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The Prado Museum is one of the
premium attractions in Madrid. One can
view a number of paintings of El Greco,
Velazquez, Goya, Peter Paul Rubens, Hieronymus
Bosch, and numerous other famous artists.
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Above--The entrance to the Prado.
The
Prado Museum maintains the art collection
of Fernando VII and other royals.
The Prado is one of the few museums that
allows visitors to take no-flash
photographs of its collection. Look
below to see some photos I took while
visiting this art museum.
| The Prado is
open from 9 a.m. to7 p.m., Tuesday to
Saturday but only stays open to 2
p.m. on Sundays and holidays. See
the map at the bottom of this
page for the Prado's location. |
Above
--The Maids of Honor
(Menina) - 1656AD by Diego Velazques:
Velazques is the artist in the
painting. The central figure is Princess
Margarita and behind her, in the mirror,
are the reflections of her parents, the
king (Philip IV) and queen (Mariana of Austria). The king and queen appear
to be looking at the scene from our
perspective.
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Velazquez was
fascinated by the use of light in painting. In The
Maids he used a variety of direct and reflected
light to illuminate the scene.
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Photo
Left--A section of Francisco de Goya’s
The Third of May 1808
Here Goya
shows the executions on Principe Pio Hill. On viewing the painting take note of the range of emotion portrayed by the condemned. All martyrs, this painting may represent the first time ordinary, and unknown, people were represented as heroes in art.
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On May 2, 1808, Napoleon’s troops
controlled Madrid but some in Madrid resisted,
resulting in the death of some of the French. On May 2
and 3, Napoleon’s troops searched out
every man in Madrid. Any found with a gun were taken for
execution. In all, about 400 Spaniards were
killed.
Above--Part of the left section of Garden of
Delights (painted around 1500 A.D.),
Hieronymus Bosch |
| The Garden of
Delights is composed of
three sections. The left section depicts
God introducing Adam and Eve to the world.
The right section (below) is believed to
represent hell. So, what is
this center section all about? |
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Photo
Left--Part of the center section of the Gardens
of Delights. |
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