This exhibition is part of a four-year collaboration between the Museo Nacional del Prado and the Museo de Arte de Ponce. It was preceded by the exhibition Sleeping Beauty: Victorian Painting from the Museo de Arte de Ponce presented in Madrid in the spring of 2009.
The Museo Nacional del Prado’s origins lie in collections built over three hundred years by the kings of Spain, from Charles V to Ferdinand VII. The Spanish monarchs were among the chief patrons and collectors of European art, and because of this, a walk through the Prado’s galleries presents a visual testimony of the events and ideas that shaped the history of Europe and the world. Spain appears as the center of a multicultural empire in a continent divided by war and religious dissension where, nevertheless, artists and their works travelled and created links between different countries, languages and cultures.
With over 1,150 paintings on view today, the Prado is one of the largest and most important museums in the world. El Greco to Goya: Masterpieces from the Prado Museum offers an ourstanding selection of its collection, and introduces visitors to the unique experience of walking through its rooms. The exhibition is divided into three themes: religious painting, portraits, and still lifes. On display in the smaller galleries adjacent to the main spaces are selected works from the Museo de Arte de Ponce’s Spanish collection, which, when put in context by the paintings from the Prado, confirm their exceptional quality.
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Photos: Santiago Porter.
Image below: Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas (detail), ca. 1656. Oil on canvas, 318 cm x 276 cm.
