Translating to meadow, Prado couldn’t be a more apt name for Spain’s national art museum, surrounded by green gardens and tranquil woods. The sun was shining and parrots were singing in Madrid as I entered the two hundred year old Museo Nacional del Prado, home to one of the finest classic European art collections in the world.
From the twelfth to twentieth century building off of the former Spanish royal collection there are over 7,600 paintings and 1,000 sculptures.
The most famous masterpiece in the collection is Las Meninas by Velázquez, from 1656 during the Spanish Golden Age, coupled with various works from Francisco Goya. What grabbed my attention the most were the triptychs by Bosch. The Garden of Earthly Delights contrasts Eden and the last judgment, with incredible detail.
Enjoying a new artist, I also studied his painting the Hay Cart and sensing a theme, it depicts sinfulness as well.
Accompanying the painting is an old Dutch proverb: ‘The world is a haywain, and each man plucks from it what he can’.
Good to know:
+Take advantage of the many free of charge days and times, including Monday-Saturday from 6-8PM, Sunday and Holidays 5PM-7PM.
+Museo Nacional del Prado is just one of the museums in the Golden Triangle of Art, a walking distance trio of renowned culture including Museo Renia Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza.