(EN below)
Er du bare en smule til kunst, ja så bliver du nødt til at stikke hovedet forbi den sidste af mine 3 usual suspects: Museo del Prado. Her på ét af verdens førende kunstmuseer finder du bl.a. Rubens, Hieronymus Bosch, Rubens, Titan og en stor samling af spansk kunst i verdensklasse, så du skal nok få din lyst styret!
Museet rummer nemlig en af Europas, og verdens, fineste kunstsamlinger fra det 12. til det 20. århundrede. Museet ejer omkring 8.200 tegninger, 7.600 malerier, 4.800 print, 1.000 skulpturer og det løse. Ikke alt sammen er udstillet fast, men der er meget, og det er præsenteret i de smukkeste omgivelser.
Det er stort set umuligt at se det hele på én gang. Du kan vælge at købe en billet til flere dage, ellers vil jeg anbefale dig at købe den billet, hvor du får en guide med i købet. Prisen er yderst rimelig, og du får den smukkeste bog med, der guider dig igennem samlingen med fokus på de mest interessante værker. Med den i hånden kan du så nyde en kop kaffe i museets smukke café og vælge ud, hvad du gerne vil se.
Min anbefaling er, at du kigger nærmere på de spanske kunstnere: Velázquez, El Greco (som godt var græker, men dog betragtes som en spansk maler, da han levede sit liv her) og så naturligvis Goya, én af mine yndlingsmalere. Udover at de – på hvert deres tidspunkt i historien – var kunstnere i verdensklasse og kunne deres teknik, så viser deres malerier også noget om samtidens Spanien.
Velázquez
Velázquez var hofmaler, og hans malerier viser derfor magten og hoffet – og ikke alle var lige kønne, kan man tydeligvis se! Hans værk: “Las Meninas”, et tredimisionelt værk af både ham selv, kongefamilien i spejlet, en prinsesse og hendes hofdamer m.m. er helt klar et must-see. Og når du står foran det, så tag også lidt et kig omkring i salen og se, at mesteren også have sine udfordringer. Ikke alle hans forsøg på at male heste er faldet lige elegant ud…
El Greco
Tag også et smut omkring salene og se El Grecos værker. De er mere af religiøs karakter, men han kan noget helt specielt med lys og farvevalg, der gør, at hans malerier skiller sig ud. På én eller anden måde virker de forud for hans tid, næsten moderne. Han kan også noget med pibekraver og hænder. Har du en dag til overs, kan jeg også anbefale et smut til Toledo, syd fra Madrid, hvor El Greco boede og arbejdede, du finder hans museum der.
Goya
Men du kan ikke besøge Prado uden at se deres Goya-samling, som iøvrigt er den største i verden samt den største samling af en enkelt maler på museet. Goya er en ener i spansk kunsthistorie. Yderst produktiv – religiøse malerier, hofmaleri, portrætmalerier, graveringer, gobeliner m.m. Han var tæt på magtens centrum, vidne til uhyrlighederne under Napoleonskrigene, offer for den spanske inkvisition m.m. Han malede både “lyse” malerier af hoffet og spansk kultur- og hverdagsliv, men kigger man nærmere efter, aner man ofte noget grotesk, provokerende eller protesterende bagved det lyse. Andre kunstværker er mørke, satiriske, mytiske og brutale. Goya stiller hele tiden spørgsmål, og favner som få både det mørke og det lyse i mennesket. Jeg kan i hvert fald ikke undgå at blive dybt berørt, og det tænker jeg også, at du kan ske at blive. Og så bliver kunst jo ikke bedre, vel?!
Er du kommet fordi de sale – og du kan hurtigt komme til at gå nogle omveje. Det er et stort museum og derfor til tider lidt svært at finde rundt i. Så det er bare om at nyde det, du har valgt ud, og hvad du ellers har set på vejen. Timerne flyver af sted, og jeg garanterer dig, at du går mæt derfra med masser af indtryk og ømme fødder! Og sikkert også med fornemmelse af at have misset et mesterværk eller to et sted, hvilket du uden tvivl har, men så er der jo en god undskyldning for at komme tilbage en anden gang.
EN
If you’re just a little into art, you must pass by the last of my “usual suspects”: Museo del Prado. Here, at one of the world’s leading art museums, you will find Rubens, Hieronymus Bosch, Rubens, Titan and a large collection of world class Spanish art.
The museum have one of Europe´s, and the world´s, finest art collections from the 12th to the 20th century. The museum owns around 8,200 drawings, 7,600 paintings, 4,800 print, 1,000 sculptures etc. Not everything is exhibited permantly, but there is a lot to see and it is exhibited in the most beautiful building.
It´s almost impossible to see it all in one visit. You can buy a ticket for several days, otherwise I recommend that you buy the ticket where a guide is included with the purchase. The price is extremely reasonable and you receive the most beautiful book that guides you through the collection focusing on the most interesting artworks. Grap the book and enjoy a cup of coffee at the museum’s beautiful café while you plan what to see.
My recommendation is that you take a look at the Spanish artists: Velázquez, El Greco (he was Greek, but is considered as a Spanish painter as he lived his life here) and of course Goya, one of my favorite painters. Besides being world-class artists and sublime masters of technique, their paintings also show something about the Spanish society at their particular time in history.
Velázquez
Velázquez was a court painter, and his paintings therefore exhibit the power and the court – and clearly not all of them was picture perfectly pretty! His masterpiece: “Las Meninas”, a three-dimensional painting of himself, the royal family in the mirror, a princess and her ladies, etc. is a must-see. And when you are there, take a look around and see that also the master was challenged. Not all his attempts to paint horses are elegant…
El Greco
Check also the artwork of El Greco. They are more of a religious nature, but he does something very special with light and color that make his paintings stand out. In one way, his paintings appear before his time, almost modern. He also do something with collars and hands. If you have a day to spare, I also recommend a take a trip to Toledo, south of Madrid, where El Greco lived and worked, you will find a museum for him there as well.
Goya
But you can not visit Prado without seeing their Goya collection, which is by far the largest in the world and the largest collection of a single painter at the museum. Goya is a unique artist in Spanish art history. Extremely productive – religious paintings, court painting, portraits, engravings, tapestries, etc. He was close to the center of power, witness to the horrors during the Napoleonic wars, victims of the Spanish Inquisition, etc. He painted both “bright” paintings of the court and Spanish culture and everyday life, but if you look further, you will often sense something grotesque, provocative or protesting behind “the brightness”. Other works of art are dark, satirical, mythical and brutal. Goya constantly asks questions, and understands like few man´s dark and bright sides. I can not avoid being deeply affected by his painting, and perhaps you as well? And then art doesn´t get any better, right?!
Have you passed through these halls – and you have properly also taken some detours as it’s a huge museum and a bit difficult to find you way around. But enjoy what you’ve chosen to see and what you have passed along the way. Time flies here and I guarantee that you will leave tired with lots of impressions and sore feet! And probably also with a feeling of missing a masterpiece or two somewhere, which you undoubtedly have, but then you have a excuse to come back another time.
Mere information/more information: Museo del Prado website
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