The work, by the prestigious Chilean-Spanish artist Guillermo Muñoz Vera, was presented yesterday... the title of the painting is Galeón San Martín, Captain of D. Álvaro de Bazán in the Battle of the Island of San Miguel 1582 and becomes part of the Permanent Collection of the Naval Museum of Madrid.

Since its launch in 1992 and, as its statutes reflect, one of the lines of action of the Alvarzonález Foundation is "to promote the study, research and development of issues related to the Spanish Navy, both military and merchant, with the creation of scholarships and other aids for the conduct of studies and works." In this case, the close relationship that it maintains with the Spanish Navy in these seven minutes has materialized in 32 research scholarships at the Naval Museum of Madrid, annual awards to the course of aptitude for ends (Cartagena Submarines School) and to the fellowship (Marin Military Naval School).

The Alvarzonález Foundation takes one step further in its connection with the Spanish Navy by donating the Galeón San Martín, Captain of D. Alvaro de Bazan in the Battle of the Island of San Miguel. 1582, work of the famous Chilean-Spanish painter Guillermo Muñoz Vera. The reason for the painting, which was presented to the public yesterday at 6.30 p.m. in the Naval Museum of Madrid, is the flagship of Mr Alvaro de Bazan who commanded the Spanish fleet during the fight of the island of San Miguel in the Azores, defeating the French fleet.

The fight took place on 26 July 1582 between the Spanish fleet of Bazan composed of 25 ships and the French one of Admiral Strozzi of 64, achieving against all prognosis a strong Spanish victory, losing the French 10 units, six sunk and 4 captured, in exchange for no loss among the Spanish ships.

The author of the painting, Guillermo Muñoz Vera, is considered one of the top exponents of the New Spanish Reality and has participated in numerous individual, collective and contemporary art fairs, mainly in Germany, Italy, the United States, Chile and Spain. In 2000, the City Council of Madrid sponsored its first anthological exhibition at the Cultural Centre of the Villa, which covers 27 years of continuous work, bringing together over 140 works from private collections from different countries.