de Villalta. In 1843, JAR witnessed the siege of Seville by General Antonio van Halen, an event he later recounted in a speech commissioned by the Junta de Gobierno [governing body]. His work Sevilla pintoresca [Picturesque Seville] was published the following year.

The support of the Duke of Rivas and his collaboration with Antonio Gil de Zárate, then Director General of Public Education, facilitated JAR's return to Madrid in 1844 and his entry into the civil service. There, he played a significant role in promoting education and protecting cultural heritage. JAR made a decisive contribution to the implementation of the 1845 curriculum, and from that year onwards, served as the secretary of the Comisión Central de Monumentos [Central Monuments Commission]. In 1848, JAR began his academic career as a lecturer at the Universidad Central de Madrid [Central University of Madrid] where he earned his PhD in Literature in 1850. He became Director in 1857, Vice-Rector in 1867, and Rector in 1868. Among his students were Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo, Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, and Leopoldo Alas. Also in 1848, JAR became a member of the Real Academia de la Historia [Royal Academy of History], where he edited Historia general y natural de las Indias, islas y tierra firme del mar Océano [General and natural history of the Indies, islands and mainland of the Ocean Sea], by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, as well as Obras de Don Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marqués de Santillana [Works by Don Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana]. Over the years, he successively became a member of the Real Academia de San Fernando [Royal Academy of San Fernando], the Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona [Academy of Fine Arts of Barcelona], the Academia Greco-Latina Matritense [Matritense Greco-Latin Academy], the Société des Antiquaires de Normandie, the Academia Real das Ciências [Royal Academy of Sciences] (now known as the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa [Lisbon Academy of Sciences]), and the Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid [Geographical Society of Madrid] .

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