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<\/a>CNC Outside the Prado<\/p><\/div>\n
We both slept pretty well last night. The weather has changed and it is raining when we get up. Not a big deal, as today is Prado day. We purchased our tickets in advance on-line, for today, and since it is an indoor event, let it rain, we don’t care. But first, since we are in an apartment, Carol is happily making Spanish cafe con leche. They have a milk foamer machine here that she seems to be enjoying. I go across the street to the Dia supermarket and buy some pastries, 2 pounds of strawberries (2 USD), and make my own liter of fresh squeezed orange juice from a machine. It is really cool with whole oranges in the top of the machine which are pulled in and squeezed as you demand your juice.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Moaning Lisa by Leo’s Student<\/p><\/div>\n
Our nice breakfast complete, we go out in the rain and walk to the Prado. We get there right at the opening time of 1000 and see a long line. I ask a museum person, where we need to go and show him our tickets, that we printed at home. He points around the bend and says the Velasquez entrance. We go there and find about 40 people in line. I show another museum person, our tickets and she points to a door with no line. We go through security and are in. That was way too easy, compared to the probably hour wait to buy tickets. Rather than try to explain the history and meaning of all the paintings we saw, I will just go over one or two favorites. Otherwise, let the few bootleg pictures I took whet your appetite to visit yourself. I will say that we thoroughly enjoyed the Prado. It is loaded with paintings by masters of several ages and regions of the world. The paintings range from 1100 to 1910 with the majority being from 1400 to 1800, which is our sweet spot for art. The big name artists included here are Raphael, Durer, Bosch, Van Der Weyden, Goya, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Rubens, Valasquez, Tiepolo, and El Greco. There are many other of note.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The Garden of Earthly Delights<\/p><\/div>\n
We really enjoyed an artist called Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516). His tryptic, The Garden of Earthly Delights was amazing. On the left panel is Paradise, with Adam and Eve naked before the original sin and God is seen marrying them. The central panel is super expressive, kind of a large orgy with naked people and sex being expressed everywhere, right down to the passionate fruits of strawberries, blackberries and other sensual fruits blended into the scene. Also of note, are the naked black woman mixed in with the blond woman, a very risqu\u00e9 and risky thing to paint at the time. The panel on the right shows what happens to those who partook in the central piece. Hell shows demons tormenting the sinners. A glutton is eaten and re-eaten for eternity. Musicians, considered sinners for the partying they cause, are strung up on their instruments, one seems to have flowers in his butt. You can imagine what lust caused you to endure. There was also another interesting piece called The Seven Deadly Sins which was in the form of a wheel.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Christ Carrying the Cross<\/p><\/div>\n
The other artist that we really liked was our new friend El Greco. The more we see of his work, the more we like it. His Christ Carrying the Cross, with Jesus’s eyes sparkling with a streak of white paint is mesmerizing. Suffice it to say, we enjoyed this museum and spent 4 hours here. All the paintings had English text which told the stories and brought them more into perspective. A definite visit if you come to Madrid.<\/p>\n