The driving rain did not deter the multitude of cheapskates from lining up for free entry into the Prado at night. We waited soggily 30 minutes in the dark line that ran down the whole west facade of the building. El prado exclusively shows old master paintings. The jewels of the collection we sought were Velazquez’s las meninas, duhrer’s self portrait, and Goya’s may 2nd and 3rd.
While most people know Velasquez through his works as the personal court painter for the king, few people know his paintings were not seen by the public until the 1800s. Fewer people know Velasquez’ large role in the el prado’s collection. The Prado used to be the king’s personal gallery.... and Velazquez helped the king curate the collection by procuring Titian Tintoretto and veronese paintings on his trips through Italy.
Velazquez’s own painting “las meninas” painted in 1656 is interesting in that the subject of the portrait is ambiguous. Is it the painter himself, painting himself in his studio? Is it the cute princess who is surrounded by her entourage? Is it the king and queen pictured in the cloudy mirror in the background? The viewpoint of the picture is the scene of their daughter the king and queen would have seen when this portrait was being painted... which is probably a lot more interesting than a portrait of the royal couple. Palomino wrote a whole chapter about this painting in his book. Everyone thinks the king and queen are the most powerful subjects.. but the king probably thought his daughter was the most precious angel in the world.. this painting conveys the love the king had for the daughter.
Between Velazquez’s las meninas and fellow Spaniard Goya on the lower level we passed many el grecos and a couple duhrer paintings. I was first introduced to el Greco by way of Jackson pollack. Pollock never traveled outside of the US. He had 3 books of el greco's in his possession. over the course of 20 years, he would make sketches of ruebens, michelangelo... but his favorite subject was el greco. he made 60 sketches of el greco paintings. to him, el greco showed him an example of going beyond representation and delving into feeling.... looking at twisted forms and motions.
if you compare el greco's paintings to his renaissance counterparts in florence on 1541, you see a huge difference. Born in Crete (hence el greco) but spending most of his life painting in Toledo spain, el greco, painted many biblical scenes where the paint strokes are loose, the figures are elongated and expressive, dramatically posed.... full of emotion and spiritual content. His last painting made In 1614 hangs at the el prado, the “Adoration of the shepherds” shows Mary holding Jesus with Joseph and three shepherds looking on in amazement... light seems to glow in the painting.
Duhrer’s self portrait at 26 made in 1498 was the second of three self portraits he made. The painting composed of oil on a wood panel shows duhrer after his trip to Italy. He sports curly golden locks, wears flamboyant clothes, gloves and a self-assured glaze.
At the end of the bottom floor wing hangs a multitude of Goya paintings spanning his entire career. His May 2nd and 3rd paintings made in 1814 capture the brutality of the Napoleon French rule over spain and massacre site we saw earlier in the day at plaza del sol.
His later paintings were executed in black and white and depict nightmarish scenes like bearded Saturn with bulging eyes and beard eating his own son reduced to a piece of red meat. The Black Paintings decorated the walls of the Quinta del Sordo, or ''House of the Deaf Man,'' which Goya purchased in February 1819. He was 73, alienated from the Spanish royal court where he had painted for half of his life. In the middle of his career, in 1793, he developed a severe illness that left him bedridden for months. He experienced headaches, hallucinations, vision problems and ringing in his ears. Most of these symptoms eventually went away, but the illness left him deaf. He had been deaf for decades. Over the next few years, Goya conjured dark visions and projected them on the plaster – wrapping hallways, staircases and living spaces in hellacious murals for his own contemplation. The Black Paintings were found on the Quinta's upper and ground floors. ValentÃn Carderera, an artist and collector, who recounted that in Goya's country retreat ''there is hardly a wall that is not full of caricatures and works of fantasy, including the walls of the staircase.'' The paintings were stripped from the house in 1878 and shown in a Paris exposition before being donated to the el prado.
His later paintings were executed in black and white and depict nightmarish scenes like bearded Saturn with bulging eyes and beard eating his own son reduced to a piece of red meat. The Black Paintings decorated the walls of the Quinta del Sordo, or ''House of the Deaf Man,'' which Goya purchased in February 1819. He was 73, alienated from the Spanish royal court where he had painted for half of his life. In the middle of his career, in 1793, he developed a severe illness that left him bedridden for months. He experienced headaches, hallucinations, vision problems and ringing in his ears. Most of these symptoms eventually went away, but the illness left him deaf. He had been deaf for decades. Over the next few years, Goya conjured dark visions and projected them on the plaster – wrapping hallways, staircases and living spaces in hellacious murals for his own contemplation. The Black Paintings were found on the Quinta's upper and ground floors. ValentÃn Carderera, an artist and collector, who recounted that in Goya's country retreat ''there is hardly a wall that is not full of caricatures and works of fantasy, including the walls of the staircase.'' The paintings were stripped from the house in 1878 and shown in a Paris exposition before being donated to the el prado.
With the closing of the museum we made our return to the church above the Prado for a peek of a Christmas concert. stepping out into the rain, heading back towards plaza Del sol for a late night dinner I kept thinking what a rich tapestry of history, spirits, and stories lay to be read for those interested in delving a little into the past. While Madrid held the stories of the recent spanish empire from around 1500 AD to present, within the next few days, our journey south would bring us through histories far beyond the catholic empire... into the age of the Muslim culture and conquest which started 800 years prior in 712 AD.
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