Three Big Museums in Three Days

I admit I'm a bit museumed-out. 

On our first day in Madrid, we visited the Museo Reina Sofia, which specializes in modern and contemporary art. I found the quality of the works on display mediocre; maybe I was just in a bad mood, but despite spending more than three hours there, I took no photos.

(I should mention in passing that Picasso's Guernica is housed at the Museo Reina Sofia. Stay tuned for a separate post on that topic.)

Our next day was devoted to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which Karen and I had never heard of before this trip. We both loved it; Karen preferred it to the Prado. I took so many photos, I had to spend more than an hour labeling them.

(I will share some photos from the Thyssen in upcoming posts.)

Finally, the epic Prado. I had not been to Spain's premier museum of the fine arts since I was a college student spending a semester abroad in Europe. For years I have been looking forward avidly to another visit.

It did not disappoint. But it does have its limitations. It's all Western art with a heavy emphasis on Spanish Old Masters; lots of excellent Flemish/Dutch (from areas once controlled by Spain) and Italian as well. The main body of the collection covers the 15th through 18th centuries, with just a little before and a little after.

Almost the first thing I saw when I stepped inside was Las Meninas by Velázquez. Did my jaw drop? It may have. As I reached for my phone, intending to take a photo, I saw a security guard rush forward to stop another guest from taking a photo. No photos at the Prado. 

I think we saw all of the museum's most famous paintings except for Goya's Naked Maja. OK by me to have missed that one.

Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights is there! Hard to get close to; always mobbed. I was struck by how much pink there is in it.

In a nearby room, I was very much impressed by Breughel the Elder's The Triumph of Death, done in imitation of his master Bosch. Also hard to get close to; I'm going to have to take a more thorough look at it online.

The room containing Goya's Black Paintings lived up to my expectations and memories. I especially love Two Old Men Eating Soup -- the horrible grotesquerie combined with the crude yet expressive technique.

My favorite Spanish Old Master is Zurbarán, and this, I think, is my favorite of his paintings at the Prado, though it isn't very characteristic of his work.

I could go on and on but I will end with Luis Meléndez, a master of the still life previously unknown to me. Check out the images on this page of the Prado website.