Flemish Painting in the Prado
… and some medieval stuff too.
As an extension of my previous post, I’ll be continuing to discuss the collection of the Prado. Just as a disclaimer, neither this post nor the last one is meant to be authoritative on what is important in the collection or how you should approach it individually.
These are merely suggestions to help the aimless visitor find a bit of direction. So — with that out of the way — this time I would like to talk about some of my favorite pieces that I’ve stumbled upon in the museum while following their recommended tours.
I typically start the tour in the Flemish wing on the main floor, which is one of my favorite areas of the museum. There are several remarkable works in this area, including Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych and Rogier van der Weyden’s Descent from the Cross.
To see the Garden of Earthly Delights, you should probably go when it’s not a peak time, like just when the museum opens or in the mid-afternoon between 1 and 3 pm. Otherwise, you’re likely to get a better look at the back of people’s heads than at the painting itself.
However, even in that case, it is still worth trying to get a look because there are so many details in the painting that it can be overwhelming. If you can only see one section (and, therefore, only have one aspect of the painting to focus on), then it might be easier to digest.
If you just can’t bear grappling with the crowd, there are also several other interesting Bosch paintings to discover in that room. And in the room just before it―room 55A―there are some other beautiful artworks from painters who worked around the same time as Bosch. Some of them are just as chaotic and interesting as the Garden of Earthly Delights. One painting in that area that I really like is The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
If you haven’t yet come to grips with your own mortality, then this painting might be a little traumatizing. The Triumph of Death captures the ultimate fate of humanity, depicted with brutal, imaginative detail — much like the nightmarish scenes of Hell illustrated in the right panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych. You could spend quite a while looking at this painting and still be unable to appreciate all the intricate details.
The next major work on the list in this wing of the museum is the Descent from the Cross, and it is one of my absolute favorite paintings (not just in the Prado but in general). I can sit and stare at that thing all day. The rich detail of the textiles and the lifelike quality of the painted figures — not to mention the vibrant colors — leave me in awe when I am in front of this piece.
If you perch yourself at the very end of the bench in the room just it, you can sit and contemplate the scene from afar (if there’s no one in front of the painting). It is even more apparent this way how much it was supposed to appear like polychrome sculpture. The figures stand out vividly from the gold background, and they appear to have tangible form and depth.
If there is a large crowd in front of that painting, it can get kind of challenging because it is not placed in a very large room, but there are several other amazing paintings in that room as well. Two that I love are in the back, right corner of the room: another work by Rogier van der Weyden, The Virgin and Child, and The Agony in the Garden with the Donor Louis I d’Orléans by Colart de Laon.
The Virgin and Child is another one of van der Weyden’s works that were meant to look like polychrome sculpture. Like the Descent from the Cross, the subject is removed from any real context and placed on a plain background, this time within the frame of a gothic window. However, instead of a gold background, it is painted on a simple black one.
The red of the Virgin’s dress stands out in stark contrast from the dark background and guides the attention of the viewer to the baby Jesus sitting upon her lap, dressed in white. The simplicity of this work is one of the things that makes it so absolutely stunning.
Colart de Laon’s Agony in the Garden is a relatively small work, but the vibrant colors make it stand out. It was recently restored a few years back, and the change is astonishing.
It is a French work, which stands a bit out of place in a room full of Flemish masters. But the luminous pigments and fastidious detail bring it into harmony with the other works in the room. If you’re interested, check out the restoration video, which highlights some of the previously undiscovered details of the painting.
Apart from the previously mentioned works — which are some of my favorites to look at in that wing of the museum — here are a few others that stood out to me:
- Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve — room 55B:
- Hans Baldung Grien, The Ages of Woman and Death — room 55B:
- Bosch, Table of the Seven Deadly Sins — room 56A:
- Robert Campin, Betrothal of the Virgin — room 58:
Now to the medieval stuff…
The Prado’s medieval collection doesn’t receive as much attention; nevertheless, it is definitely worth seeing if you are interested in that time period of art.
I, for one, am a sucker for the gold detailing and intricate narratives that are often significant parts of medieval paintings from the gothic era. The medieval collection of the Prado is housed in the same wing of the museum as the Flemish painting, just a few rooms over from van der Weyden and Bosch.
The pieces that the Prado has from that era are mainly representative of the works of medieval Spanish painters. Since there was no established style of painting in Spain during that era, artists either followed after the northern (Flemish) tradition or the southern (Italian) tradition. Once you recognize that, it is quite easy to distinguish between the two styles.
Although it is a small part of the museum’s overall collection, it is still quite impressive. And, if you’re looking to escape some of the crowds of the museum, these rooms are often pretty empty. Furthermore, you can find some amazing pieces in that area. These were some of the ones that stood out to me:
- Anonymous, Altarpiece of Saint Christopher — room 52A:
- Anonymous, The Saint John the Baptist Altarpiece — room 52A:
- Master of Perea, The Visitation — room 51B:
- Bartolomé Bermejo, Saint Dominic of Silos enthroned as a Bishop — room 51A:
- Miguel Ximénez, Saint Catherine — room 51A:
These areas of the museum are certainly worth checking out if you find yourself looking for more things to see. Like I said in the beginning, this isn’t meant to be a list of works you should see, and it definitely isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list of important works or artists in the museum’s collection. In fact, these pieces that I’ve mentioned are only from one very small section of the museum. And apart from that, they’re only a few of my favorites. There is a TON more to see and explore in the Prado, so get out there and find your favorites!
