Madrid, The Prado

Friday, June 13,2025- Madrid, Spain

         We were up at 6 A.M.. We watched the European version of CNN, shuddering as usual at all of the international tensions. We had pretty good coffee in the room, with some great chocolate scones from a market across the street. Cleaning up, we had hailed an Uber for a 10:15 A.M. ride down to the Prado. You have to have tickets purchased on line, or you wait in a very long line. ( $20 Euros each) The three story building circles an open courtyard, with tables for the leisurely.

          Inside of the venerable institution, we first visited the Velasquez exhibit. The “Adoration of the Magi” and other grand murals grab your attention with their vivid colors . Goya showed a raft of dark colors and then many lighter ones reflecting his joy of life.

         The crowds swirled around us in a profusion of languages. We stopped in a central courtyard for cappuccinos and muffins, appreciating the art all around us.

         A collection of Heronymous Bosch paintings featured a very weird perspective. His “Garden of earthly delights” is a study in many miniatures, in a variety of odd poses and activities. I can only think Salvador Dali used him as an inspiration many centuries later.

        El Greco, like many of the struggling artists, painted the “look at me” portraits of the famous and wealthy of their time, sitting astride horses or in other epic poses. I didn’t much care for any of them. Reubens too, with all of his delightful colored paintings catered to the wealthy. His technique is masterful, his subject matter plebian. The “Reubenesque nudes” reflected the beefier versions of femme fatales. Breughel the elder was a surprise favorite. His five “paintings of the senses” are a study in technique and color, with wry humor.

         Like all great museums we had visited, after two or three hours, the “Museum glaze” sets in and you lose interest in what you are seeing. Mary visited the gift store to buy some book markers. I sat and watched the international swirl of people mill around us. I did come to one observation. Our personal favorites re the French Impressionists. These wonderful paintings feature one of two people in studied poses. Here,  among the Spanish paintings, the artists feature crowds of people in many activities. I don’t know why or what that means, It is just an observation.

        Leaving the Parado, we walked across the boulevard to one of the grand hotels and caught a cab there for the brief ride back to our hotel. {$10 Euros)Thousands of tourists were swirling around the center of the city.  I wrote up my notes and we enjoyed a delicious “vino tinto” in the room.(red wine). I was still flagging, so our hotel bar sounded good enough for me. Good cabernet, with a margherita pizza, hit the spot. Afterwards, we were treated to an oddity. An enormous crowd of young Spaniards was marching down the Avenue Atocha, shouting, “Jesus, Salvator mundi” (Jesus, savior of the world.) I don’t know who or what they were representing. but there were thousands of them loudly proclaiming their love for Jesus, the savior. 

            It was early in the evening, but we were still recovering from the flight over, so we repaired to our room, to read and crash early. It had been a nice day in the Spanish capital.

                                                      -30-

                                                (571 words)

                                             Joseph Xavier Martin