[Leica] Nathan's PAD 23/8/2019: an artsy day in Madrid

[Nathan Wajsman]

Yesterday I spent the day in Madrid, mainly looking at art and walking around. The main reason for going was to see a very interesting exhibition at the Prado, of Dutch and Spanish 17th century paintings called Parallel Visions. The idea was that the style of painting in the two countries was very similar and in effect represented a pan-European culture, despite the nationalist narrative in the Netherlands following its independence from the Spanish kind in 1648. Thanks to loans from the Rijksmuseum and other Dutch and European museums, the Prado has been able to produce a really compelling exhibition with many striking juxtapositions.

I took the high-speed train to Madrid and walked from the Atocha station to the Prado. There is always a long queue to get in, but I am a member of the Amigos del Prado, so I get in for free, and even more important, I get to use a separate member entrance:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-vtkZFGv/A

Photography is not allowed inside the Prado, so some of these images are less than perfect since I had to take them quickly and on the sly.

One of the many impressive hallways in the Prado:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-dqTNJh5/A

From the Parallel Visions exhibition, an anatomy lesson by Rembrandt. Not only the style of painting but also the clothes were quite similar in the Low Countries and Spain at the time, even while fashion elsewhere in Europe was changing:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-9zdF4j5/A

The two main protagonists in the war that led to Dutch independence, Spanish king Felipe II (pained by a Flemish painter in Spain) and the leader of the Dutch, William of Orange:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-gJRRBqN/A

After spending about an hour in the exhibition, I walked over to the permanent collection to have another look at some of my favourites, especially Goya’s Maja:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-Qhs9Gwn/A

And probably the most compelling painting at the Prado, Goya’s depiction of the execution of Spanish rebels by Napoleon’s troops on 3 May 1803, following a failed uprising in Madrid:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-zb9f4zD/A

And to finish, something completely different; at the end of the long day, before going back to Atocha for the train back to Alicante, I stopped in at another Madrid “cultural” institution, the bar El Brillante, for a fried calamari sandwich (a Madrid specialty) and a couple of beers:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-L2LfJdd/A

A long and tiring day. More to come.

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman

Alicante, Spain
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YNWA