Today we visited the Museo del Prado, the national musuem of Spain, located in central Madrid. The building was originally constructed to be used as a natural sciences museum and was part of a large scale infrastructure project conceived by Carlos III of Spain. He was considered to be one of the greatest kings in Spanish history, regarded as the “Mayor of Madrid.” Philip IV had a great interest in art, and a good portion of the original art collections were a part of his personal collection. Philip IV’s royal painter was Velazquez, whose style of painting was very fast and precise. Velazquez was in charge of both painting royal portraits as well as traveling to other countries to scout out pieces for the king’s royal collection.
The Prado also features works of Goya, who, along with Velazquez, is one of the most important painters in Spanish history. He started as a cartoon painter for tapestries, converting his small-scale cartoons into large scale paintings, which would then be made into tapestries. Some of Goya’s paintings seem to emit light; his method of achieving these bright colors was to apply a base layer of orange paint, which can be seen with an electron microscope. Goya’s works were some of the most impactful creations at the time due to his creativity and awareness of the growing unrest around him. Later in his life, after the Napoleonic Wars left him with a very negative attitude about humankind, Goya painted the famous Black Paintings (called this because of their dark, often grotesque, and haunting themes) directly on the walls of his home outside Madrid; years after his death, the paintings were painstakingly removed and given to the Spanish government. After the Black Paintings were complete, Goya moved to Bordeaux, France, and died there a few years later.
After a short walk from the museum, we arrived in front of Puerta de Atocha, a beautiful station and the largest in Madrid, worth the visit even if you aren’t taking the train. In the station, we saw a grand verdant garden surrounded by iron and glass. We travelled through the garden and were amazed by the large range of trees and nature surrounding us.
We ended the day with a flamenco show at Tablao Las Carboneras. It featured a wonderful mix of guitar playing, singing, and, most importantly, dancing. ¡Olé!