Prado, 2017

This was our third visit to the Prado (April 24th), spending pretty much the day in the museum, as in previous visits. I think 2013 was my best visit, bringing more knowledge and certainly a more open mind to the great collection. In 2017, my interests are more narrow, and much of the museum is of, um, rather less interest now. I think I have now seen enough Goyas and El Grecos for the rest of my lifetime. I am still intrigued by Velazquez, and the main interests for me at the Prado remain the older Low Country paintings collected by the Hapsburg royalty of Spain, way back in the good old days. We always make a bee-line for the Garden of Earthly Delights and stay in that room full of Bosch's greatest hits for an hour or more.

At the Goya entrance, a line even at 9:45

We are not the only people who make a dash for the Bosch; at
this point, the wary guard gently reminded me "NO FOTOS!"

Consequently, my pix from the Prado do not
include many of the Biggies; whenever the
guard gets involved in his/her texts, in small
rooms, and if there is something of interest,
I get it; here is a 15th century oil on panel
Flemish Baby J disrespecting a book

A Biggie for me: Durer's first self portrait; I
probably already have it, but this time I also
snagged a fridge magnet for my extensive
collection

Luini's Gioconda; Luini was one of Leonardo's
main assistants, and the evidence suggests this
was painted at the same time as the one in the
Louvre; interesting; we've seen several Luinis
now and they can easily be mistaken for the
really Biggies

This is a reminder to look up the story of Nastagio degli
Onesti--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nastagio_degli_Onesti--
a story from the Decameron from which Botticelli did a four
painting cycle; the Prado has the first three; it's an interesting
tale of how to win your loved one's unwilling hand

Poulet roti lunch at the Prado

We like paintings of people reading; this is Jose
Moreno Carbonera's Prince Carlos de Viana;
the young prince lost his argument with his dad
about dynastic rights and resigned himself to
a life of reading

Never miss a Claude Lorraine; this is his Landscape with a
Saint or Some Other Biblical/Religious Theme; no, wait, maybe
that was the second of the Prado's two Lorraines

Yes, that's it; the one above was Fording a River 

And now for something completely different:
unfortunately I could not photograph the
explanation, but the gist is, at age 37, this
woman (holding baby) began growing a
beard; everyone thought this was a sign of
divine favor, and Ribera, was called in to
record the matter; more than you could
possibly ever want to know about this, um,
masterpiece, is at http://www.artble.com/
artists/jusepe_de_ribera/paintings/the_
bearded_woman; a case of gender fluidity,
some say

And now for something completely different, 2: an
El Greco San Sebastian that was cut off at the legs
and then put back together, presumably when the
owner moved into a larger apartment

Holy threesome; by this point at the Prado I
am ready for some strong refreshment

Theotokopoulos' Portrait of a Gentlemen; the
Prado is now using this as its emblem

Un carajillo, por favor; a doble, por favor

Crucifiction of St. Peter

The Queen of Heaven squirting stigmata at
some saint

Velazquez bids us adieu; if, alas, you came to this blog-post
hoping to see some of the Biggies from the Prado, go instead
to https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection; perhaps
you will be re-directed miraculously