El Prado Museum in Madrid is an absolutely gorgeous destination in the city. No to mention, the museum grounds are incredibly pretty and calm!
El Prado holds many beautiful pieces by Spain’s famous artist, Goya, and we were lucky enough to catch the LAST day of an absolutely amazing traveling Picasso exhibit while we visited. I imagine there are always great visiting exhibits to catch, so your experience will never be exactly the same.
There were no photos allowed inside, but I purchased a few postcards of my favorite art and documented them with El Prado as a backdrop.
The image above was my favorite Picasso, a painting of Dora Maar, his partner at the time. His life is terribly fascinating and complicated, to say the least.
My absolute favorite piece from El Prado was “the Dog” by Goya (1819-23). (Sometimes called the drowning dog, but never given an official title by Goya as it was taken from a wall in his home.)
There is so much emotion, sadness, and empathy in this simple painting that it truly moved me. He captured hopelessness and isolation so completely and yet somehow, beautifully.
I also enjoyed “Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx” by Joachim Patinir (c. 1515–1524). Not pictured (but for my failing memory’s sake) I really liked/recommend Albrecht Dürer “Adam and Eve” (1507), Tintoretto, “Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet” (c. 1518), Francisco Goya, “Third of May 1808” (1814), Francisco Goya, “Saturn Devouring His Son” (1819–1823), and Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas, (between 1656 and 165).
One of the museum highlights was seeing “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch (painted between 1480 and 1505), which is a massive three paneled piece of artwork depicting the Garden of Eden, sin, and hell respectively on each panel. The imagery is quite intense and there is SO much to take in within the details. This is quite large in real life!
As always, there wasn't enough time to take in all the beautiful history, but I would highly recommend an afternoon or morning at El Prado while in Madrid. Particularly since the building itself is an incredible city landmark!