The Prado Museum and the Plaza Mayor

We returned to the hotel and I went to the desk to see if my cousins who lived in Madrid had made contact.  I was eager to get to meet them as they were part of my Mother's family.  So far I was able to e-mail them using my IPAD and this was difficult at times because the WI-FI connection was not readily available.  So I was not sure they ever got my messages.  Anyway no one had made contact so Meg and I decided to have a light dinner.

We found that the Prado Museum would be free starting at six in the evening and I was eager to see the beautiful paintings that are housed there.  Meg was too tired to go and I knew several of our singers had already left to stand in line.  So I put on my running shoes and too off down the Gran Via toward the museum. I made it to the Plaza de Lealtad in front of the museum and found myself among a large group of people wearing green shirts that asked for more money for schools.  Apparently the economy was affecting the schools like it was happening in our own United States.  So the parents, teachers, children and administrators were taking to the streets and marching for better schools in hope that somehow the bankers and legislators would hear their plea.

Madrid teacher protest           photo by Mary Ann Jensen

I walked to the Botanical Garden where the line was forming and I found my friends.  They had gotten there just a while ago and already the line extended past the building and by the garden.
I asked them to hold my place while I headed to a bench to do my arm exercises.  Last March I was attacked by the shingles virus that affected my left shoulder and arm.  By May my arm still ached at times and I still was not able to raise it past my chest level.  So before I left on this trip I went to the physical therapist to see what exercises I could do to revive the nerves and strengthen the muscles of my shoulder and arms.  One of the exercises was to do triceps dips off a bench.  I found a stone bench under a tree and proceeded to do my dips.  Half way through my exercises, a lady from Canada came and sat on the bench and we started a conversation.  She was visiting Madrid for the day on her way to Barcelona having come from London and Paris.  Visiting museums was her quest and she was anxious to visit the Prado.

Another enthusiast of the Prado was James Michener who loved spending a day viewing the "forest of masterpieces,"  According to him the Prado is a family museum as most of the paintings wee acquired by the Spanish kings and queens that loved art. These were mainly the Habsurgs and the Borbons. So what we see in the Prado today is an heirloom of favorite paintings from this extraordinary sequence of rulers.  There are a few exceptions of donated works but by enlarge these are favorite paintings of the ruling families.

Three kings stand out as donors to the museum.  First was Carlos V. He felt that Titian was the best portrait painter in Europe at the time of his reign.  He had his  portrait painted in full armor astride his black horse with the background scene of the battle of Muhlberg in 1547. Then his son Felipe II added more Titian and Rubens portraits of nudes.  He also added sex-filled paintings by Heironymus Bosch such as the 'Garden of Delights'.  The third collector was FelipeIV  who was the grandson of Felipe II. His favorite artist was Velasquez.  He had the painter paint several portraits of him and his family. The relationship between king and artist was most rewarding not only for his portraits but the king commissioned the artist to go throughout Europe and buy paintings for him.  So the museum is noted for portraits, religion paintings, and nudes. 

Michener tells of a miracle that saved the nudes so that we can enjoy them today.  The early kings loved the nudes of Titian and Rubens but the later kings at the end of the eighteen century thought they were scandalous.  They were going to have them burned.  Word got out and a group of men under great risk took the paintings and hid them in the back room of a small near by museum.  They stayed there for thirty years until it was safe to bring them out again. 

The line began to move so we hurried to our friends and join them as the line slowly inched its way to the entrance steps.  We walked into the foyer and every one scattered in all directions.  I decided to get a hand held guide that would tell me all about the paintings.  I then began down the main foyer taking my time with each paining.

We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum but I found and excellent, informative
piece done on YouTube by Rick Steves. www.YouTube.com/watch?v=G7Nmv8TQBHw -

I went to each room and even down to the Greek sculptures in the lower level.  Two hours flew by and when I heard the bell that the museum was closing.  I was to meet my friends outside in front of the Museum so I retraced my way through the labyrinth and found my friends sitting on the ledge resting after their two hour art experience.

The sun was still shining and it was eight in the evening! We decided to walk to the Plaza Mayor before going home and have some tapas and wine.  The Plaza Mayor is a large area rimmed with classical buildings and massive stone arcades.  In the center there is an equestrian statue by Giambolongna of King Felipe III on his stallion.  The plaque under the statue reads:
                                 
                                 QUEEN ISABEL II AT THE REQUEST OF THE 
                                 GOVERNMENT OF MADRID, ORDERED TO BE
                        PLACED ON THIS SITE THIS STATUE OF KING FELIPE II 
                             SON OF THIS TOWN, WHO RETURNED THE COURT 
                                   TO IT IN 1606 AND IN 1619 CONSTRUCTED THIS 
                                                                PLAZA MAYOR
                                                                           1848 

The fifty-two thousand spectators standing in seven hundred balconies had the privilege of watching bullfights, coronations, festivals, floggings, and  executions pronounced by the Inquisition.  Today the restaurants around the edges of the Plaza do very well and patrons are entertained by street performers who set up their stations where ever they like.  This evening there was a table with three heads ticking up adorned with white paint and bushy hair and a hat.  All three heads turn and look at who ever is walking by, but only one winks at you and makes kissy lips if you wink back.  I decided to pay him some coins in his pail and just as I approached he ROARED and I jumped a foot off the ground.  Everyone enjoyed this and we watched this happen again and again through the evening.

Dining at the Plaza Mayor taken by Brian

On the other side of the square were four policemen on horseback standing in position in case anyone got rowdy.  Not much of a chance of that!  In front of them there was a man making huge bubbles and entertaining a group of children that enjoyed trying to pop the bubbles as they floated in the air.  The man used two sticks and a long string that he would dip in a flat pan with bubble soap.  As he lifted the string a large bubble would form.  He was able to move his bubble around and actually place it above a kid in front of him then it would pop sending bubble water all over  him.  This was great fun for the kids and it was clear that the policemen were enjoying the show as well

Clear on the other side there were other performers that added a lot of entertainment to people visiting the Plaza.  Throughout our visits to other places as well we observed many street performers who show themselves as statues.  They are usually all painted up and seem to hold the position so they seem like statues, but suddenly they move and it freeks you out.  People enjoy trying to get them to move, but the more they try the less they move.  It seems like there is a theater genre that keeps them in attendance everywhere in Spain.   Here are some samples!

We finally made our way down the side streets still stopping for ice cream or to watch music performers. The night was just getting started but many of us were bushed and sinking into a bed no matter how hard sounded just fine.