Jesús Bal y Gay was born on Ronda de Castilla St., just across from Puerta de la Estación, in Lugo. As a young musician and poet, he moved in the circles of the Galician intelligentsia: his friends from the Círculo de las Artes, his school mates, and the Futurist poets and painters who wanted to break with tradition. His father, an indiano (he returned rich from America) supported his son’s intellectual endeavors, encouraging him to choose, to try and even to make mistakes. In the documents displayed in the first room of the exhibition, we can find photos of his friends Souto, Johán, López Otero, the Pimentel brothers, and Correa Calderón, as well as some of the books that he was reading during that period. The books, bought in Alonso bookstore, show his preference for Russian authors, Juan Ramón Jiménez, José Ortega y Gasset, and Ramón del Valle-Inclán, and his interest in the vanguard movement, which he considered the only capable of shaking up the foundations of Galician society. The printing house on Campo Castillo square and the periodical Ronsel played an important role in this period. He published his first book, Hacia el ballet gallego, in the periodical’s publishing house, a place that opened many doors to the young Bal. He had a talent for mathematics and a good school record. Jesús contemplated his future with confidence but had some doubts about his career: both medicine and engineering appealed to him. Madrid would be his destination. At home, in the background, there would always be heard his sister Carmencita playing the piano that their father bought in the piano shop of Canuto Berea.