Located in the front part of the house, the sunniest section of the building, the study was an ideal place for long working hours. One of the three coal fireplaces built in the house can be found in this room.

The relevance of the villa at Piedras Blancas in the decisions concerning economic, political and social issues during the first decades of the twentieth century can be appraised in the house’s guest book. Many key figures from Uruguay and foreign countries left their signature on its pages.

Most of the furniture from this room was acquired in Europe and shows the taste of Montevideo’s social elite at that time. The Empire style furniture set consists of two desks, several armchairs and tables and four custom-built bookcases that contain José Batlle y Ordóñez’s personal library.

The divan, placed beside the main desk, was probably used by Batlle y Ordóñez to take rests during his working time. One bell fixed to the lower part of the desk, and another one inside it, were probably used to communicate with the household staff.

Another item that can be seen in the study is the magnetic telephone, located on the main desk. It was unusual to find this kind of device in a Uruguayan household during Batlle y Ordóñez’s lifetime, since it had only recently arrived in the country.

The various sculptures that can be seen in this room were, in most cases, gifts from Batlle y Ordóñez’s political supporters. One of these sculptures, of French origin, is The Sower. Placed on the main desk, it represents a man scattering seeds.

Among other paintings and photographs, Batlle y Ordóñez had a charcoal drawing of his father Lorenzo (who was President of the Republic between 1868 and 1872), a picture of Baltasar Brum (who was also President of the Republic between 1919 and 1923) and of Colonel Juan Bernassa y Jerez (Political Chief of Montevideo during Batlle y Ordóñez’s first presidency and ministry of War during the second).

Traducción del español al inglés: Lic. Carolina Luongo