Now for something completely different

After two weeks in Morocco, we have returned to Europe with a couple of days in Madrid. The contrast could not be more stark. While Spain had an enormous influence on Morocco in the past, present day Madrid is nothing like present day Morocco.

This blog post will be a taste of what can be found in the Prado but not the star attractions. Yes, it is truly overwhelming to visit a museum with a room completely filled with works by Velasquez that are monumental in size when a major museum would be fortunate to have one or two. Or room after room of Goya paintings, drawings, and prints. I could go on but what I've included in this post are some things that were a little surprising to me and I learned a little more. I'm not one of these people who has to see "everything" in the museum even if I'm never going back again. If I see a few new things that stick with me I'm very happy.

You know you are in a European city with roundabouts, Baroque style buildings and beautiful fountains. This is the Neptune Fountain commissioned by Charles III in 1784 moved to this location in 1898.

Another sign we're back in Europe, churches. San Geronimo el Real from the 16th century. It was part of a royal place complex, part of which became the Prado Museum.

Yes, the rest of this blog posting will be about the Prado and of course includes Goya himself. The Prado is one of the most important art museums in the world.

A Botticelli I had never seen before, 3 of 4 panels (4th one is in a private collection) illustrating one of the most bizarre stories. It's entities "Nastgio deli Onesti" and probably the best way for you to learn about it is to click on the link. https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/scenes-from-the-story-of-nastagio-degli-onesti/6620fb36-c65d-497b-8283-92cef5bc08de

Robert Campin, Werl Triptych wings, 1438. These wings are all that is left of an altar piece and they stand 40 X 18" each. This work was commissioned by a patron named Werl in Cologne. Robert Campin painted the "Merode Altarpiece", one we studied in great detail. As you can see he uses many of the same techniques and precision in depicting the figures as if they existed in the 15th century rather than in Biblical times.

Hieronymus Bosch, "The Extraction of the Stone of Madness" is a small work that does not have Bosch's usual intricate and intense imagery. It's 19 X 14" and it depicts a doctor (funnel hat) extracting a stone from the patient's (Lubbert Das a comic figure in Dutch literature) brain. The stone is actually a flower bulb. Not sure who the woman with book on her head is. Dated 1494.

In the same gallery that also includes Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights" is this "Table of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things." This is presented as if it was an actual table even though it's a large painting (47 X 59") painted around 1500. One of the interesting things about this work is that its origin as to who painted it has been in dispute for some time though the Prado (for obvious reasons) is adamant it was painted by Bosch. For those of you who learned about the "Garden of Earthly Delights" when we talked about vices and virtues, here's a more direct example.

One of the galleries contains exclusively what have come to be known as Francisco Goya's black paintings and another has the prints from this time. Late in his life Goya painted these works on the walls of his home and they were later transferred to canvas. Left to right, "Saturn Devouring His Son", "Men Reading", and "Judith and Holofernes". Saturn and Judith are hung on the same wall in the gallery. Goya's work from this time reflects his personal difficulties (deafness) and his reaction to the political situation at the time. These works were painted between 1819-1823.

In the "hallway" I came across "Adam and Eve" by Titian (on the left), painted 1550 by the Venetian Renaissance master. It is 94 X 73" . Almost 100 years later Rubens saw the painting and made a copy with some alterations that you can see. What a gift to see the two masterpieces side by side.

The Prado has rooms full of Velasquez' work, though having just shown you a Rubens painting from his visit to Spain, this work is significant as Velasquez had just met Rubens. This painting is titled "Feast of Bacchus" or "The Drinkers" painted in the 1620s. It is 65 X 89" and is one of the few mythological paintings he completed and a genre (daily life) type of painting that he was such a master at depicting. He was very much influenced by his new friend Rubens and was just making his first trip to Italy where he would see Titian's work as well.

A second Da Vinci "Mona Lisa"? Yes, I was surprised too. No, this is attributed to his students and the most interesting thing about it is that we know da Vinci continued to work on the painting for many years making alterations. As he did so, so did the student(s).