Madrid

 

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After Kate's ISRA conference in Valencia, July 9-14, we took a train to Madrid where we stayed for a couple of nights before winging our way home. We visited a couple of important museums, there's not too many photos from either, and spent an evening wandering the streets and snacking in tapas bars.

That first evening we wandered the streets through Plaza Mayor and over to the Royal Palace of Madrid and the nearby gardens. It was a pleasantly warm evening, much cooler than the day, which had brought people out. I can understand dining late in a country where it's so warm.

The next day we went to the Prado Museum (the Spanish National Art Museum) and were pleasantly surprised there was an exhibit of "The Garden of Delights" by by the Dutch painter Heronimus Bosch. It's actually been part of the permanent collection since 1939. There's some debate about when this religious triptych (an altar panel of three pieces) was painted but there is agreement that it's sometime around the year 1500. For me it was instantly recognizable from posters we used to have in our drug addled university years — the right hand panel entitled "Hell" is most impressive and a popular poster. That's some detail from the panel above. I had no idea that the work was 500 years old!!

There's lots of works to explore at the Prado. I found The Miraculous Lactation of Saint Bernard (Alonso Cano, c. 1650, oil on panel) particularly and weirdly interesting. I've since read:

Exact details of the vision(s) known as the "Lactation of St. Bernard" are unclear. One account indicates a statue of the Virgin Mary came to life while Bernard was praying. The animated statue of Mary sprayed milk from her breast onto the parched lips of Bernard, forever proving her status as the Virgin Mother of God.

Very near the train station is the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Within is the huge (approximately 12'x25') grey, black and white Guernica by Pablo Picasso. The painting is in response to, and vividly documents, the 1937 bombing of Guernica by fascists from Germany and Italy in support of the dictator Franciso Franco during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) which brought General Franco to power as dictator of Spain. Picasso refused to have the painting shown in Spain so long as Franco was in power and the painting was kept in trust by the MoMA in New York City. Picasso died in 1973, Franco in 1975 and Spain became a constitutional monarchy in 1978. MoMA ceded the piece to Spain in 1981. It was on exhibit at the Prado (as per Picasso's will)  but moved here to the Reina Sofia to a purpose built gallery in 1992. It's an impressive piece both historically and artistically. 

I recall the weather being incredibly hot and we were in a crappy little flat, not too far from the train station, where the air did not move. There were some night clubs in the area and I recall being wakened one late night as someone tried to fit their car into a space which was far too tight. They'd squeeze back until they bumped the car behind, then inch forward to bump the car in front, then repeat as both of these cars are honking away having set off some bump detector.

Ah, and there was a MacDonald's across the street. Kate found it was one of the few places where she could get a proper garden salad!

— Slides scanned during the pandemic, these notes composed 2023/01/08.