Madrid's Prado Museum is celebrating a very big birthday this coming year, turning 200 in November. Opened in 1819 after the Spanish queen, Isabella of Braganza, came back from a visit to the Louvre and found herself wanting to display her own remarkable collection in an amazing building, it co-opted a space originally designed by Juan de Villanueva to house the Natural History Cabinet. This vast and grand 18th century structure is a Neoclassical gem that is home to the extraordinarily rich royal collections, which includes works by great masters such as Rembrandt, Titian, Goya, Raphael, Rubens, and Bosch, among many others. If you have found a vacation rental in Madrid, it is certainly a must-see, as one of the finest art galleries in the world.
In order to celebrate this special occasion, there is a bicentennial exhibition currently on display in the museum and there will be a calendar of events throughout the year, as well as a program of lending travelling exhibitions and works to other institutions all over Spain. The “Museo del Prado 1819-2019. A place of memory” exhibition, curated by Javier Portús (the Museo del Prado Senior Curator of Spanish Painting up to 1700), opened last year and will continue until the 10th of March 2019 and was the launching event of the extensive program. It surveys the museum’s history, the relationship between the Museum and the public, the trends in the collection over the years, its growth into the incredible institution that is it today, and some of its particular treasures including works by El Greco and Murillo.
In order to celebrate this special occasion, there is a bicentennial exhibition currently on display in the museum and there will be a calendar of events throughout the year, as well as a program of lending travelling exhibitions and works to other institutions all over Spain. The “Museo del Prado 1819-2019. A place of memory” exhibition, curated by Javier Portús (the Museo del Prado Senior Curator of Spanish Painting up to 1700), opened last year and will continue until the 10th of March 2019 and was the launching event of the extensive program. It surveys the museum’s history, the relationship between the Museum and the public, the trends in the collection over the years, its growth into the incredible institution that is it today, and some of its particular treasures including works by El Greco and Murillo.
There will also be individual exhibitions on Bartolomé Bermejo, Velazquez, Giacometti and other artists and thematic exhibitions like the currently showing, “Fra Angelico and the Rise of the Florentine Renaissance.” In addition, the “On Tour Through Spain,” initiative will see paintings from the collection loaned to provincial Spanish galleries for a month at a time, such as the exhibition, “Velázquez and the Golden Age,” which is currently on loan in the CaixaForum in Barcelona and essential viewing for those who have found a vacation rental Barcelona. Those who are interested in sunning themselves with a villa in the more remote Canary Islands or a luxury villa in the lovely Balearic Islands will also be in luck as works like, “A Blind Hurdy-Gurdy Player,” by Georges de La Tour will be shown at the Atlantic Centre of Modern Art in Gran Canaria from the 4th to the 30th of June 2019 and the Museum of Menorca from the 8th of July to the 4th of August!
If we head back to the Prado itself, there will be a full schedule of special talks, events, educational programs and much more besides to be enjoyed, so be sure to check out their website for the full details and see if anything interesting might happen to line up with the time of your own visit to the city! The Prado is always a truly incredible place to visit with stunning works of art, a wonderful setting, and amazing gems and surprises at every turn on an utterly overwhelming scale but, perhaps, a visit during this time of celebrations of the institution might help frame its unruly and unimaginable size more palatably and help you get the most out of a trip.
Certainly, no matter when you visit Madrid, now or next year or, even, a hundred years from now, the Museo Nacional del Prado remains one of the absolute must-see attractions in the whole city and something to be penciled into any exploration of what Madrid has to offer a visitor.
If we head back to the Prado itself, there will be a full schedule of special talks, events, educational programs and much more besides to be enjoyed, so be sure to check out their website for the full details and see if anything interesting might happen to line up with the time of your own visit to the city! The Prado is always a truly incredible place to visit with stunning works of art, a wonderful setting, and amazing gems and surprises at every turn on an utterly overwhelming scale but, perhaps, a visit during this time of celebrations of the institution might help frame its unruly and unimaginable size more palatably and help you get the most out of a trip.
Certainly, no matter when you visit Madrid, now or next year or, even, a hundred years from now, the Museo Nacional del Prado remains one of the absolute must-see attractions in the whole city and something to be penciled into any exploration of what Madrid has to offer a visitor.