Museo del Prado

     Today, Claire and I visited the Museo del Prado, the famous art museum in Madrid. It was so big!!! Claire and I just explored probably about half, maybe a little less, of the museum. The museum has a lot of Spanish paintings from famous artists like El Greco, Francisco Goya, and Diego Velazquez, which were most of the paintings we looked at. The museum also had statues, French, German, British, and Flemish paintings. We weren't able to take pictures in the Prado, but here are some of my favorite paintings, from the Prado's website: http://www.museodelprado.es/en

Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma, by Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens was a Flemish Baroque painter (from the Netherlands). I really like this painting because of the horse and its eyes, the eyes really look like they have depth. I like that the painting accurately portrays the figure of the horse - some paintings focus more on the rider and the horse kind of looks like a blob. 

Duke and Duchess of Osuna and their Children, Francisco Goya. Goya is a famous Spanish painter. Family portraits were not popular at this time in Spain, so experts think he based it off of English and Flemish paintings. The waists of the Duchess and the oldest girl are quite small, but I like the one dog that is hiding between the 2 girls, and how detailed the painting is. 

Las Meninas, Diego Velazquez. In the middle is the Infanta Margarita, the daughter of Felipe IV, and all of her servants. The painting shows a good use of light, and also depth. I like this painting because even though there is so much going on, the Infanta Margarita is just standing in the middle like nothing is going on, looking very elegant and mature. And if you look in the background, you can see the reflection of Felipe and his wife in the mirror.

 

The Crucifixion, El Greco. El Greco created 5 or 6 religious based scenes to go behind the altar of a church in Madrid, and this one was in the middle. I like the contrast in light and color, and also the emotions in the painting.

Prince Baltasar Carlos on Horseback, Diego Velazquez. Fat pony!! That is the first thing that I thought of when I saw this painting. A little boy, who is a prince, riding a fat pony.

 

Tonight for dinner we had potato soup, bread, and a piece of pork.

Things I have learned in Spain:

• You can get a cheeseburger, fries, and a bottle of water for 3 euros at McDonald's, off the euro menu
• It can get really windy in Madrid
• Chocolate chip cookies are non-existent in Madrid
• The Prado is really big and you could be in there for a really long time looking at paintings and statues
• If you are a student between the ages of 18 and 25 you can get into the Prado for free
• In the basement of the Prado, that is hard to find, you can go into a vault that has decorative arts from royals throughout the ages, that features coins, miniature portraits, crystal vases with gold, and things covered with precious gems. 

¡Adios!