, black lace with silver threads.

Displayed in the lobby was a large framed bullfight poster from 1922, featuring Rafael Ortega, Ernest Hemingway's favorite toreador. Next to it was a scale model of the famous Court of the Lions in The Alhambra, Granada. The last Muslim rulers of Spain built The Alhambra in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Court of the Lions reflects their idea of paradise. Dick Ballard made the model out of recycled materials, starting with a corrugated carton and fashioning 20 painted gold columns made from paper tubes on wire coat hangars. A scanned copy of actual Alhambra Moorish writings decorated the model, and Courtyard's famous fountain rested on ten clay lions modeled by Dorothy O'Connell. Tiny Spanish pottery pots in the courtyard held fresh chrysanthemums.

The Spanish flag and a large framed print of the Infanta Margarita Teresa by Velazquez greeted guests at the dining room entrance. Flower arrangements on every table were decorated with miniaure toreadors and Spanish flags created by Peggy Kinnaird. Color prints of 30 Goya and Velazquez paintings were mounted throughout the dining rooms.

The evening's extensive Spanish menu was thoroughly researched by Culinary Institute graduates Mark Maxwell, dining services director, and Grey Bailey, executive chef. Tapas included fried calamari and octopus legs-pulpo a fiera. The salad course had three choices: ensalada mixta, ensalada de habas tiernas y bacalao (salt cod) and ensalada de apio y naranja (oranges and tomato). Presiding over the carving station was a spectacular roast suckling pig lacquered with honey and vinegar. Other entrees were: polio at almendras (chicken in almond sauce), salmon a la riberena and cordero a la Moruna (Andalusian style braised lamb sirloin with apricots and cinnamon).

Spanish dessert choices were: flan al carmelo (caramel custard), churros with warm dipping chocolate, Galician almond tarts and walnut popovers. Guests were offered a choice of Spanish rioja red and white wines, sherry and pomegranate sangria. During dinner, talented guitarist Brude Gust entertained the 268 guests with Spanish music.

The highlight of the evening was Sarah Schroth's presentation in Carolina Meadows auditorium. She transported the audience on her 21-year quest for treasures of Spanish art. Her original research tracked down, in an attic, the Spanish Duke of Lerma's inventory of 448 paintings, including dozens by Goya and Velazquez. From there she searched out places where his paintings might have been dispersed. Paintings, sculptures and decorative arts in the Nasher exhibition were loaned from convents, churches, a private ranch estate, municipal buildings, museums and private collections. Schroth's scholarship over the years changed the perception of Spanish art of that period.

Two days after the gala, The News & Observer announced that Schroth had been knighted by the King of Spain with the Order of Isabella the Catholic. Jorge Dezcallar, Spanish ambassador to the U.S., presented the honor in Washington, D.C..

Report from Carolina Meadows