St. Bernardine of Siena
Posted on 02/16/2022 1:08:28 PM PST by nickcarraway
A painting of Venus in the nude, stretched across a green velvet sofa, by Goya has been given a bigger, brighter home at the Prado Museum. Pursuing a more “panoramic approach” to the painter’s oeuvre, the Madrid institution has placed Las Majas in a new gallery alongside two little-seen sketches of Saint Bernardino of Siena preaching to an Aragonese king, as well as a reclining Venus by Titan.
It was a simple but effective renovation: the gallery walls were painted a lighter pastel color and the windows overlooking the Botanical Gardens were opened, naturally illuminating the iconic canvases for the first time in years.
“The Majas were in a very gloomy space, almost a cave, which was often congested,” Miguel Falomir, director of the Prado, said at a press conference at the Prado this week.
The enlarged space will reduce the risk of crowding, which has been issue for The Majas. Falomir said the two paintings, twin portraits of an odalisque clothed and naked, are among the most-visited works in the museum. The rearrangement also helps contextual the paintings within the tradition of representing Venus in a classical style, stripped of most mythological references. Titan’s Venus with an Organist and Cupid, created in 1555, was one of the first to imagine the love goddess reclining. In the painting, the organist sits ignored at Venus’ feet while Cupid whispers in her ear.
The rearrangement also puts Goya’s two preparatory sketches for the altar painting The preaching of Saint Bernardino of Siena before Alfonso V of Aragon in the spotlight for the first time in over a century. Goya was one of several artists commissioned in 1781 to decorate the Royal Basilica of San Francisco el Grande in Madrid. For his contribution, Goya imagined a crowd enraptured by Saint Bernardino’s sermon. A single sunbeam lights his crown, over which the Holy Spirit hovers.
Owned by the Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, the earlier sketch was exhibited twice in 1900, in Madrid and Lisbon, while the second sketch is being presented to the public for the first time ever. The pair will be exhibited alongside three other sketches of altar paintings for the cathedrals of Seville and Toledo, including Goya’s Crucified Christ (1780), which earned the artist a place at the Royal Academy of Arts of San Fernando.
Goya? Oh boya.
Don’t get that Russian security guard to guard it!
St. Bernardine of Siena
I was hoping to see the piece being discussed but I guess I will need to dig into the digtal dirt for it myself.
Goya painting some interesting pieces. Some rather troubling;
such as the infamous ‘Saturn Devouring His Son”.
Don’t show that one to little kids just before bedtime.
Titian's Venus-
The Prado is such a great museum, and the collection is incredible.
I could spend a week there and not get bored.
The Prado is a fantastic museum in my opinion. Well worth a visit. I’d certainly stop in to see these works if I was going to be in Madrid at the right time.
Saw it last summer. Awesome museum. Then walk over to the park.
I just looked up Madrid and checked into price for round trip flight. Less than $800 and I don’t even live in a big city. Tempting, but unaffordable at this time. The sights would be unforgettable.
Label design for Tarragone Goya wine, showing a Spanish woman
in traditional costume in a garden, holding up a glass of wine.
.
Oh - wrong Goya. Sorry.
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