Sorry, a fine and inspired article, but art, as the author notes, or even the humbler things of human effort, are not to be gobbled down whole. These works must be viewed and re-viewed, read and re-read, say like Shakespeare or Aeschylus, or, say Steinbeck. Yes, some of us have time for only one shot at a particular artistic venue--Maybe best to realize that once is not enough!
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I was intrigued with your visit to the museum. 12 miles and not one woman artist! Really? How disappointing that you would point out the accessible cafe but fail to mention the major show that is part of the bicentennial highlighting the works of Sofonisba Anguissola (ca.1535-1625) and Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614). Your article was particularly disappointing because you were trying to see what had been missed. What a perfect opportunity to enlighten your readers about women artists who have been overlooked.
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Many years ago my husband visited a major American museum with a new acquaintance, then the curator of Western European art. My husband asked the question that had always puzzled us -- how to take in a museum without developing "museum legs" -- that physical exhaustion that overwhelms. The curator's answer: "Walk at a normal pace and stop only when something catches your eye. Then stop, spend some time, and move on at normal pace." With rare exceptions we have followed his advice, to our greater enjoyment.
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An extremely perfect visit to the Prado Museum thanks to the freelance writer, Andrew Ferren.
Wonderful article. The Prado is a world-class trove and the treasures within, as Mr. Ferren notes are numerous. And the visitor experience is so much better these days... I recall having to backtrack nearly 30 minutes to find a restroom ten years ago. The museum also hosts gorgeous special exhibitions, no surprise. The Goya's are memorable, the Velasquez's sublime and the Italian Renaissance painters whose lush sensual works were for the Royal Class's eyes only are stunning. And that is just for starters. Seven hours is probably a marathon that most folks can't endure... just too much beauty and stimulation. But this is a great conceit for an article and only underscores the glories of this massive trove of treasures. Surely any art loving visitor will find personal favorites previously known and unknown. Thanks for the nearby restaurant recommendations as well. Oh, and if you are a senior from the US the Prado will let you buy admission for the discount rate. Many European museums only permit EU residents to use that benefit.
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I first learned about the Prado and it's art from my high school Spanish teacher who taught us all about Valazquez and Goya in addition to grammar, never imagining I would be standing in front of their works 30 years later. Figuring out perspective on Las Meninas and feeling a shiver of revulsion seeing Goya's black paintings was rounded out by a special exhibit of Hermitage treasures. While the Louvre may have the Pyramid and the Mona Lisa, the Prado is like Madrid itself, nothing special on the outside but once you dig deeper there is more to see and love.
I hope today's Spanish teachers still instill a love of the arts or architecture of the Spanish world. It may just enhance someone life.
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Most very large, international museums are able to display only a small percentage of their total holdings at any one time. So a hectic exercise such as this one is pointless because so much of what is being shown, other than the permanent core pieces almost always on display, is almost always turning over and over and over in order to try to have some of it occasionally see the light of day.
Furthermore, given the nature of the human brain and how it works, this exercise is a perfect way to induce "museum fatigue" with one's brain retaining absolutely nothing.
In the late 1950's I took my mother to the Louvre. She had never been. And because of her health I knew she would never be able to travel to Paris again. To further challenge us, we had only three hours. She chose to spend one hour with each of: Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa (1950's; no crowds). To her dying day over twenty years later she said she could vividly recall each on them in detail in her mind. Had we spent the three hours seeing forty or fifty paintings or sculptures they all would have been an indistinct blur years later.
If you expect to visit a specific museum only once in your life, better to approach it as if you were hunting a specific quarry with a high-powered (well informed) rifle with a telescopic sight rather than running around everywhere with a shotgun approach.
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Thank you! I have been very fortunate to visit the museum many times, during the last free hours of daily viewing, and waiting in line was a minimal cost for fascination. Ribera and Zurbarán were definitely magnets for me, and years ago I was able to view the work, St. Joseph with Jesus as a Child, which I tried to memorize. It gave the Savior a very young, human quality and portrayed St. Joseph as a working father teaching his son the trade. And one of my favorites was the mammoth by Antonio Gisbert, the Execution of the Torrijos and his Companions. Nothing like religious figures preparing captives for execution by a tyrant’s army. Thank you again for the story and the memories.
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More than two hours in Prado or Louvre make me super-saturated with visual art.
I was in Madrid last year. If you want the prado to yourself go in the winter. I went in January no lines also a free evening, great food in cafeteria. This year was Paris in January. The Louvre, the musee D'Orsay, the Rodin, the Picasso, L'Orangerie. Wow Empty Paris. You have a chance to study the paintings without crowds.
Timing is everything Enjoy. Barry
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Spent a whole week, visiting everyday at the Prado last December. An amazing museum. And yes, I understand that museums belong to humanity, we all pay to get in, but I dare to be politically incorrect and say that if the Prado management doesn't apply some behavior (manners) restrictions soon the Chinese tourists will collapse this place.
3
Why no mention of Picasso's Guernica?
Terrific article by Andrew Ferren. It’s packed with wonderful information plus wee gems and surprises that delight!
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Great that you were able to get into the Prado, much less spend all the time you wanted there. I have never in my many trips to Madrid seen a line that would take less time than I could actually spend in the museum if I could enter.
@Crocus Hill — I have been to the Prado many times in many seasons and never encountered the difficulty you find insurmountable. (Hint: the front entrance is permanently locked.)
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@Crocus Hill
Did you ever actually wait in that line? It looks horrific but my experience is that it moves fairly quickly. I’ve lived here for some time and often go to the free two hour openings available every day before closing. That line is always very long but it’s never taken me more than half an hour to get in.
Now, for something that is NOT on standard museum radar for content:ell, one the things about it when I visited in 1990 was, off to the end of the amazing sculpture collection was a room that seemed like an afterthought - and it had a series of tables with stone/gem inlays. One might have sped through this (since it was so rare to have a room where you felt permission to speed through), but mercifully a little voice in my head said LOOK!, and I was stunned. It's hard to convey how mesmerizing these tables are in real life - you can click and zoom in a bit - I've never been able to find images of these before (because I never remembered the name of the artists - not even sure they were labelled well at the time):
http://tinyurl.com/y5sl95xd
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I too get “mental indigestion “ after several hours of great art, but envy the time and opportunity to do so. Thanks for a lovely article. I loved the “links” to several paintings, brings back wonderful memories.
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Excellent article about El Prado by Mr Ferren. I enjoyed it very much and learned a great deal. I’m looking forward to reading more about art.
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We visited Madrid and the Prado for the first time in early February of this year. The museum and all the galleries were magnificent. We loved it.
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Wonderful article, Thank you, Mr. Modak. It's bookmarked in case I ever get back to Madrid.
Spring is here. A whole lot of people are going to Spain to walk the Camino about now...so if this is you, spend a couple of extra nights in Madrid so you can have a day in the Prado, with this article in hand.
You'll be primed for your walk with the best of Spanish culture and from the sound of things can count it as a training day. :-)
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„has been almost completely enveloped in a crazy-quilt shroud composed of details from paintings inside. Later this year, the monumental birthday present will be unwrapped to reveal a pristinely restored facade.” oh come on man, this is just a scuffolding which most probably would never be a subject to such an extolling had it come to write about let’s say British Museum.
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Mil gracias! Your wonderful description of the various galleries and the artistic treasures in the Prado is rapturous!
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For good food at reasonable prices try Terramundi restaurant. A walk of no more than five minutes from the museum.
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El Prado provides an experience like no other. I recall seeing works that I studied in middle school and thinking that seeing photos in a textbook or online pales far in comparison to standing in front of these masterpieces. I recall feeling a new fascination and admiration for works by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, and remember not being able to look away from his artwork "Saturn". The caption, like others in the museum, provide great background and new meaning to artworks. Mr. de Goya y Lucientes, for example, kept "Saturn" in his entryway as a reminder to remain humble and not let his success as an artist be all consuming. This article inspires me to take a long, slow journey through the Prado the next time I am in Madrid. Thank you for recommending some nearby restaurants and the cafe selling cookies and cafe, I missed that somehow on my first visit.
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Do not miss the painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, recently taken out of storage, or those of Sofonisba Anguissola, another great painter. More female painters need to come out of the storage vaults of this great museum.
I live in Madrid and, as a member of the Prado, I feel privileged by the chance to go anytime I wish. I always stop a few minutes in front of the Prado Mona Lisa, which has become one my favorite paintings.
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Thank you, Mr. Ferren, for writing the kind of article I wish I had had access to when touring the Prado several years ago. I was overwhelmed by its magnificence. I appreciate your putting some of the masterpieces I recall into historical context.
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Lé Hermitage and the Met are rivals as is the Louve but Prado is a must see for any pair of eyeballs.
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@Blank in this very sentence you basically informed us that Prado isn’t the most significant museum in the world.
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@Jkesil
I live minutes from The Getty, they bill themselves as the most significant but I would say they overstate their case. Prado is incredible but each world class museum has its own claims to fan their flames.
1
It’s on my bucket list to visit the Prado mainly to see Goya’s black paintings. Particularly “The Dog” which is the most enigmatic and bleak depiction of life portrayed in a painting, in my opinion. Some day, I hope.
Thanks for the article.
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It is worth a trip to Madrid just to go to The Prado. I agree with some of the comments that it is so overwhelming a few shorter visits would be better than a real long one. After going there the last time I bought a good sized print of Goya's Witches' Sabbath that I have in my living room. Man, do I ever get a lot of interesting comments on that one!
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I had visited Madrid 5 times as a teen traveler and never went to El Prado! Now as a 50 something I'm dying to go. Thanks for this article.
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Loved this article. It brought back so many fond memories to me of my many visits over the years, beginning in 1968! Love the museum, and have enjoyed watching it evolve over the years. After reading this, I may have to make a short trip to Madrid just to see it again.
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The Prado is overwhelming in scope, but the surrounding areas are nice to take a break, then re-enter the magic.
The Goyas are profoundly moving and riveting, and made me almost forget the rest.
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What sets The Prado apart from its peers in Western museums is that it has comparatively little "filler" or "junk", as it were. The curation evidenced by what's on display is amazing.
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The greatest art collectors aka the Roman Catholic Church, the Belgian, British, French, German, American, Portuguese and Spanish Empires gathered much of their art the old fashioned way...they stole it.
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@Blackmamba
I do not think that your generalization applies to the Prado. The majority of the Prado's collection consists of the works of Spanish artists who received commissions to paint or did so with the intention of selling in the open market. While your characterization of stolen art might apply to other European museums housing items from Africa and Asia, I do not think that it applies here.
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@Quiet Waiting
I do think that Spain profited greatly from it's American Empire. Creating Spanish fortunes who could afford to pay commissions for Spanish artists. Art was stolen from the Americas.
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Even though often true, not in this case, for the most part. Most paintings in the Musuem (Titian, and Rubens and Velázquez and Goya and etc etc) were simply made by painters who worked for the Spanish Kings and queens.
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Problems of the rich.
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@AutumnLeaf
Oh come on, you can say this about pretty much any article in the Travel section. I am working class, saved up enough money for a trip to MAD. I spent a day at the Prado feeling completely overwhelmed. This article would have been so handy at the time. Let even the non rich people enjoy information about art.
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@AutumnLeaf Prado Museum is free for unemployed people at any time and for everybody else after 18:00 hrs
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{No flames please: this is simply a personal observation based on experience around the world}.
Massed gangs of visitors [such as partially pictured] are commonly found, and always very irritating, swarming in front of "famous" works in almost any "famous" museum, chattering madly and loudly.
These tightly knotted bunches move undeterred, and unstoppably, like army units.
Many times I've simply given up and moved on as they intrude and insinuate themselves between me and what I'm looking at.
It's impossible to battle such often rude [I agree with QE 2's comments!), and often pushy groups.
Too bad.
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The Goyas alone are worth the price of admission--especially the Black Period works that lead the way to modern art.
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@Thos Gryphon I saw those when I was fifteen.... I’ve been scared of them ever since and unable to adequately describe how they made me feel to anyone who hasn’t seen them in person
@Thos Gryphon I saw those when I was thirteen..... I’ve been scared of them ever since and unable to adequately describe how they made me feel to anyone who hasn’t seen them in person I’m 62 now
We just visited the Prado in February. It was my 2nd time and a completely different experience. One of the best in Europe.
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I found this article very enlightening and helpful. I have lived in Madrid for 30 years and visited the Prado more times than I can count, yet I was still able to find great advice in this piece. I can't wait to get back inside the museum now.
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I'm hoping to return to Madrid this Summer for the first time since 2002. I greatly enjoyed reading this piece and look forward to visiting the Prado again. Madrid has such fantastic museums.
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@Tony Gamino
Perhaps you know/can guess this but Madrid is
blazing hot in the summer. I'd highly recommend going in the spring or fall. Plus the crowds at any museum during late June-early Sept. are completely overwhelming and nightmarish.
1
Only thing missing from this article is some tortilla española and a sangria.
Picasso spent a good portion of his career repainting works from the Prado for good reason... he couldn't bear going to Spain during the Franco years, so he did his own versions.
By the way De Certeau wrote a wonderful tome, mostly on H Bosch, that they sell at the Prado, "The Mystic Fable." Kind sums up how it feels to wander that museum.
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@smokepainter
"Only thing missing from this article is some tortilla española and a sangria."
Sangria is mostly enjoyed by turistas. Spaniards are enjoying beer as of late, and their wine.
Nice article about one of the world's great treasures. For me, among the other highlights at the Prado are the collaborations between Rubens and Brueghel, e.g., The Sense of Sight. Two masters at the height of their careers -- not aware of any similarly successful joint ventures. Also, Brueghel's The Triumph of Death. Saw it recently at the blockbuster Brueghel exhibition in Vienna; it's incredible.
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@veloman
Jan Brueghel pained The Sense of Sight. His father, Pieter Bruegel, painted Triumph of Death. Both are great, particularly Pieter, but they are different artists.
2
Yes!!!
This was a delight to read and the next time I visit the Prado, I'll use this as my guide -and inspiration for endurance viewing!
In 1970 I was fortunate enough to convince my parents that two months of backpacking through Europe would expand my horizons, I was 17. The planned itinerary included time in Spain. My mother told me to visit the Prado in Madrid to see the Peter Paul Rubens. I have no idea how my mother knew about the Prado or the Rubens, but my five days in Madrid did include a trip to the Prado. It was nearly 50 years ago, Franco was still in power. But to this day I can still remember the awe with which I gazed upon that gallery full of Rubens, massively large works that were so lifelike. Thanks for the article, it brought back wonderful memories.
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The Prado is truly a treasure, but as with all great art, best savored in small doses to be truly appreciated and remembered -- otherwise, your senses are overwhelmed and little is retained... I highly recommend making multiple shorter visits, and focus on absorbing the delight of fewer pieces -- quality over quantity... No need to read every book in a library to experience enlightenment -- discover and gravitate to those that appeal, and those that encourage further exploration... Best to immerse yourself in one painting that rocks your soul 100 times than gliding past 100 paintings just because they're recommended by guidebooks... Naturally I envy Madrid residents who have the luxury of multiple visits without time pressures, but even a tourist would do well to spend two successive afternoons immersed in the Prado's gems rather than embark on a marathon quest to tick off highlights...
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@Jerry Lazar, I totally agree! I was in Spain for an entire month and suffered from sensory overload. That being said, the Prado is a gem just like New York's MET.
The college best course I ever took was a weekly seminar at the Prado during my junior year abroad at the University of Madrid. The class was given by an art historian.
When I went back to Spain two years ago, I toured the Prado to see if my discoveries were still there. They were.
If you look closely at the royal portraits by Velasquez where the subject sits astride a rearing horse, you will see six legs. Velasquez didn't like the position of the rear legs, so he painted them over and painted new ones. When the paintings were cleaned, the extra pair of legs appeared. I checked. the horses still have three pairs of legs.
Goya was the court painter for Charles VI. Goya painted what he saw, as demonstrated by his portrait of Infanta Maria Josefa who has a very large dark spot on her somewhat unattractive face.
I found that in the time since I had been there, they had moved all of Goya's work. Then, I learned that Goya's famous painting The Colossus has not been by Goya since 2008. From that painting, around the corner are Goya's black paintings, which despite being the things of nightmares are very popular now.
What are not popular are Goya's pastoral paintings from an earlier more peaceful time in his life; the Parasol from 1877 being one of my favorites. They are hidden away in a room up several floors opposite the main entrance accessible by only one small elevator.
I spent the rest of my day sitting looking at a Goya at peace.
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@Rebecca
Just a small correction: Charles IV, 4TH
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@Rebecca
best college course
1777 not 1877
Thank you.
@Rebecca
If you check the Prado site:
https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-infanta-doa-maria-josefa/80dbd1d3-6f51-423d-ae59-93efbf85686f
you'll discover the ugly dark spot is a beauty spot - not some sort of disfigurement - although it is disfiguring.
200 visits? Please. This museum, like the The Hermitage, is worth a couple of days. After that, it's like going to the auto show in Los Angeles.
In 1964 I visited The Louvre. I walked past the Mona Lisa without noticing it. A museum guard pointed me back in the directions from which I had come. Today, you can't miss it; but, you can't see it because its surrounded by hundreds of airheads taking selfies.
When I went to the Smithsonian to see the Rothko exhibit ten years ago, the only people in the gallery were the guard and myself.
Rothko is great, but was never "in." The Prado is "in."
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@george eliot— I went to the same Rothko exhibit in DC on a Monday morning and it was gloriously empty. I went again when the exhibit moved up to New York, and it was annoyingly crowded. Believe me, Rothko was “in” then, just not below the Mason Dixon line where the Air & Space Museum draws the crowds.
It´s true, as Mr. Ferren states, that Ferdinand VII "used his time off as ruler to hatch a plan for safeguarding his collection for future generations", with the Louvre as something of a model. However, he fails to mention that Villanueva´s Palladian masterpiece was originally intended as a natural history lab, the complement to the Botanical Gardens and the Astronomy Observatory. All of which was conceived by Ferdinand´s grandfather, Charles III, as part and parcel of the revival of scientific inquiry actively promoted by that enlightened monarch. Under Ferdinand the Observatory languished, as did the Gardens, and the splendid building was turned to a different use. Our gain, no doubt, but in a very real sense, at least in the short run, Spain´s loss.
I made a pilgrimage about 15 years ago to the Prado to fulfill a life's goal of seeing their room full of Titians. So worth it and if I'm lucky I'll get to do it again!
Wonderful article on the collection this! I would go to the Prado again just to see Las Meninas. The photograph of the spectator viewing the great painting sums it up because he is the subject of the painting in the great Velazquez 'moment in time for all time' insight.
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There are rooms in the Prado I just didn't want to leave...ever. Amazing place thanks.
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How lucky am I that this article comes out as I’m ready to go to Madrid this weekend to visit El Prado. I could not have asked for a better guide!
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When I was twenty-five, I did the usual three-country student tour: London, Paris, Madrid. I was by myself, knew only my aunt in Twickenham, and roamed from city to city, gawking. I wanted to be an art critic, so the natural thing was to spend most of my time in museums, assessing famous works. I particularly loved the Tate, and the British Museum's Portrait Gallery. I spent hours at the Louvre and the Jeu de Paume with my mouth wide open, drooling. Finally, I hit the Prado. I have loved art my whole life, worshiped it, in fact. But there on the long benches in front of Goya and Velasquez, I realized that everything else had simply been a charming date. This, these brooding, erotic, soul-searing paintings, felt like true love. I had a dream after a few visits, that the guards overlooked me, shut up the museum, and I fell asleep in front of "La Maja denuda". I returned to the States, my quest to be an art critic finished. In fact, I vowed I would never write another word of art criticism again, because it now felt like a sacrilege to do so. Rather, I would be an artist, fully committed, married to art in the only way that seemed right: forever. I even took a loyalty vow in front of my mirror, as serious as any physician or soldier. Many years later (as CutZy McCall, in case anyone wants to see my art on Google Images), I am still wed, and romantically in love, with great dead (and living) Spanish artists.
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Some Prado treasures that a lot of people miss: Juan Sebastián Maíllo's The Adoration of the Three Kings, Vicente López Portaña's portrait of Goya, Goya's portrait of Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (he's not lazy, he has the melancholy of genius), Goya's portrait of Carlos III (whose face looks just like former King Juan Carlos), Fra Angelico's The Annunciation (which represents the precise moment she becomes pregnant when the Archangel Gabriel tells her that she will be the mother of God), and the copy of the Mona Lisa.
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I had limited time so downloaded the fab Prado app. After I recover from my broken leg I'm planning another trip to Madrid allowing plenty of time for the museo
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@June Pay close attention to Goya and Velazquez. You can take it easy on the rest of it. I love that museum.
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I really enjoyed this piece. Haven’t been to the Prado in 20 years but would love to return someday.
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A very nice piece. One should note the Prado states on a sign at the entrance that all of the works of art were acquired legally.
Note that British Museum.
It is a great museum, but 6 miles would give me a bad case of "museum feet."
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And obviously you missed the 'no photography' rule!! Clearly a museum that discourages art making and is trapped in the past. (Not to say I took many images there when the guards were not in evidence- nothing tempts a photographer more than the 'no photos' rules!!)
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@Robert Altman I have seen people drawing there many times.
@Robert Altman
I love to take photos in museums and have done so countless times. Some of my funniest have been of museum guards in Italy reading while guarding in "no photo museums."
Having said that, too often I have seen "museum visitors" racing with their cameras and snapping everything in sight and not really getting to know the paintings. The last time I was at the Frick Museum, in New York, I still enjoyed that no photography was allowed. One could just contemplate and enjoy the paintings without the annoyance of visitors snapping their photos around me.
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@Robert Altman Who would have thought taking a photo with a cell phone camera would create "art". All you are doing is making a copy of the art on the walls of the Prado. There is a very good reason museums prohibit taking photos of their collections. Since it seems you are ignorant of them, I won't detail them here but leave it up to you, as a responsible adult museum-goer, to check the web for information and then comport yourself in a fitting manner.
1
Once, I had a college art class in the Prado. I came to love the museum and its paintings. Since I then knew the museum so well, I would visit my favorite paintings as if they were old friends, each one giving me sustenance and pleasure. I haven't been back to see them in a long while, but I know they're there, still radiating their glory.
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I've been to the Prado three times and Van der Weyden's "Descent from the Cross" was a highlight for me too. The vibrant, almost electric colors contrast with the somber theme of the piece. I kept going back to it. And El Greco, of course.
The Prado is among our most holy of places. I first visited it almost 40 years ago and hope to see it at least one more time. This article brought back wonderful memories.
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@Steve
Seeing the Descent from the Cross in person is worth the trip to Madrid.
1
Yes, the Prado is a wonderland. Did you have permission to take the photos, NY Times? My understanding is that the Prado does not allow photographs--and this is one reason I love the museum. No i-Phones! No selfie sticks! Just people and art!--except when the Times goes tramping through....
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@Muddlerminnow The press office makes images available to journalists.
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What a waste of time!
Since my wife is from Madrid, I have visited the Prado numerous times over the past 27 years.
However, why would anyone need to see every piece?
The best way to experience the Prado...and actual remember your experience, is to study the collection's web site in advance and then spend two or three hours looking at the pieces that interest you.
People who spend hours and hours viewing every piece are just checking off something from their bucket list.
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@Jay David. It never ceases to amaze me that there are people who think that their way of doing something is the best way or the only way. If it woks for you, great, but no need to criticize others for doing something differently.
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@Jay David. Jay, we’re all different. Some of us just love to spend hours looking at art. I’m looking forward to being in Madrid, next March 2020, spending hours, looking at art. This week, I am thrilled to be in Paris, spending hours, looking at art.
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You know... is not the same to stand in front of the piece to see it or to see a reproduction on a screen. But if you think it is... well... I encourage you to continue doing so, no need to use space and air at the museum.
2
We always do our visits in stages, starting with the special exhibits. It’s impossible to cover its vast wealth in one, two or even a dozen visits. Be sure to buy your tickets online to avoid the crowds, and try not to visit when entry is free. Everyone in Madrid loves the Prado and it can get busy at those times.
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@Philip
i've bought tickets in advance.
it was a very good idea when i went to the uffizi.
however, my preferred option is to go to europe around mid october when it's still mild enough, but the crowds are manageable.
the last few times i've been to rome, i was able to wander around the sistine chapel without being crushed.
1
I spent a year in Madrid in 1968 during which I was enrolled in a course at the Prado. Every Monday morning I traversed the city to meet with fellow students at the museum where our brilliant art tutor explained the paintings to us in preparation for quarterly exams on the material. It was a magical experience and the highlight of my year abroad. I think it’s time to revisit the museum as so much has changed over the years apparently. Thanks for the update.
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The BEST exposition I have ever seen in Madrid was one consisting of all of Camille Claudel's known pieces (from the Rodin Museum), in all forms (clay, plaster, wood, etc). at the MAPFRE Foundation for free.
Seeing an exposition of Picasso's study drawings when he was planning his "Las meninas" was also very good.
The best part of the Madrid Bosch exhibit were the cartoon-like study drawings he did. They are far more interesting than any of the final paintings.
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@Jay David —yeah, why did he even bother finishing them? Now the stuff that never left the inside of his skull... now that’s MY favorite!
1
As an artist and art history enthusiast, I’m always bemused watching people shuffle diligently from one painting to another, looking for a standard minute at every painting and sculpture in the museum. I myself cannot react emotionally to art for more than an hour or an hour and a half straight and leave shortly after. To react emotionally, choose the great masters. Bone up on them beforehand and know what makes them great. In the Prado there are four: Velazquez, Titian, Goya and El Greco. Read up on them and see them at the Frick Collection in New York. Concentrate on them in the Prado. Supplement them with a few lesser Spanish masters like Zurburan and Murillo and the Flemish painter Bosch. And now you’re exhausted, and you’re done. But immeasurably more enriched than the diligent seer-of-everything.
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@Madison’s mistakes
....But immeasurably more enriched than the diligent seer-of-everything.
I totally agree but for once in a life time travellers, and most of regular travellers are, it is "luxury".
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@Madison’s mistakes
And don't forget one of Van Dyck's greatest, and most moving, portraits, that of the painter Martin Ryckaert. Magical.
1
@Madison’s mistakes Agree completely. I usually plan on 2-3 hours max. I'd also add the Rubens-Brueghel collaborations to the list of must-sees at the Prado.
1
El Prado is magnificent, a jewel indeed. A trip to Madrid, just to see "Las Meninas" is worth it. We saw the painting years ago but the intricacies of who is watching whom in it is amazingly complex. It si one of those moments when one loses one's ego and becomes one with 'nature', blissful indeed.
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I love the Prado. I used to live within walking distance.
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Disappointed that no mention in this article was made of Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son” painting. A monumental, metaphorical statement by Goya on the turbulent times in Spain during 1890-1823. This painting is the one that will highlight my future visit to the Prado, along with other Goya paintings and drawings.
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@JRainne
Oops! Meant to say period 1819-1823.
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@JRainne When you go to Madrid, don't neglect to visit Goya's frescoes in the Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida--they are stunning. Michaelangelo's frescoes may be more detailed; but Goya's are more alive.
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We will be making our first trip to the Prado in a couple of weeks. Any recommendations for tour guides? Thanks!
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@Bronx7 Context Travel supplied our guide. I wish I could remember his name but we have used this service all over Europe and the guides have always been top notch.
@Bronx7
I was looking at Greco's paintings and a private tour guide gave a very colorful intro to a couple and I listened. The tour guide paused and said to me, "this is a private tour. Do you mind move aside?" I said, "I paid to enter the museum and I am standing here and I am not moving." Then my wife dragged me away. I somehow remember these incidents more than the paintings LOL.
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Try Madrid Museum Tours, they are art historians. But a week out may be difficult.
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My wife and I did a 4 hour guided tour a few years ago and we felt like we had just touched the surface. The El Grecos and Goya's dog haunt me.
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@Bob Spears-A postcard of Goya's dog is in my office; after seeing it for the first time, it moved me as little else has. Haunting, indeed!
i finally made it to spain a few years ago after almost 40 trips to europe.
i'm not sure what i would've got out of a one day blitz of the prado. it'd be too overwhelming to soak everything in.
after saying that i specifically wanted to see 'the garden of earthly delights' by bosch which, it seems to me, he created out of nowhere.
it reminded me of the painting equivalent of 'tomorrow never knows' by john lennon.
i looked at the triptych for quite a while and then returned again before i left the building.
the other two that i was keenest to see were goya's the third of may 1808 and durer's self portrait.
my usual routine at a museum is to go thru it quickly and then go back and linger in front of those that left an impression on me.
the prado had too many to list. i expected it to be a good experience but it exceeded my expectations by a long shot.
the museum itself is lovely as are the grounds and neighbourhood.
of course, i walked over to reina sofia the next day and planted myself in front of guernica.
i only went to madrid, barcelona and san sebastian.
all were sublime.
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@brupic Bosch "equivalent" to Lennon....?! Sure....
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@JJJ
I was aware of lennon before I was aware of bosch so he came first in that sense.
my point was, I guess I wasn't clear enough, that there wasn't anything I know of that led up to either of them.
some trend or work that might've predicted them.
i'm not a bosch scholar or of his time, but that painting seems to anticipate the industrial revolution and, perhaps, the horror that modernity could bring.
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You’ve greatly inspired and motivated me. Whatever it is that connects me with the greatest art museums, or any art museum, wherever I’ve been, it’s instinctual and never stays the same. Thank you.
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I've visited the Prado twice, 25 years apart, and aside from the beauty of the art what stood out most was its insularity.
This is the royal collection from what at the time was the largest empire on earth. Yet the collection is overwhelmingly by and about the royal court. There's nothing from the new world, from the colonies, from the newly-discovered corners of the world that would be expected to intrigue or challenge accepted beliefs. It's like a comprehensive photo essay about NYC that only shows society people from the upper east side.
You can tell a lot about people from bit just what they focus on, but what they ignore.
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Why does every museum have to have every time period of art? There’s a lot to be said for focus.
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@Andy I made it a whole 45 minutes in the Prado before I told my mother that I really couldn't take another painting of Mary holding the baby Jesus.
We found the art in the Prado to be very repetitive and vastly preferred the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Picasso Museum in Barcelona.
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@Andy
What a complainer - First of all it is an Art museum, not a museum of everything. Second, and very important, it contains works that were all obtained legally. Nothing was stolen from the new world, old world, or world in between.
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We spent a significant amount of time in el Prado a year ago (seven hours, cafeteria lunch included). I hope we were able to see much more of it than I had seen almost 40 years ago. I would go back to this incredible museum in this marvelous city anytime. Guernica is in the Museo Reina Sofia though quite near there no?
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@MKP. Yes, about a ten minute walk. The Museo Reina Sofia is not to be missed. The collection focuses on the 20th century's wars and conflicts.
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I enjoyed the Prado in 2008 because our visit was curated by a Spanish guide and a British guide but a little of these museums goes along way because like the Louvre they can be overwhelming. Perhaps a true aficionado of fine art could spend many hours and days there but as for me, I appreciate a quick overview a focus on the highlights and moving on to the outdoors away from the crowds.
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@R. Anderson Yes, the problem are the crowds. But it is worth visiting. A must see.
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My knowledge of art is limited. I'm a "I know what I like" kind of visitor to an art museum. In 1991 I visited the Prado and walked into the room where "Guernica" was hanging. I was stunned by what I was seeing. So much so that I remember nothing else about the place.
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@Bob in Boston "Guernica" is not in the Prado; it's in the Reina Sofía down the street (Museum of modern art)
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@Marcie - Maybe that's why I don't remember the rest of the Prado.
Actually, though, the piece was moved from the Prado to Reina Sofía in 1992 (according to Wikipedia). Fortunately for me or I would never have seen it.
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Guernica was at the MOMA in NYC for safe keeping. Picasso wanted it to hang in the Prado when democracy was restored to Spain, after Franco. Years went by and the painting was not returned, and the MOMA was sued by the Spanish government to get the painting back. Eventually, it returned to Madrid, but hung in the Parque del Retiro, steps from the Prado, and was finally moved to the Reina Sofia down the avenue. Never fulfilling Picasso’s wish. It is a great painting in a now loved space, that was once ignored. In 1997, The Bilbao Guggenheim wanted to display Guernica for its opening, but it could travel to Bilbao from Madrid, claiming a rough truck ride might damage the painting. The Horrific bombing by the Germans of the small town of Guernica near Bilbao under the watchful eye of Franco inspired that painting. The history of Spain, 1936 to Present, could be written by the travels and travails of Guernica, the painting, starting in its first hanging in Joseph Luis Sert’s Spanish Pavillion in Paris, 1937.
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